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09-20-2009, 06:20 PM | #1 |
YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Ohio
Posts: 896
| Does anyone let their dogs mouth play? We have a 9 week old puppy and I've read somewhere that you are suppose to let your puppy mouth play with your hands so it teaches them to have a soft bite. Well, that is all he wants to do. He is constantly having his mouth on me. I can't hold him without him wanting to have my hands in his mouth. Have I created a monster, or is this normal puppy play? |
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09-20-2009, 06:24 PM | #2 |
Donating YT 12K Club Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Council Bluffs Iowa
Posts: 12,552
| I would give him other things to chew on. They really should not be allowed to put their teeth on you. |
09-20-2009, 07:52 PM | #3 |
YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: USA
Posts: 699
| You probally shouldn't let them. However I do. Tucker always plays chews on our feet. It never hurts, but it annoys some of our visitors. |
09-20-2009, 08:20 PM | #4 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: So Ca
Posts: 2,376
| Rockie always attempts to chew on my fingers or my daughters. We don't let him, we tell him no and give him his nyla bone, toys or chew key rings. lts an on going process he still does it. We let him know our fingers are not his chew toys.
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09-20-2009, 08:26 PM | #5 |
BANNED! | Moose, doesn't really chew on my fingers, it's only when he starts wanting to play, and starts rolling around and messing his hair up on the ground, that i punk mug him (put hand over face and rub ( quite funny actually)) and he just like barely touches my fingers with his teeth, i mean, my hands will go in his mouth, because i can feel wetness, but it never hurts! Well moose is turning 3 in December, but the way i tought him was, if he bit me (mouthing, ect ect.) that i would gently hit the top of his nose, and then ignore him, and not let him play, sleep, ect. with me! and i did this over and over, and he finally got the message, now the only times he does it, if he knows its allowed! |
09-20-2009, 08:37 PM | #6 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Orlando/IL
Posts: 1,223
| Well u should teach him not to bite u, but he should be playing with bones or toys not your hands. bark@ulater!!!!!! manina,mileymaxsasha |
09-20-2009, 08:44 PM | #7 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: North
Posts: 1,324
| Yes I do and I have on all the breeds I work with. I work one breed that just feels it needs to do this and it is a large breed. I just ignore the dog until he lets go and then once he does I pay attention. Yes it a good way to get them to have a soft mouth. If the teeeth get to rough I do let them know right away with a yelp and I turn my back on them. Only ime I use a negative marker for the behaviour. I had a small breed that was a tough little chewer and now she got a very soft mouth even under stress. JL I know many do not like it when I put up articles but I find sometimes it just more clear and helpful and in this case funny too. So here is an article. ClickerSolutions Training Articles -- Insights into Puppy Mouthing Insights Into Puppy Mouthing Since your dog's clear intention is to get your attention then yelling "no" does little beyond reinforcing his behavior. He wants your attention, he nips you, you give attention. Worked perfectly. Keep doing it. If it stops working do it harder or bigger. And about the yelping out in pain technique. I hate when people suggest this as if it is the Holy Grail of stopping mouthing. It totally depends on why the dog is nipping, how you yelp and how they respond to the yelping. With some dogs this idea alone can stop nipping and play biting in its tracks. But as you have discovered there are other dogs who are simply more triggered by the response. And you actually escalate the intensity of the behavior. We can't ever just say if a dog is doing X behavior that a handler should always do Y handling technique. It just never is that black and white. Its all about probabilities. If a dog does X behavior and the response is Y technique than we can often say there is a high probability of a particular response happening with most dogs. There are some fundamental things that are very high probability that apply to many dogs that do nothing or get a completely opposite response from other dogs. Run away there is a good chance the average dog will follow or chase. Squat down or make little cooing noises then the probability is high they will come closer. But you must always take into account the dog's personality, relationship, situation, current emotional and mental state, temperament and history. Run away from another dog and them may take you down with a bite in the butt. Squat down for and make cooing sounds with an abused fear biter and you may loose your nose. It looks complicated when plotting it out but in general people have a much better feel for what the dog's probabilities for certain things are then they do in applying that knowledge to specific situations. 90% of the time if I clearly define something for owners and ask what their dog will likely do, they have a wonderfully detailed knowledge of what their dog will probably do. But most people don't look at the perimeters objectively or with clarity and worse they fall into a pattern of waiting until the dog has done the thing they don't want that they knew was probably going to happen. They then respond to what the dog did even though they could have predicted the Undesired response a week ahead of time. I digress. :-) But don't reinforce the Undesired behavior of nipping either intentionally of subconsciously. Something else this makes me think of. I must say I have a different take on the notion of negative punishments. To begin with I don't call them that and think the semantics of them is a problem because of the attitude it creates. I do not want to take anything away from the dog as a punishment so that they will decrease the chance of the behavior happening. I Reward the dog. Just not with the Reward they would prefer If for example the dog is jumping and nipping for attention I reward the Behavior. BUT I reward it with something like me going away. "Yippie, you win! I bet I know what you would like! Your Reward is my disappearance." I know that it is semantics on one level but on another level it is really a completely different methodology. I don't do "penalty yards" (TM pending, Lana Horton). "You pull on the leash... Yippie! We get to walk backwards or stop." If the dog thinks I am an idiot... Great! "Bob, you fool. I am not trying to get you to walk backwards. Hmmmm... what do I need to do to get this idiot to stop going the wrong direction???" If my attitude remains that I am having a great time and even better if I am acting like I think that the Undesired Reward is what the dog wants I am not setting up a conflict. But I am motivating the dog to reexamine its choices. I am encouraging the dog to try and educate me as to the best thing to do. And when the dog figures out that biting and nipping me is the stupidest way to get me to play they will look for a better way. And when they think that the reward I offer is not worth the effort it weakens the probability of that behavior continuing to be offered. If a good friend wants to get you to go golfing every weekend and you hate golf you could tell them how boring it is and keep debating the point forever. Or you could enthusiastically head to the course wearing the most outrageous outfit you can put together at Goodwill. Hit the ball in the opposite direction because it is so much fun watching everyone's expression (besides you were never much of a conformist) Talk constantly. Hug them and scream with joy at every stroke they make and express your amazement at their skills. Then tell them what a wonderful time you have golfing with them and can't wait to do it again. I bet your friend won't be available for another round for months. Bob Bellamy leadapack@aol.com copyright 2002 Bob Bellamy
__________________ "The truth about an animal is far more beautiful than all the myths woven about it." Konrad Loranz |
09-21-2009, 05:42 AM | #8 |
YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Ohio
Posts: 896
| Thanks Yorkiemother! I have to say that working with our little guy has been a challenge. He does not conform to all the "right" things I have been trying with him. I have come to discover that training a puppy is like training a child. Every child is different so their discipline may be different from that of another child. I guess I just need to discover what works with him. Thanks for the article, it was a good reminder! |
09-21-2009, 05:50 AM | #9 |
No Longer A Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NEW YORK
Posts: 16,218
| Buddy always had a mouthing problem but never in the biting way. I did not allow it when he was a puppy, I always corrected him. However, today when we rough house, he does and I allow it. Wrong I know but he is so gentle when he does play like this. Being so much bigger than the average Yorkie he likes to play rough at times with me. He seems to know the difference of playing with me and playing with his girls, my two young granddaughter's. |
09-21-2009, 07:08 AM | #10 |
YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Ohio
Posts: 896
| I'm just worried that Reesie (our puppy) will get aggressive because of this. He does not seem to respond to the traditional means of correction. I need to find what what works to discipline him. |
09-22-2009, 06:34 AM | #11 | |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: North
Posts: 1,324
| Quote:
Which is basically ignoreing the bad and rewarding the good and the bad will get less. Jl
__________________ "The truth about an animal is far more beautiful than all the myths woven about it." Konrad Loranz | |
09-22-2009, 11:52 AM | #12 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: orange county, sunny cali
Posts: 37
| kona loved fingers and toes as a puppy, but i think at the time i had read something on yt about not letting them mouth you ... and i worried about her doing it to a kid when she got older and maybe them mistaken it for something else... so i went to petsmart or petco and bought her a mini barbel chew toy for puppies. it sort of resembles a bumpy finger on one side and has little ropes on the other...so when i would carry her around i would just hold that in my hand and she would chew on that instead of my thumb and as she got older it became a good fetch toy and the ropes were very entertaining to her too
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