Licking and Play Biting Looking for suggestions. My little girl (Lily, 8 months old) has always licked and play bites A LOT. She seems obsessive about it. We have and still do try many different things, give her a favorite toy, scold, put her in her cage, grab the hair under her mouth when she is biting, she seems to retaliate and become more aggressive with the biting but happy. Always seems happy. I of course adore my Lily but really would like some help with this issue. |
Hi and welcome to Yorkie Talk. Sometimes when they are taken from their Mom's at too early of and age they do not learn proper doggie manners. When she bites try crying out in pain with an ouch and disengaging from play so she knows she hurt you and that when she does that she loses her playmate. I think that pulling on the hair would be seen as playing and you biting back with your hands so that reinforces play biting. Time outs in the cage help break the pattern but I would worry that you make the cage less of a home and more of a punishment so they may come to not like going in their cage as it is the "punishment room" It is a fine line training and not breaking their sweet feisty spirits. Hopefully others will add their advice. |
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Dont punish by hair pulling. All puppies know how to do is touch by their mouths. They are worse about bitting while teething. When boo does that i tell him dont bite. He lightens up then licks. Try giving her teething type chews. When she gets carried away put the toy in her mouth. It will take patience and repitition for her to learn. My papalon was horrible about bitting. Never had a dog do that. After two weeks i was ready to give her back to the breeder. But to me its like getting rid of a child who misbehaves. So i kept working with her and she learned to lighten up when i said dont bite. She still has to be told it today and shes three years old. Now when i say it she stops and licks me. |
Please remember you are dealing with a terrier. Terriers and Yorkshire's in particular, were bred to kill rodents and that genetic predisposition lives on in them today. Training them not to bite is not complicated but you do have to be careful not to actually stimulate their minds into more biting. If your dog sinks it's teeth into your hand don't react. Let your hand go limp and use your other hand to remove the teeth gently while giving a firm "NO!" No physical punishment is necessary. If you want to use a time out you can but a dog that knows it has crossed the line with it's human has usually been punished enough. When you move your hand while the dog is biting you it stimulates the pup's hunting instincts to shake. Terriers shake their prey. When you try to dislodge your hand from it's mouth it naturally clamps tighter and tires to go to into a shake. This isn't because it is mean. It is just an instinct. You think you are not prey? An untrained terrier sees a moving hand as 'time to practice killing a rodent.' Just like any young animal they "practice" their inborn skills as they are growing. Just because we buy them does not stop the process of maturing their inborn instincts. I didn't know much about terriers when Gracie was a puppy. She would growl and bare her teeth when she was "playing." I thought we had some kind of psyco puppy! When we learned to redirect her inborn instincts toward more suitable targets we no longer had bitten fingers and hands. We started giving her more exercise and making sure we didn't let her biting instinct get stimulate by inappropriate play or movements that she would construe as a challenge. We also got her some 12" bully sticks. They were and still are bigger than she is but that means nothing to her. Dogs, and puppies in particular, are driven to use their mouths. They can't help it. It is instinct and they have those darn teeth bothering them as well When Gracie got her bully sticks she was able to get the mouthing thing out of her system by chewing the sticks and she no longer had so much desire to chew on people and other objects around the house that she consistently was seeking out. The sticks are 100% natural, baked and totally digestible. They are hard so it takes some chewing to soften them. She has never been able to actually bite a piece off but enjoys trying really hard. Once the one end is softened she has usually had enough chewing for the time being. If you buy them don't buy the cheapest because many times they are too soft. I have heard from various trainers that the licking thing can be learned from the mother dog, especially when she has been confined for long periods of time. Giving a firm "NO!" and then redirecting the dog's attention can help break that habit. Some dogs that don't have humans to lick will lick themselves. Continually breaking that cycle with a firm "no" and then redirecting will help set up new patterns in the brain. When they have started licking they usually really need someone to help them to stop because of the pattern set up in the brain. Rewarding the correct behavior will also reenforce the training. |
Ugghh....one step forward, two steps back Every since I've rescued a stray kitten, Dutch has decided that she wants to potty wherever she wants to. So we have gone back to basics, tether to me or leash to a chair when I am on the couch watching tv. She has very little roaming freedom. She sleeps in her expen and night. I take her to potty pad with her favorite treat every few hours or so. She does potty on her potty pad so we have that part down. She is even doing a great job of going to her potty pad on her own....perfect. She had gone two days without any accidents and then yesterday she 3 in a row.....urggggh. I figured since she had already potty, I would give her a little more freedom time. Now what I have notice is that she seems to only have these accidents when the kitty is not in her room and is roaming around the house. For her own protection, I've been keeping her in the guest room when I am out of the house (she gets into everything). As soon as I let the kitty out, Dutch (had 3 accidents). I have found the kitty a home and she will be leaving on Sunday. I am keeping my fingers crossed that is was the kitty that was causing her to potty anywhere she likes (territorial marking maybe???). The kitty is litter box trained and and I have not seen her pottying anywhere other than the litter box. |
Thank you very much for your advice. Please know that I do not ever hurt my baby, it was just a little pull on the hair of her bottom lip but will stop doing that. We have continually told her NO firmly and tried redirecting her attention when she obsessively licks and bites, she could care less. I will never give up on training her, I will keep trying. She is a very very busy and happy little girl who I adore more than I ever could have imagined. |
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Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to get them back on track when they go off their training. Usually tethering and treats for rewards are very good methods of reinforcing the right behavior. |
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