Puppy with aggressive play?

Question

I just got a new puppy and she is extremely playful, which is great because I have two active daughters. The thing is, that when she bites in play she does it too hard. I don't know how to teach her to "play bite". She even scratches them when she jumps on them, I have cut her claws, but it doesn't work. I know that she is not trying to hurt them, she is just playing, but it causes my children harm and I can't allow it too much longer. Any advice?

Why is it that even this question causes negative remarks?

Answer 1

"Play biting" with humans should never be allowed. A puppy should learn that it is not acceptable to bite at human skin and toys should always be used with the puppy during play time. Your puppy isn't trying to hurt the children via the biting, it's how she played with her litter mates. She merely needs to learn that biting at people in play time is simply unacceptable behavior.

Here's a couple of ways to help with this...

1) When the puppy bites, grab her gently by the scruff of the neck (the back) and shake gently while say "No Bite" in a growl sounding tone. Once the puppy relaxes when you are holding the scruff, you can then let go as this is a sign of submission. This is the same way momma dog disciplined your puppy when she was still with the litter and is in a language she understands. You have to be vigilent about addressing the bite and NEVER allow it to go unaddressed at any time or you will confuse your puppy as to what is acceptable.

2) The other thing you can do is to begin slowly by reducing the pressure of the puppy's bite. When the puppy bites at you, let out an "ow,ow,ow" or "ouch" in a yelping sounding tone (like a puppy would sound if hurt). Most puppies will immediately stop the behavior as they understand they have "hurt" the one they are playing with. This is how your puppy's litter mates let her know when something she did was hurtful and thus she learned not to bite so hard with them. She will learn the same with people this way. Again, this is a language your puppy will understand.

As for the jumping up, the ability to stop this with your children has a little to do with how old they are. If they are old enuf, you can teach your children to immediately turn their backs on puppy and cross their arms and ignore her when she jumps. Then, when she returns to all 4's, they can turn around and then praise her for this. But again, this is consistency based and EVERYONE who comes into contact with your puppy must do the same thing... people in your home and those visiting. Our trainer suggested this method because it takes away the reward for the puppy jumping by ignoring her. She wants attention and will come to learn that it won't happen when she jumps up. We also use the command "off" with our puppy ("down" is often used by many, but if you wish to properly train your puppy, "down" is the command to lay down and using this word for both will confuse your pup).

And it's very important, that if your children are not old enuf to actually participate in proper training of your puppy, that they should never be left unattended together. You will have to issue the proper corrections not to jump up or bite if your children aren't old enuf to do so and you have to be with them when they are together at all times in order to do this. I'd say age varies from child to child, but that the age of 10 is probably old enuf for them to understand and correct "properly". They may get it at a younger age, but you have to make sure they do it the right way for the benefit and safety of your pup.

The suggestion above about the tool to "sand" the nails down is a great idea too. Our trainer actually suggested this as an alternative to actually cutting the nails. There's 2 kinds you can find... one is rechargable and one plugs into the wall. My trainer said the rechargable one is a little less noisy and worked better for her sound sensitive dogs. But basically all you do is take the little sanding block on the device and apply it to the nail tip to sand it down to an appropriate level and you won't have sharp nails like you do after triming.

Ofcourse, for all of the issues you have to address with your puppy, I would also highly recommend some training classes. A good trainer will take you a long way and help you learn how to handle your puppy's issues properly. We found our trainer by getting a few suggestions from our local Agility Club. I know Petsmarts offer classes, but they are pretty expensive too. The advantage to getting suggested from a dog oriented club, Agility, Obedience or Breed specific, is that these folks take their training very seriously and will suggest trainers they have used, know and trust. It's the best way to find one IMO and ours has been a perfect match. Ours doesn't advertise in the phone book, nor does she have a "facility" with overhead, so her prices are MUCH better, $50 for a 6 week course.

Good Luck with your puppy and just remember that determination on your part to train her properly will make her a well mannered pet and you will all be much happier with that!

Answer 2

Puppys play and bite and scratch. That is normal play for puppys. It is how they interact with each other.
Work on the biting thing by telling her in a firm voice NO BITE when she nips. As she gets older she will learn that the nipping is not acceptable behavior with humans. It is normal and accpetable with other dogs. They need to learn what is acceptable with humans.
As for the nail the more you cut the shaprer the nail will be unless you are using adremmel or filing the edges of the nail after cutting. When you clip the nail it leaves very shape edges and they can cut very easily. I use a power tool called a dremmel to trim nails. It files them off and they are not sharp.
You do not say how old the children are and what breed the dog is. They should not be together unsupervised and you should not be allowing them to play that rough with each other. Play biting is rough and small children should not be engaging in this aggressive type of game with the pup.

Answer 3

Llookbusy,
Puppy's will be puppy's. Get a squirt bottle and use it at the right times. This sometimes works. Give the puppy some time to come around, after all it is a puppy. If it don't you may need to take it to a kennel for proper training. Good luck.
TDCWH

Answer 4

You need to train her not to bite and if you have a problem traing her you need to get that dog in some obedience classes. After puppy's have obiedience training they are usually much better. When I got my dog several years ago the first thing I did was to take her to those classes. She turned out to be a much better dog and if you meet people with dogs get a group going as playing with other dogs will also help your dog.

Answer 5

if saying NO BITE doesnt work, let out an ouch. or yelp (like a dog would make) that will help her understands it hurts, if she does it continously, put her in a room/kennel by her self for a few minutes (depending on age) and ignore her if she goes to her cage everytime she bites, she will learn quickly not to do it!

puppy classes at petsmart are amazing, and you can take your daughters with you!

Answer 6

Enroll your puppy in obedience training. It will give you control over your dog before her behavior gets out of hand.

Answer 7

when she bites to hard you need to yelp or whine like dogs do. We did that with our first dog and it works. They realize they hurt you. Dogs can handle harder biting than humans can so she really doesn't understand that it's too hard.

Answer 8

This is what puppies do. Maybe you should have considered this before bringing a puppy into your life.

Answer 9

put your kids up for adoption