Rachel: how do I stop by border collie puppy from biting me?
I have a 9-week old border collie puppy and I was wondering if anyone could give any tips on training her not to bite me or other people
I know this is probably a puppy thing but she is starting to look aggressive when she does it and really goes for you, I have friends with young kids and I don't want her going for them.
I have tried a number of things like yelping ouch (pretending I'm another dog) and walking out of the room for a bit. also shouted no and rattling a bottle with coins in to startle her but nothing seems to be working and she seems to be getting worse with it.
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Answers and Views:
Answer by Jazzy
If she is biting your hands in playing pull hands back so NO really loud. Stop playing with her for a little while. This worked with my dogs.
Answer by Phil
There is a lovely method here that stops it dead. Put on some thick gloves and play with the puppy. When she bites you grab the bottom jaw behind the teeth and hold it for ten-twenty seconds … hold it hard but don't damage the dog. Do this a few times each time extending the time longer … sometimes it will take you holding her lower jaw for up to two minutes. This is the quickest method I know of. Puppies tend to have small mouths so you might just place your thumb behind the teeth and the rest of your hands under the jaw. Hold tight no matter how much she struggles….do this every time she bites and it will stop.
I wouldn't suggest it without the gloves as their teeth can be sharp :) but it is behind the teeth you want, it keeps their mouth open and ajar making it very uncomfortable for the dog. This is the method my grandfather taught me and have used since a child and it has always worked. Remember not to grab the teeth, you want the gums, just the bottom jaw with one or two fingers behind the back teeth.
Answer by eharri3
Set a rule: Playtime is allowed only when you have a tug toy in your hand, and at no other time whatsoever. This goes for you, children, and all guests. Nobody under any circumstances encourages playful or excited behavior without holding the tug toy. This makes the rules very clear: The dog should be calm, not bite, and remain on all fours in all other situations. This way you can correct for biting without any confusion on the dog's part, wherein you were playing and romping and wrestling and doing a bunch of other stuff leading up to the correction that makes it hard for them to figure out what exactly it is that they did wrong.
During playtime, present the toy. It is the ONLY time ever when they were allowed to mouth or bite anything without being corrected. Eventually, you'll know you're making progress when you can leave the toy across the room and start playing. You'll see the biting instinct kick in and the dog goes and grabs for the toy rather than biting you.
Answer by Sam
Use a newspaper …. roll it up and shred the end. It is the noise that affects most. Slap her on the nose with it a few times shouting a little and make sure the newspaper in not too dense and is shredded at the end a little. It should act like a gentle smack. The longer you leave the puppy in this behavior the worse and the harder it will get to change. Also, run her off the sofa with a newspaper rolled and shredded every time she jumps up on it.
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Your dog owns your house a little I think … you must show more dominance…. walking through doors first … putting her food down but making her wait …. putting her in another room and even chaining her up for 20 minutes would also help …. but not for too long … although I have shut my dogs in the shed a few times …. and they hate to be alone so it works well.
Dog memories aren't so long…. but you need to find your puppies weak point … what does she fear that you can do …. high pitched noises can be used … there are lots of methods …. just remember to increase the level of punishment slowly …. don't be cruel but don't be weak either … no matter the size of your dog and how loving it is still a dog that needs to be lightly or heavily dominated … you must be a leader …. which is usually the only problem in any household with any dog ( except for cruelty ) be stronger than her ….. she will give in eventually ...
Know better? Give your own answer to this question!
Gauge Stuart says
Hey I see that you need some sort of advise that will give you tips and tricks to help your dog become fully trained and more healthy. Recently one of my brothers really needed some advice on how to train his dog. He followed the dog training online course to successfully have a fully trained dog in a few weeks.
Hawkeye85 says
Do not mean to be rude but if she started this behaviour and it is continuing, there is something wrong with your method of training. It sounds like you are not being constant, things do not change straight away and it is best that you do not tease or lack in the discipline department.
Stick to one training method for now
Say NO, firm and loud do not laugh or call her by her name
DO NOT comfort her or pat her when she is disciplined
When she bites you take HER out of the room and away from attention, do not say anything at all, just do it and wait for a few minutes and let her back in. Do not fuss either. Be consistent.
DO NOT let anyone tease her or teach her any different while training
Children are renowned for teasing and pulling and hurting dogs so ALWAYS have an eye on the behaviour of both the pup and the children, do not leave them alone. If you have any problems remove the pup and put it in a room (hall, toilet, kitchen) with its toys and bedding.
You have to secure a bond between yourself and a dog with constant training, a dog will actually behave better the more you do with it. Collies are more active than other dogs and they are one of the more intelligent they will pick up things and learn. The are also quick to get bored no matter how young or old they are, you need to make sure that you give it good decent walks, toys and activities like hide and seek, finding things and even going to agility classes.
You can try distraction where you play with a toy with them instead of biting your hand.
Ignore it by turning your back and keeping your hands out of the way you keep on doing this till the pup gets the message that biting does not get you attention
Reward GOOD behaviour and make fuss.
For a last resort try reverse psychology by pressing the pups gums against her teeth so it hurts EVERY time she hurts you and ignore her, BUT if you are inexperienced I suggest that you do not do it.
Keep them in their place, provide there little space and do not spoil them, love your dog yes but humanising and spoiling ruins a dog. You are the dominant not her and you have to reinforce that with training and discipline!!
Be careful what you feed them, if you feed them a high energy feed and do not really exercise them hard you will face a very hyper dog.
Spaying DOES calm down a dog and can be trained better which I suggest you do no matter what after her first season.
I have raised working collies and have had them all at different ages and in most cases had to retrain the older once when I have got them. There is no excuse, if something goes wrong with any of my collies it is something I am doing wrong.
Jakob Lauritzen says
Is it when you're running about? This can sometimes happen, as their instinct is to herd. Remember to give them a good telling off, to get the message across that they have been bad. "Bad Dog" works well. Don't physically harm them, but try standing up tall and walking into them, they need to be scared of what you will do if they behave badly. It may take a day or two of telling off's, but they will begin to understand that what they are doing is bad. Make sure they are scared of you when they have been bad.
rupinder says
Give her a rubber bone.
lilly 3 boys and pre says
U can get bottles of puressured air (like hair spray but just air). Dogs don't like it but it doesn't hurt them. Don't spray near eyes. Good luck