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| My Spawn of Satan |
Looks can be deceiving. They look so darn cute and cuddly whilst you
fawn over them in photos, television commercials, movies and when you bring
them home. You are so excited to welcome this new family member, this new
bundle of joy home. However, after pup settles in, you quickly realise that you
may have gotten in way over your head when that precious ball of fluff starts
utilising those razor, sharp teeth.
Growling as pup pulls on your pant legs. Lunging as pup
tries to maul your face off and hump your leg at the same time. Pup pierces
those cursed teeth into your skin and draws blood. With brown eyes full of
determination and persistence, you know your pup is relentless in trying to
brutally murder you. You are convinced that you have brought home the Spawn of
Satan.
Guess what? It is completely
normal. It is also an extremely important phase. This is when you teach bite inhibition.
Pup just wants to play and have fun!
If you ever observe a litter of pups, they look vicious and aggressive.
They growl, nip, lunge and bite.
Sound familiar?
You are correct if you have realised the connection: pup
thinks you are a littermate!
For all the following suggestions, it is vital that you stay calm. Everyone in the household
must be consistent and confident with how this behaviour is addressed. If pup receives instructions/corrections from you to
not bite but other members are saying that it is okay or are not handling the
situation in the same manner (screaming, running around, etc), pup can be very
confused as to what you want him/her to do.
Here are a few suggestions you can try:
1. IGNORE
I know, I know. Pup lunging at your face, ripping holes in
your clothes and biting your skin can be painful! Try wearing boots and long
pants (jeans might be preferable) during this horrid phase. You can also try
rubbing Vicks Vaporub on yourself to deter pup from biting. With this rub, do not apply to pup. Personally, I have
never tried this myself, but our previous trainer recommended this.
Be a tree. Stand still. Arms crossed. Stare at the sky.
Ignore pup.
When pup is calm and no longer biting, you can resume.
2. OVERTIRED
Ever raised kids? Remember how horrible they were when they
were too tired and were too stubborn to go to sleep? Pups and kids are not so
different. Some pups are great and fall asleep whenever they are tired. Others,
not so much. Bobby was in the latter and he would not fall asleep on his own
accord.
We had to crate him
to force him to nap. When he woke up, he was a million times better
behaved. Remember at this age, puppies are still babies and need their sleep. We organised a sleeping schedule and followed it religiously. Remember, they are going through a rapid growth phase and need energy to feel
revitalised. They need to sleep.
3. REDIRECT
When pup lunges or starts biting you, shove a toy in pup’s
mouth. Most likely, pup will spit the toy out and come charging back. The aim
of this method is to show what pup can chew on. Rinse and repeat.
Personally, what I did, was distract with a high value,
smelly treat. I would wave it under his nose and he would stop. I commanded a
“watch me,” he would obey and I would give him a simple command. This was
usually a sit and paw. I rewarded for this and afterwards, offered a toy to him
when he was in a calmer state of mind. If he took it, I praised, praised and
praised.
Yep, I sounded like a hooligan.
4. LIP CURL
This is a popular method I see recommended often. Basically,
when pup bites, you fold their lip over their teeth until they whine whilst
saying a stern “no bite.” The aim of this is to tell pup that when pup bites
you, you bite back.
Bobby came back with
a vengeance when I tried this and I wasn't a fan. I found it difficult to fold
his lip over his teeth when he was being a maniac. It can give you quick results
if you time it and do it correctly.
I believe that when pup comes back for more, you just rinse and repeat until
s/he learns that every time s/he bites, you bite back.
5. REWARD FOR WHAT YOU WANT
When pup is chewing on his own toys, reward for the
behaviour! I would randomly drop a treat when Bobby chewed on his own toys and
he soon reached the point where he would carry toys around. If I didn't have
treats, I would enthusiastically praise.
Over time, he was rewarded so often for this behaviour that
he would deliberately go and find a toy to carry before coming over to greet
me.
6. LET PUP MOUTH
I know, it sounds very strange but this is what worked for
me. I would first teach the “gentle” command by holding a treat between two
fingers. He was welcome to mouth, nip, lick and nudge but if he bit painfully,
I would withdraw my hand and offer it again. If he bit, hand and treat was
withdrawn. He only got it when he was licking, being gentle with his teeth and
taking it nicely.
This teaches pup that licking = treats!
I would then put this to the test by letting Bobby mouth my
hand and arm. If he bit down painfully, I would say a stern “no bite” and he
would resort to licking. If he did, I rewarded. Initially, I allowed teeth on
skin as long as he did not hurt me. Eventually, I phased it away to no teeth on
skin ever.
7. TEACH PUP TO BE CALM
At the start, it was hard to distract Bobby without a high
value treat and even then, he would ignore me and go psycho. I started working
on teaching him calm behaviours, anticipated
when he was going to go into crazy mode
and acted before he did.
Play dead seems
like just a cool, fun trick to teach your dog, right? I found that it has
another useful application as well. When I “banged” him, he would fall on his
side as trained. However, I would only release and reward him when he calmed. I
observed his breathing and when it slowed to a calmer pace, I released him.
Head down is
another command to calm pup down. This involves getting pup into a “down”
position and then getting pup to put his head onto the ground and only to move
when released.
Unless your pup has bulletproof obedience, this is a
technique that has to be done before
pup goes into psycho mode. If s/he is already in the zone, it’s next to nothing
that it will work.
8. YELP
This method involves making a sudden, high pitched yelp when
pup bites. The yelp imitates the cry that a littermate would make when the play
gets too rough and the bite gets too hard. When done effectively, this stops
play and the pup that cries will leave and take a break.
9. GAG/APPLY PRESSURE
Both these methods are similar so I grouped them together.
Gagging involves pushing a fist down pup’s throat with a stern, “no bite.”
Applying pressure involves pressing a finger down onto pup’s tongue with a
stern, “no bite.”
Note: these methods are not
intended to harm but to make pup
feel uncomfortable.
Do not overdo it.
10. ASK FOR HELP
Enrol you and your pup in puppy preschool. Most of the time,
training is for you! If you find a good class and trainer, the trainer will
teach you how to teach your puppy. If you got your pup from a reputable
breeder, ask your breeder for help!
Remember, they are dog owners too and have raised many pups
over the years. They have experience and knowledge to guide you through this
phase. With us, our breeder gave us lots of moral support and much needed
encouragement and reassurance that we were doing things right and just needed
to stick to it.
Your vet may be able to help as well.
11. GET OFF THE FLOOR
It’s tempting to get down onto the floor to play and
interact with your pup. However, you might find that this often riles them up.
The solution? Get off the floor! Try crouching or sitting on a chair so you can
easily stand up if pup gets too rowdy.
When the biting is curbed, it’s alright to get back down. It
is only temporary. Bobby is now a lap dog. A big lap dog but a lap dog
nonetheless. However, as a young pup, he loved chewing me up when I was on the
ground. Nowadays, he enjoys carrying a toy over to chew on. He is welcome to do
so but must obey the “off” command. After all, he’s not exactly a pomeranian!
12. CHANGE YOUR MINDSET
I know, I know. It's hard to stop voicing or thinking,
“I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!” whenever you see or feel as if you are
forced to interact with your horrible pup. You have to realise that pup is still just a baby and does not know
what you want from him or her.
You may have to repeat it a hundred times or even ten
thousand before you finally see that pup is just beginning to grasp the idea
that biting is not okay. Consistency is the key! Don’t make the same mistake as
I did and cycle through each method for a day and get frustrated with him not
knowing that I do not appreciate the biting.
Afterwards, it might take another thousand until pup knows that biting people is not okay!
Pick a method or two and stick to it! I cannot stress this enough. Over time, you will see
improvement. Bobby was a dreadful, tear inducing biter for MONTHS. He was at
his worst at 12-16 weeks. Absolutely horrible.
If you feel stressed out and frustrated, put pup in crate
and take a short break. Dogs are very in tune to our body language and you are
doing no favours by expressing your frustration. Go and enjoy a slice of cake,
an ice-cream, a coffee and listen to some calming music. Give pup a frozen Kong
to occupy himself with. This should give you an hour of peace. When you feel
ready, try again.
We managed to curb the biting at around 6 months and now at
13 months, he is becoming such a joy. Yes, he is still learning. Yes, he does have training issues we
are working through but he is becoming such a pleasure to have.
As a young puppy, we were convinced we didn’t just have the
“spawn of Satan” but we had the devil himself!
He was a biting, chomping terror. Puppies are cute so you don't kill them. More than once, he made us question whether
we were really the right home for a Lab. More than once, we considered giving
him back to the breeder and telling her that we were just not ready. Thank
goodness that we did not!
With a perpetually wide smile, a wiggling body and a wagging
tail strong enough to tip a cruise ship with one whack, he has brought so much
joy into our lives. I can actually picture growing old with him and relaxing at
an outdoor café.
THINGS WILL GET BETTER! This too shall pass.
No matter how it feels today, nothing lasts forever.
Puppyhood can be a challenge but enjoy it as much as you
can. They grow up so fast and you will find that time will race by and before
you know it, you will be lounging with your greying dog and wondering where the
time has gone. When the time comes, you will give an arm and a leg to do this
all over again.
Remember, patience, consistency, love and time is the key to
surviving puppyhood. You get back the amount of effort you put in.
And with that, I will leave you with a quote from Marley and
Me by John Grogan:
“A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes.
Status symbols mean nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A
dog judges others not by their colour or creed or class but by who they are
inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate,
clever or dull. Give him your heart and
he will give you his.”
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