I have a 3 month old Shihpoo Need help with biting

CoCo's Mom · Jul 20, 2004

I am new and this forum has helped me so much over the past 6 weeks. My female poo is 3 months old today and she had her first trim from a groomer. When CoCo plays she likes to bite but usually not very hard. She apparently did not like the groomer holding her face and bit her hard. CoCo also likes to rush for your face when playing. How do I break her of this habit? I brushed her everyday. Usually she likes to gnaw on my finger (again not hard) or one of her rubber bones while I am brushing her. The groomer said I need to break her of biting or she will become ungroomable. I never thought I could love a dog so much. Right now she owns two humans(my husband and I) and I probably should correct that before she gets too much older. Help!!

nern · Jul 20, 2004

During play when she rushes towards your face you should end the play session, maybe say Ouch! as well before ending it. Wait a few minutes and try again but always end the play session when she goes for your face.
For grooming, you can practice on her at home. Touch her feet, hold her legs and her muzzle and give praise/treat for this when she remains calm. Doing this a for a few minutes each day should help her get used to it. If possible have your husband do this too and a few friends or family members once you get her used to you touching her and holding her muzzle, ect. This should help her remain calm during grooming regardless of who is doing the grooming.
My toy poodle is very aggressive when he goes to the groomer. He must be muzzled and has bitten a groomer and even drew blood once. I can't groom him myself at all but I have been practicing touching him (he especially goes nuts if you touch his feet) and praising him for remaining calm. He is 8yrs old and I did'nt get him until he was 6yrs old so its going to take a lot of practice on my part.
Since your dog is still just a puppy I think things might be a little easier. Best of luck.

MyBabyShihPoo · Jul 20, 2004

WELCOME to AusPet Coco's Mom!!!

Nern gave some great advice!!! :y_the_best:

You're right, the biting needs to stop now...no exceptions! If your pup isn't taught that biting is unacceptable, the problem will worsen to a point where it will be very difficult to break, and the biting could become severe!

Even gnawing at you fingers should be unacceptable. Basically, any time her teeth touch your skin should be considered biting. Even though she didn't technically "bite" you, it's not a habit that you should allow only b/c it will eventually turn into biting.

Biting is an issue that's been discussed here quite often, so I'll copy and paste some of my responses from previous threads concerning this issue so you can read a little more about it:

There is a difference between biting out of aggression and biting due to teething. In either scenario, the biting behavior does need to be stopped. But, each scenario should be treated differently.
To explain:

When your dog bites you out of aggression, let out a loud, high-pitched yelp, walk away, and COMPLETELY ignore him/her. Yelping when your dog bites you mimics the exact nature of what dogs do when bit too hard by another dog (or gets hurt). This lets your dog know in his/her "language" that the bite hurt and was unacceptable. Walking away from the dog and completely ignoring him/her takes away what is so important to every dog, and that is attention. Some dogs catch on very quickly, while others take a little longer, but this method is very effective!

When your dog is sitting by you and starts "nibbling" at your hand, in a firm voice say "no" and hand him/her a chew, bone, etc. This requires that you always have a chew, bone, etc. near by so you can immediately replace your hand with some kind of chew for your dog. If your dog keeps going for your hand, even with the chew that you gave him right in front of him, that is when you need to start using the yelp, walk away, and ignore technique.

*Important: When you see your dog chewing on appropriate items, be sure to reward him!

As I always say, patience and persistence is VERY important when dealing with your dog!!!

Good Luck!
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Here is what I would recommend doing to help break your pom of his habit:

A) Your pom is needing to learn what is referred to as bite inhibition. When your pom bites you, let out a loud, high-pitched yelp, walk away, and COMPLETELY ignore him/her. Yelping when your dog bites you mimics the exact nature of what dogs do when bit too hard by another dog (or gets hurt). You have probably heard your pom or chi yelp when a fight breaks out, that is the kind of sound you want to try and make. This lets your dog know in his/her "language" that the bite hurt and was unacceptable. Walking away from the dog and completely ignoring him/her takes away what is so important to every dog, and that is attention. Some dogs catch on very quickly, while others take a little longer, but this method is indeed very effective!

B) Now you might ask, what if he keeps biting me after I yelp and walk away? If your dog does not respond to your yelp, and continues biting, then he needs to be removed from the situation. To do this, you simply put him in another room for a couple of minutes (sort of like a time-out). The room you place him in must not contain any individuals. He needs to be in there alone, so he does not have the opportunity to bite someone else. NOTE: DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT PUT HIM IN A CRATE as a form of punishment!!!

C) After you have yelped, give him a bone or some sort of chew. When he starts biting/chewing at the bone or chew, praise him as to let him know that he is now exhibiting the desired and correct behavior! He will soon catch on and realize that chewing on bones/chews is acceptable, but with humans, it is not. You made mention of the fact that your pom doesn't seem to be incredibly interested in the smoked bones. I would go out and buy many different types of bones and chews to see which varieties he likes best; he is bound to like some of them out there. I know with my two pups, they only like certain types of bones, but there is a huge variety of bones out there, so I always have several types of bones and chews for them that they particularly like. One other note while on the topic of bones and chews, try to only have one type of bone out at a time. If you put several varieties out for your pom, he will probably chew at each one of them, then get bored of each of them. Give him one type, once he is finished with it, give him another type, etc.

D) If you haven't done so already, I would highly recommend enrolling him in a high quality obedience/training class that includes "puppy playtime." During the time when the dogs play with one another, they are inadvertently learning bite inhibition from their play. How? Well, play among dogs is often inclusive of "play biting," and when one dog accidentally bites another dog too hard, the dog who was bitten too hard will let out a yelp. That yelp signals to the other dog that his/her bite was not tolerable and won't be accepted! (Hence, this is why you want to mimic that behavior as I mentioned up above in point A)

Biting is a very natural behavior for a dog to exhibit, but that is not to say that it is admissible! Therefore, you need to be very persistent in correcting the behavior when it does happen. I will forewarn you, it may take some significant time, but the goal is most definitely achievable!!!

Best of Luck!

Quick note~ Never ever hit him when he bites. Hitting will cause further and more significant problems!!!
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Remember, whenever he bites, let out a loud high-pitched yelp, get up and leave the room for several minutes (if there is a door you can shut to keep him away from you do so). If there is not a door you can shut to keep him away from you, and he follows you when you get up to leave, don't look at him, don't talk to him, and don't pet him...basically, no form of contact for those few minutes. (Although, if at all possible, I would recommend going into a room where you can shut the door, that way he truly dose lose all contact...I think it works a little better that way!) He will soon realize that when he bites, he will lose what is most important to him, and that is attention.

Wishing you the best of luck!
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I hope that helps you out a bit!

MonsterBailey · Jul 22, 2004

Great advice guys!!!

Brian · Jul 22, 2004

Brian

Hi and Welcome !!

Very great advice!

But if nothing stops her from going for your face, try rubbing a tiny bit of Tiger Balm on your nose and let her have it. I don't think it will hurt her but just the smell of it will sure send her flying away. Don't apply it near your eyes as it may burn.

Good Luck

Brian

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