Some advise on play biteing

My 8 month old yorkie-poo loves to chew and bite on our hands, when we try to correct him it makes him want to do it all the more. Instead of licking when he greets you he wants to chew on your hands or pant leg or whatever he can get his mouth on. He does not bite hard but enough to be annoying. Anyone have any advice on how I can break him of this?

 

You might find this site on teaching bite inhibition helpful for biting during play:

http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm

If he is biting because he is very aroused/over-excited you could try decreasing the intensity of your greetings. Simply ingnoring the dog for about 5 minutes until he calms down upon arriving home and quietly and calmly greeting him might be helpful.

Another thing you could try is encouraging him to carry a toy when he greets you. A soon as you walk in, grab a toy (stuffed toys work well) and encourage him to carry it around. I did this with my dog when she was a puppy and 5 yrs. later she still scavenges around for a something to carry the second I walk through the door.

 

Ive always found that a quick stern NO and then ignore the dog works well in most cases. You have to be consistent though, its no good playing footsie or grabbing and pushing with your hands one minute and then expecting them not to carry on when youve had enough.

Pushing them away actually encourages them to bite either because they think its a game or they are asserting some dominance (which can become more aggressive rather than playing).

If after youve said NO and moved away or ignored the dog and he/she continues then put the dog in a place where he cant physically get to you, a crate or another room, only for a few minutes. Dont say anthing more, and do it immediately, when you let the dog out of the crate or back in the room dont say anything and give the dog a few minutes before interacting with him again otherwise the dog will associate coming back in with attention. The dog will get the idea that every time he bites at you its not fun and his attempt at getting your attention is actually resulting in no attention. It is important that while the dog is not biting but is just licking your hands or sitting calmy, playing with a toy in his mouth that you give him a lot of praise.....as soon as he bites again say No and withdraw attention. You have to be patient and perservere....keep in mind that for as long as hes been getting away with this youve basically been 'training' him to do it...that its okay, now you need to retrain or recondition him. It takes time.

Dogs need to bite things so he should have a variety of toys, things to chew on. Alternate them so he doesnt get bored with the same things, different textures, tastes etc is good.

Every dog Ive had understood "no bite" (emphasis on the "no" but they do learn what bite means).

Another way is distraction, if for example, say he is 'humping' every time you get up to move you can thrown a small treat away from you, as he moves towards the treat get up and do whatever you were going to do. If he comes after your legs after taking the treat then just tell him no again, remove him again if he continues. The 'humping' can become habit (especially if the dog is neutered early) so you need to break the habit, giving them something else to do at key triggers will usually work.

Keep in mind that if youve been handling any food the scent of the food will encourage him to want to bite at you....if you watch young pups with the mom (in the wild) they regurgitate food to feed the pups, with domestic dogs we usually feed the pups but that doesnt mean the mom is not doing it also...watch a litter of pups some time, they paw and mouth at the moms mouth...the food source....your hand is where the food is, theyre pawing and mouthing at the food source.

 

my friend had a similar problem w/her shihtzu puppy... she tried all kinds of stuff, then finally tried the water squirt bottle and squirted him everytime he bit her... he eventually stopped

 

Yeah water bottle are always good, also Bitter Apple.