New Foster Puppy

[dragonflymuse]

Hi all :) Last week I took in a foster puppy. It has been a while since I had to live through the puppy years and am having a difficult time getting him to stop the play biting. My usual techniques (shouting 'OW!', withholding attention, redirection to a better chew toy than my arm) aren't working as well with this little guy as they have for my

Comments

[falnfenix]

heh. sounds like a dobergator. i've lived through two Doberman puppyhoods in three years.

the *only* thing that worked with our persistent boy? removing self from the situation. meaning you leave the room and shut the door for a minute, just long enough for pup to realize you've taken away his favorite chew toy.

[franklanguage]

Dobergator! I can't stop laughing!

There's a min-pin in the dog run I used to greet when he was a puppy, sticking my whole hand in his mouth-stating I always let puppies mouth my hand, since it's a developmental phase, yada yada-until the pup got nasty and started going for my hand to try and take a chunk out of it!

Dobergator!

[falnfenix]

yup, dobergators unless they have those demon needle baby teeth, in which case they're doberSHARKS...because they sortof do drive-by mouthings, just like sharks.

they also earned the nickname dobergoats due to frequently eating things they shouldn't.

ah, the Doberman Pinscher. will never be without one, even if they drive me absolutely mad.

[varushka]

The techniques I used with my own dogs and foster dogs is what Dr. Ian Dunbar recommends for teaching bite inhibition and a soft mouth.

Kikopup on YouTube has a good video tutorial on inhibiting mouthiness and biting. Her focus is on clicker training and rewarding the behavior you want. Also she recommends asking the dog for behaviors that are incompatible with mouthing or biting so the dog isn't practicing the behavior you don't want