well, the vet has indicated that I have a dominant puppy so some of my training techniques have to change..... she suggested that the focus on continually biting the owner needs to be dealt with....and told me that when something of this nature occurs or other clear signs of attempting to dominate the situation, to growl in a low voice and/or say no sternly.... then grab her by the scruff of the neck and push her to the ground on all fours with my weight over top and hold her until she stops squirming/screaming, ..... this may take a few minutes as she may try several times to get up and away........ this technique will most likely have to be used many times until it sinks in that the puppy is not the alpha dominant one in this relationship..... she says that if the puppy gets up from this and starts chewing/biting, to repeat it right away.... if she gets up and licks the owner or other submissive behavior, then she is learning..... I read this technique in a book I have as well "how to help your puppy grow up to be a wonderful dog" by Elizabeth Randolph...... they called it dominance gentling.... Also, she said, I am going to have to use all of the control measures I have at my disposal..... namely, leash and collar, the crate, and a fenced yard/area so that the puppy is not given more freedom than it requires/deserves.... it must earn its freedom and rewards in steps..... so now, I take her out on a leash in the yard instead of giving her freedom to run around and do her business... because she was not focused on doing her business, but instead was obsessed with eating, sticks, grass, moss, picking up rocks in her mouth etc,... she said to make sure that I give her lots of praise when she does things right...... and use Kong toys with peanut butter as a treat, when needed...... I had told her that sometimes after I bring her in from doing her business, and put her in her crate so that I can do other necessary outdoor stuff.... I will come back and she will have peed or pooped in her crate..... and so she thought the use of Kong stuffed with something that will get her attention would help with this issue.... sometimes, when I leash her, she tries to dominate the situation by rolling over and grabbing her leash and lays there so that I can't walk her, or she grabs the leash with her mouth and holds it.... so today I started using the dominance-gentling technique discussed above and it seemed to work...... I had asked the breeder for a gentle, laid-back personality in my puppy, but sometimes, if the breeder does not allow you first choice of puppy in the litter, you don't get to choose.... which happened to me... there were two females in this litter and a person before me had the choice.... and left me with this puppy .... so, I have my work cut out for me in trying to train this puppy to be less dominant and controlling.....
The theory is, there are no dominant dogs. I agree. Dog does what you allow him to do. What you teach him and reinforce to him, it will stay. With puppies every growl, bark, bite, pull on a lead...it is a game. You have to teach him limits.
Oh my goodness, I am shocked that your vet advised such an appalling and cruel way to manage a puppy's biting. Like @JenBainbridge says, puppies aren't dominant. The whole concept of an alpha dog is disproved and your vet is out of touch. She is advising you to manhandle your puppy who is just doing what comes naturally to her. If you take your vet's advice you will, without doubt, terrify your pup and make the problem 100 times worse and create, potentially, life-long problems. Your pup will stop biting, if she does, because she's terrified. Your pup is not grabbing her leash to try and dominate, she's playing because she's a puppy and that's what they do, or, she's unused to it and is uncomfortable so you need to gradually introduce it to her so that she learns to be comfortable with it. There are many links on here to information about force free, positive training and hopefully someone will come along and post them. Please please don't follow your vet's advice where it involves manhandling your pup - its wrong.
I forgot to write that what your vet said is a way police and army train their dogs where I come from. It is based on fear that dog developes towards the owner. Do NOT use this on your puppy. He will stop bitting in a few weeks time.
I sorry your vet scared and misinformed you with out dated ideas. Your puppy sounds lovely a little clever thing. Wanting to interact and play with you at every opportunity only trouble is being a puppy they only know how to play like puppies. It's all teeth at this age you have to teach her to be gentle with kindness and patience. I didn't get to pick my puppy either but my pups breeders litter was so good I was happy to get any of her puppies. Rory my pup was the worst bitey little devil ever he's grown up into a wonderful gentle loveable dog. He trusts me because I treated him gently and used positive techniques. If you look and read in the puppy section you will see the bouncy silliness biting is typical baby lab stuff. Honestly your puppy isn't being controlling or dominant she just wants to play but she doesn't understand you're not a dog. Please don't listen to your vet about this they may be a good vet but they are no behaviourist if you follow this advice you and your pup will be unhappy. Treating a young pup like you vet suggests is wrong do you think you could be so cruel and unkind?
Hi @Frosty12 it is my experience that vets generally know very little about dog training. In your case your vet knows not one thing that is correct about dog training. Please find another vet. If that is not possible, then let the vet stick to physiological matters.Find a good trainer or puppy school for the dog training, one that does not practice or preach debunked methods advocated by your vet.
I would definitely look for a new vet! Dogs are dogs. We do them a great disservice by attributing human qualities like "dominance" to them when they are just doing what comes naturally. Biting is a phase that they grow out of as long as you dont reinforce it, simply by briefly withdrawing your attention when they bite and encouraging them to bite/chew appropriate things. There may be a resurgence in mouthiness as a teen (my puppy at the moment!) but again... definitely not dominance. As for the lead... your puppy has no idea what it is. As far as your puppy is concerned it's just another thing to chew. Give it time, training and positive reinforcement and you will get there. And please dont try to physically dominate your dog. Positive reinforcement works, and scaring your dog can cause all sorts of problems down the track, including real aggression.
You don't say how old your puppy is (unless I missed it), but from the photo, she doesn't look very old. Your puppy is dealing with teething discomfort and is trying to alleviate it through counter pressure - which is why you offer her something more appropriate than YOU to get that counter pressure. A Nylabone or Deer Antler, a tough tug toy or a Frozen Kong in her crate. This part is true but not for the reasons given to you allegedly by your Vet - to house train her and to teach her to be alone and to ensure she gets enough rest and to avoid over-stimulation or her being over-tired which will lead to her frenzied biting you or others or to frenzied tears through your house overturning lamps and chairs or tearing down curtains, she should be crated. You needed a collar and a leash to train "potty on demand" in a designated outdoor spot FROM THE FIRST DAY HOME - after which she should have been given the freedom to run through your garden for the release of excess energy AND to benefit her muscles and cardio health. AND you could have been using that free time to begin focus and recall training...... How old is she and how long are you leaving her in the crate? If she is still very young and you are leaving her in there for too long, she may have no choice but to eliminate her waste there. At 15 weeks, our little boy is not left in the crate during the daytime for longer than two hours if I am home and for three hours if I must leave. He is also given a frozen Kong and a Nylabone to occupy him during that time. THIS is all normal behavior for a young puppy. You cannot just put a collar and leash on her and expect her to know how to behave. I have yet to have a puppy that didn't need to be trained that chewing on the leash was unacceptable. In fact, our 15 week old still has to be reminded to "drop it" when leashed. Your Breeder provided you with a puppy that is engaging in all the usual puppy behaviors. It is your Vet who allegedly has led you down the wrong path.
wow..... it looks like none of the puppy owners agree with my vet's advice.... to those that asked, my puppy is now 12 weeks old ..... and she does not stay in her crate for more than 1-2 hours at a time during the entire day.... she is either eating, being exercised/trained and/or going on a car ride into town where she is let out there as well for socialization..... my vet does have several decades of experience behind her and seems to be up to date on academic issues as she was also head of the Ontario vet association ..... I have read many articles on puppies and there are so many opinions on best training techniques for various issues it becomes difficult to know what is right.... for example, my breeder said re: biting..... that a mother dog would grab her puppy's nose and so she indicated in writing, to hit the puppy's nose when she is biting to let her know that actions have consequences, as most puppy's are stubborn..... my vet said that was wrong and that a mother dog would take the puppy by the scruff and put her weight on the puppy to hold her down so I should imitate that.... and she showed me how with my arm along the puppy so that she can't squirm and get up but has to relax before she is let up.... when she did that, the puppy did squirm about 3 different times and let out several screams before she finally gave up and then when let up by the vet, she went over to her and licked her instead of bit her..... I have also read that there is no such thing as a dog wanting to be controlling or alpha dog so there is no need to try and act as though you are the alpha dog in a pack.... certainly not trying to be unkind or cruel in anyway to a puppy.... I have had 2 previous labs so I believe I know how the breed tends to act in general and I have had dogs before that that were not labs..... not wanting to offend anybody on this forum.... just repeated what I was told..... and what was written in the book I have as well.... trying to do the right thing in bringing her up but like I say, with so much conflicting advice, it is hard to know what that is....
Your puppy is only 12 weeks old - she is teething. Her biting is not aggression. It is the result of teething pain (just like a human baby who is given something to chew on to help with the pain) and low impulse control. It is your job to provide her with something that will comfort her teething pain and to teach her impulse control just as it would be a human child. At twelve weeks of age, your puppy is learning to trust you. There are gentle ways to teach her to settle that don't include taking her to the ground forcefully over and over. She is likely still small enough for you to hold her in your arms like a baby with a gentle pressure of your palm telling her to settle which will build her trust in you. Being on her back in your arms is a "submission" posture. If she is too large for that now, you can sit with her on the floor and put her on her back on your legs again using a gentle pressure on her chest until she settles and relaxes. Or teach her to rollover on her back for a belly rub. All of these teach her to trust you without forcing her down to the ground. When she takes the lead into her mouth, give her an alternative item for her mouth - a few pieces of her kibble will do the trick. Say "drop it" and offer the kibble; when she drops the leash from her mouth, give her the kibble. Do this enough and she will NOT get into the habit of rewarding herself by chewing or pulling on the leash. I use indoor and outdoor trailing leads to "control" the puppy behaviors. Distraction, redirection, and protection are all covered by these trailing leads while still allowing the puppy to explore. The "drop it" command combined with a "leave it" command are the first things we teach a puppy after it comes home to us. A puppy already knows how to sit - but it doesn't have impulse control and needs to be taught appropriate house and yard and safe behaviors before it is taught "tricks". Some puppies appear to be missing the "don't dirty the den" gene; they will need extra house training to get through that. The first thing is to never place the puppy in there without first having the puppy go "potty on demand" (on leash with no movement or engaging with the puppy other than to repeat a "go potty" command). The second thing is to set a timer so that you have the puppy out for a potty and if needed, a frozen kong and a pop back into the crate to give you the time you need to get work done. If these don't solve the problem, then the puppy is tethered to me and a timer set to take the puppy out every 30 or 40 minutes for a few days and NOT crated during the day until it is doing its business outside every time BUT I have never tethered a puppy before it was 4 months/16 weeks old. Before that, it is usually an inability to hold their urine and poo based upon their age and NOT a behavior issue.
Yes there is conflicting advice @Frosty12 and your vet may well have decades of experience but she is way out of kilter with up to date views of training puppies. And surely, if a puppy "screams" whilst being manhandled then she is being hurt and this cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered as acceptable for a tiny pup?
I strongly agree with all the other posters, and just wanted to say @Frosty12, we aren't trying to have a go at you. We are genuinely trying to help you out with evidence based advice. I have had vet friends give me horrible advice about behaviour and training and I've realised that vets are (usually!) great at looking after your pet's physical health, but they aren't experts in animal learning. Just like us human doctors aren't teachers or psychologists. So I hope you dont take our advice the wrong way and continue with the dominance based stuff.
