3 month old lab puppy won’t stop biting!

I wouldn't swap it for the world if we don't go through it we don't get the dog. The bad ones are rite if passage and the good ones who keep their teeth to themselves are saints. Rory was bitey but he had colitis and was on steroids in pain and hungry a lot of the time. Hes the loveliest dog now so affectionate cuddly and just sweet. I'd do it again in a minute but obviously I stock up on garden gloves and thick jumpers

 

Just keep them close to hand

 

Why do people take everything completely out of context?

My puppy has play times when he is not tethered to me. He runs wildly chasing things, and generally being the wild dog of the Serengeti, and his middle name is Baby Wiggley. Of course out doors would be fine right now, except its 2 degrees out there, and there is 2.5 feet of snow on the ground.

But its not Twaddle. it comes from two respected Positive Reinforcement Specialists who have written famous books. One is Paul Owens in THE PUPPY WHISPERER, and the other is Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz in TRAINING THE BEST DOG EVER. Dawn trained dogs for Senator Ted Kennedy and Barack Obama.

Training your dog initially to eat from your hands is a time honored technique to get the dog to understand who is providing food to them, and the same time developing soft mouth. You put your hands over the dog’s bowl, and you put the food into your hands. The dog eats the food out of your hands. Then you take a bit more and keep doing that until its all gone. The dog must learn not to be possessive of its food, and that its OK for you to take the food. The last thing you want is a dog who is possessive of his food.

Before you feed him out of your hands, he must sit. In fact he learns he must sit for everything.

Please don’t take things out of context before you have the big picture.

 

Dogs are not stupid, and as soon as you give them their bowl of food, they know exactly who is feeding them, and where their food comes from. Why having to eat from your hands should develop a soft mouth is a complete mystery to me. Showing a dog that you can and will take food out of its bowl will not teach it not to be possessive, why should it? It is much more likely to make the dog nervous and start resource guarding.

My dogs always sit before they get their food. And time-honored does not necessarily equate with good... as we all know.

That is not what you said in your previous post, actually you said 'This means that you keep him tethered to you at all times'. It is the exact opposite of how I train my dogs, which is that they follow me around indoors and out because they want to, because they are bonded with me and they know that all good things, walks, training, games, food and fun, come from me. Not because they are tethered to me...

 

The best way to stop dogs being possessive of food is to leave them completely undisturbed when they are eating. This will give them the confidence to know that their food is always theirs and there is no need whatsoever to guard it.

If your dog is already a food guarder then this is the best advice -
https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-dog-growling-over-food/
.

 

Why?

 

Indeed !

 

One of ours was a biter and would go on the mad tears around the house (she pulled drapes and rods down on one mad tear!).

Once I'd reached the end of my tether (pun intended), I made it a point to sit with her on the floor holding her tightly in my arms and using my chin on the top of her head as I'd seen my older Lab do with her to stop her biting and tormenting her. I "loved" on her by moving my chin in a caressing manner saying "love mommy". She'd of course wiggle out of my arms and catch me somewhere with her teeth drawing blood. "No BITE" I'd say and get her back under control and begin the process again....with the second bite, she went in her crate for two to three minutes and then back out to do it all over again. And I kept the bandaids and Neosporin at the ready for after....

I have no memory of how long I did this, but my husband said it was about three days; I added this to my daily training routine (free play, sit, down, shake training) which I do for a few minutes twice each day and before her nap time so at least I knew that some of her puppy energy had been used up. At some point (perhaps three days?), she suddenly stopped biting me and did what I had been asking her to do....love Mommy.

My Mom has a 16 week old Lab at the moment with whom she is employing this technique after exhausting herself for the past month trying everything else. I'm hoping that it works for her as it did for me....she also has the bandaids and Neosporin at the ready for after....

The mad tears through the house continued for a bit longer and her accidentally drawing blood when putting your arm in her mouth at a greeting is still something that we deal with on occasion.

 

Just because something is in a book doesn't mean it isn't twaddle . Suggesting that tethering your dog to you and that they get nothing unless they do something for you is very old fashioned and not something that modern trainers would advocate as a good way to train a puppy. I see from the internet that Dawn passed away in 2011 so it is more than likely that her book has not been reviewed and updated. That she trained dogs for Ted Kennedy and Barack Obama really is neither here or there - she was a dog trainer . Paul Owens is a cross over trainer (used punishment but converted to positive methods) of many years standing.
; unfortunately that doesn't mean he is in step with modern methods. I've looked but couldn't find their credentials as trainers anywhere as I like to know a trainer/behaviourists background before I consider recommending them.

 

Our female black lab/golden retriever mix is now 13 weeks old. We have had her since 5 weeks as the mother's owners were going to take the 7 pups (our Leesa was the only female) to the shelter as they had had enough of the biting and growling. My arms and hands have been torn apart. My vet said "why are you letting her do that?". Really, we don't let her do it. We try positive reinforcement with toys, treats, leash walking, and fetching. But of course that is all after she has already bitten me. I try to avoid it but she is so loving and cuddly and gets hold of me when we are in the cuddling mode when she instantly becomes Demon Leesa. I cried for 2 hours last night after telling my husband I was going to give the training until the 22nd of April and then she would have to be rehomed. I cannot take any more pain. Please someone help me. I don't want to rehome my pup as I love her dearly despite all the damage. I am a severe diabetic. I got the pup for my husband who has Alzheimers. He has been able to train her to sit, lie down, stay, crate. She does not listen to me any longer except when she wants to go for a walk. She is pad trained now and even brings the poop to put in our hands (I know, yuck!). I am working on getting her to do stairs so I can train her for outside. She can do 2 stairs with great encouragement but we have 5 stairs in and out the front. We cannot use the back door as the cats stay in the back of the house and she just wants to chase them.

 

Sorry to hear your having the same problem I’ve had with Maddux. I took him to a puppy training class at PetSmart and they told me that when he bites and will not stop, to put him in time out by putting him on his leash and tying him to a door and ignore him for about 5 minutes. Let him loose after 5 mins. If he starts biting again, tell him no and put him in time out again. I tried everything and nothing but this helped. There are times when he will try to do it again, but I just put him in time out and he stops! Everybody will give you different advise and tell you how to control and train your puppy, but you have to do what works best for you and your puppy. Retrievers are very mouthy (biting and putting everything in their mouths), so it takes a lot of patience getting through that puppy stage with them. Do not put them in their crate for punishment, because you don’t want them to think it is a place they go when they are bad. By all means, I am not a professional at training and nor do I claim to be. I know it’s hard, but please be patient and don’t give up on her! Labs/ Golden’s are the most wonderful, loyal companions and will give you a life of joy. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

this is very encouraging. Poppy isn't a bad biter by the sound of the other posts but I am very afraid of teeth and have been trying to avoid being bitten without her seeing how frightened I am. I've ended up with a similar approach where I hold her by her harness & collar from behind (or even just her collar with her body between my legs while I put the harness on VERY carefully with my hands close against her body) and ask her to behave while I manoeuvre to get myself over the baby gate or I pick her up to remove her from the place she was getting overexcited. It seems to be helping as she doesn't get to choose the game by showing her teeth and we both end up calmer. My friend's dog stood over her a lot despite being very up for a game so I think maybe she was doing the same as your older dog, and Poppy didn't mind a bit. She still bites my husband a lot (not drawing blood luckily) but he isn't afraid of teeth so I think that counts as inhibition training.
thanks Aisling