Periodic playful biting.

[Paul]

My pup Shiloh is doing very well now, her legs are nice and straight and getting powerful also. The Calcium we give her daily is doing the trick for us. We had her at the Vet last week and things are looking great. But, she has developed this habit of twisting her neck around and playfully biting my arm when I rub her. The bites are not severe at all, but Im wondering what has she got on her mind when she does this. She stops when I tell her,. It only occurs when I rub her when she is sitting or laying down.

 

[bucky5]

I am not sure how old your pup is and I certainly can't read her mind....but my feeling is that even playful biting should be discouraged. It is interesting to hear that calcium cures so many ailments....I am happy to hear it is working for your pup!!!! Good Luck with her!

 

[MyBuddy]

Funny, it almost sounds like she doesn't want to be bothered! Since she only does it when she is sitting or laying? Like 'leave me alone'. Or maybe it's just that she got your attention and now wants to 'play' !(her kind of play- biting) I'm not sure. :dunno:

 

[hall.christopher]

Sounds to me she is just being playfull,but you really need to look into here eye's to see what mood she is in while she is doing it.But it is right to be discouraged so she knows her perametres and were she comes in the pecking order in the house.Dobermans work well with strong commands from an early age to compliment her training.Even though i think chastising does not work with them as this can take confidence out of them.Hope this helps.
Chris.

 

[Shiraz]

Personally, I do not allow my dogs to play bite our mouth. Sometimes it can be then testing their status or dominance. My dogs teeth and human skin....never shall the two meet, even in play.

 

[apbtmom76]

Ok I for one do NOT allow play biting of anykind, if anyone knows anything about Labs, we know they are mouthy dogs, not harmful or anything but I do not allow ANY of my dogs to put thier teeth on me in ANY way, period. Orion was the hardest to break due to him being part Lab but I am the ONLY person he does nt mouth. I'm sorry I would truely discourage that as it may lead to something unwanted in the future, the ONLY reason this pup should be nipping or biting in anyway is if you plan to use it for PP work.

 

[MyBuddy]

Sounds to me she is just being playfull,but you really need to look into here eye's to see what mood she is in while she is doing it. .

Personally, I do not allow my dogs to play bite our mouth. Sometimes it can be then testing their status or dominance. My dogs teeth and human skin....never shall the two meet, even in play.

Ok I for one do NOT allow play biting of anykind, if anyone knows anything about Labs, we know they are mouthy dogs, not harmful or anything but I do not allow ANY of my dogs to put thier teeth on me in ANY way, period. Orion was the hardest to break due to him being part Lab but I am the ONLY person he does nt mouth. I'm sorry I would truely discourage that as it may lead to something unwanted in the future, the ONLY reason this pup should be nipping or biting in anyway is if you plan to use it for PP work.

:goodposting:

 

[MomToMany]

I'm with MANY of the others.. no biting for any reason whatsoever.

My pup is eleven weeks and does the very same thing. She very rarely does it to me so I don't have to correct her much, but when DH or DS go to pet her she just gets way too excited and the teeth start clapping, lol. It's very obvious with her that it's not aggressive, just "I'm-coming-out-of-my-skin-with-excitement-that-you're-petting-me" behavior. (did ya get that?)

It is easily controlled with them reminding her "no bite," but you can tell she's still wanting to do SOMETHING with that big mouth of hers. I say consistency is the best way to control it. That's why she doesn't do it to me- I'm around her all day and was consistent in the beginning. DH and DS aren't around her half as much and so don't get as much opportunity to work on it.

 

[Juslookin]

My 8.75mth. old will still do this occasionally. She was worse when she was younger. It sounds like a "play with me!" thing. I followed advice I received here and made a rule NOT to allow any biting of any kind. I'm glad I did. She knows now that all rubbing or petting will stop if she puts her teeth on me.

---------- Post added at 08:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 AM ----------

Oh.... I forgot, we near 'bout nicknamed her "Shark" she was so all teeth!

 

[Michele]

Re-direct the behavior with a toy. Give a stern NO and re-direct.

 

[JanS]

I can't really add anything to the good advice you've already received here, but I wanted to say that I'm glad to hear her legs are straightening out and that she's doing well now.

 

[Paul]

Carla, thanks for that important info, I think you hit the nail on the head. It must be a form of excitement, but at least she understands NO when told. I will monitor the behaviour, Again Thank You. Paul

 

[MLR]

I agree with Michelle; redirect with a toy. Chloe was more like that when she was a puppy and still would take a nip out of me now that she's three years old if I let her. I'm wondering if some of this is just a particular dobe's personality. My male, Hercules, has never once tried to do this with me. I used the toy as a distraction when Chloe was little but now I use stern commands instead. Usually a very loud NO. It's the same when she goes after Herc. I'm right on that, standing up, telling her to knock it off.

 

[MomToMany]

Paul- just wanted to add a couple of pointers we got from a trainer on Riley.

As far as teaching gentle mouth, she told us to keep a treat in a closed fist, and put a tiny dab of peanut butter (or butter in our case, as our DS has a deadly peanut allergy ) on our thumb knuckle. This will get the pup interested in mouthing your hand, but you only open your hand for the "real" treat when there is licking or sniffing ONLY, and no teeth at all.

Second, she taught our son (he's the one Riley likes to nip at the most when it comes to petting excitement) to only approach Riley under the chin for petting, and only once she is totally calm and not bouncy.

OH YEAH.. and another thing she showed us is that when Riley does do something with her mouth that we don't like, to YELP really quick and short like a puppy. She could do it REALLY high. I can do it (not sure my hubby has that ability, lol- and she told DS that a higher-pitched "OW!" will work too), and it works WONDERS on Riley. Totally throws her off guard, and she would immediately lick the trainer after instead of biting. Pretty neat!

Anyway, these are the things I've learned and maybe they can help you, too. How is your pup doing this week?

 

[dobebug]

One of the very few hard and fast rules in my house for the dogs is the "Thou shalt not under any circumstances put your mouth on my person". It's one of those buttons with me--I don't like to be mouthed. I don't really like being licked and I certainly don't ever tolerated being nipped or bitten.

I just don't allow it at all--it's kind of like the furniture. No dogs on the furniture and no exceptions. It starts the day they puppies walk in the house and those two rules never change.

I've sent dogs with friends to shows--they get their own blanket that goes with them and even though I warn people that they aren't allowed on beds my friends often try coax them up onto a bed. I got a fairly hilarious report from some friends that one of my dogs went to a weekend of shows with--they were amazed that no amount of coaxing, begging and pleading with that particular dog would get him on the bed. They said when they finally put his blanket down beside the bed he heaved a huge sigh of relief and went promptly to sleep.

It's training to a large degree--puppies nip, mouth, bite and think they can chew on you--if you are insistent that this is NOT the case they stop. If you aren't absolute about it they keep doing it and they'll try with people who don't know them and sometimes it scares the pants off of the person who doesn't realize that they are really NOT about to be eaten by a Dobe.

 

[lady Dobie]

Great advice here... i think alot has to do with teething and just playing..since they do not have hands they tend to bite objects.. it is just a normal part of being a puppy...but yes i always discourage it.. because we have to be off limits when it comes to chewing or biting or the habit will set in.. i stick a toy into my puppies mouth or a bisquit.. end it and nip it in the bud...

 

[MyBuddy]

It's training to a large degree--puppies nip, mouth, bite and think they can chew on you--if you are insistent that this is NOT the case they stop. If you aren't absolute about it they keep doing it and they'll try with people who don't know them and sometimes it scares the pants off of the person who doesn't realize that they are really NOT about to be eaten by a Dobe.

Very true!

My first Dobie was the only one (out of three) that I got as a very young 12 wk old puppy and was the only one that got on the couch and bed once in a while. I didn't really want it, but, as you said, I wasn't absolute about it, so that's what I get.

Buddy came to me at 7 months and never tried to get on our furniture, ever...and, like your story Dobebug, one night (I may have temporarily lost my mind) I tried to coax him on my bed. He wouldn't budge. lol Just as well! I really didn't want to start that. I just felt like hugging with him! I love all the pics of those lazy azz dogs all cuddled up with one another! But since he's never done that, I figured I'd better not start! I'll just have to enjoy everyone elses' cuddling dogs!