# Bite inhibition really work?



## vangtt (Feb 27, 2014)

Hi all - I have an 8 week old puppy which I've only had for a week. Within 3 days of getting him home I was able to teach him to not mouth me at all. But since he continued to bite my wife and kids I started doing more research on this subject. After reading up on this a little more (on this forum and other sites)...it sounds like I was doing the wrong thing. The general consensus seems to be that the proper way is to let him mouth you and teach bite inhibition. Since I've been allowing him all he wants to do is mouth me whenever my hand gets near his head. For the most part he doesn't bite too hard unless I let him get super excited. I've gotten it to the point where he doesn't go for my hand if I'm trying to give him a toy, or go for any other body parts (toes, elbows, calves, etc) so I'm pretty happy about that...but are there any of you who have successfully implemented this technique to end up with a well behaved adult dog that only play bites when you invite it to? And knows not to apply any force when he does? It would be reassuring to know that others have successfully used this technique and that it's just not something that write about that should be done but does not work in real life.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I think bite inhibition is typically learned from the puppy's mom and littermates, unless the puppy is taken away too early. It is a valuable thing for the puppy to learn, and influences not only his interactions with people, but also with other dogs, while playing. The whole point of bite inhibition is that the puppy learns not to bite *hard*. Of course, in the long run you want your pup not to bite people at all... But if he's ever going to play with other dogs, bite inhibition is important.


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## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

Our trainer was okay with allowing the dog to nib on the hand -- key is to teach not to bite hard. We let Wilson gnaw on our hands as a pup and just walked away when it got rough. He has the softest mouth now. I think in general vizslas have very soft mouths, but Wilson definitely knows "gentle" (at 18 months he sometimes needs reminders)


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## vangtt (Feb 27, 2014)

From what I've read bite inhibition is only the first phase of ultimately getting your dog to not bite you. The next phase is to introduce limiting the frequency of the mouthing and final phase is only mouthing when invited to...and even then there should essentially be no pressure.


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## Watson (Sep 17, 2012)

vangtt - You're right. Bite inhibition isn't just teaching a dog not to bite, it's teaching a dog that it's bite can hurt, so if it's ever in a situation of 'needing' to bite, the damage is minimal.

Here's an article I found helpful on how to properly teach bite inhibition.


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## vangtt (Feb 27, 2014)

Not sure how I missed this thread but there are some good discussions on this subject here (http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php/topic,6252.msg47908.html#msg47908). I have decided to keep going with this method. Today my kids have been letting Hunter mouth their hands and already I've notice a difference in Hunter's attitude towards them. He doesn't get as excited as he did when they would turn around/ignore him or do the whole pulling their hands away yelling no. He will mouth for a minute or two then lose interest and start chewing something else...or not chase kids if they walk away first. Unfortunately it's hard to get my youngest son from running away from him which invokes Hunter to chase and play nip at his legs and pants.


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## vangtt (Feb 27, 2014)

Just like to report that I've had very good experience with the bite inhibition approach. Today, he doesn't mouth unless I invite him to (which is rare). He does lick and mouth my 4 year old who constantly invites. But by mouthing I mean he just opens his mouth and puts it near my son's hands most of the time. He also chases my son and will make the same mouthing motions. I do always supervise when they play though...and do remind Hunter to "be gentle" if I sense it may start to escalate.


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