# Biting



## RoxieVizsla (Apr 17, 2011)

I have a 5 1/2 month old Vizsla which loves to play with me, but pretty often she wants to bite. It is as if she sees my hands as toys! The other time that she bites is when I am putting on or taking off her colar/harness. Any advice with getting the biting, rather it is play biting or not, to stop?


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## Mercutio (Jan 18, 2010)

Hi Roxie, 

I know with baby puppies you're supposed to yelp as though they have hurt you to teach bite inhibition but she might be a bit old for that. You could try it anyway, the worst that could happen is it doesn't work and you're back where you started.

Also, if it happens when you are playing with her, stop immediately, fold your arms and ignore her - keep turning your back on her if necessary - till she settles down and sits or at least stands still, quietly. This make take several minutes. If she settles and as soon as you speak to her or put your hands near her she bites, repeat. If the biting is either excited play or an attempt to get some attention, she should work out after several goes, that biting means the games stop. As soon as she settles give her lots of praise.

Same with putting on the collar / harness. If the biting is because she is excited, and not because the collar hurts, then as soon as she gets even a tiny bit excited stop and back off. Merc throws himself around like a lunatic when he sees the car harness because it means an adventure. But he also knows he isn't going anywhere until he sits and lets me put it on so he settles pretty quickly.

I'm assuming here that the biting is a result of too much puppy excitement and not a real attempt to hurt. If you think she might be trying to get you to back off / leave her alone or hurt you then I'd recommend a trainer that can see what is happening to help you out. Other people here might have other ideas too.

Good luck.


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## RoxieVizsla (Apr 17, 2011)

Thank you for the advice. I have been trying to be more aware of when she is biting to see if it's play or to get me to stop doing what I am doing. Pretty confident that she just wants to play so I have been moving my hands less and allowing her to smell them more before I "move in". I appreciate your help!


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## ceecee (Sep 29, 2010)

When I attended Obedience Class with Sunny the instructor told me to spray "Bitter Apple" spray for dogs in her mouth. Be careful not to get in eyes. Then spray on your hands. 

It took once with Sunny! All I have to do is show her the bottle. It worked great. Bitter Apple is the only one that works.


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Hi,

Some dogs are defensive about having a collar or harness put on them--it may be an instinct to protect their neck or resist being restrained. Our puppy instructor told us if we saw any negative reaction or struggle around being leashed or collared, to pair those actions with a clicker and food reward (we were in a class based on clicker training).

As far as other types of biting (like play biting), turning our back and ignoring her--or (if it continued) briefly leaving the room--is what worked best for us, as Mercutio described.

In general, whenever you see biting, you'll want to notice cues that could indicate the dog's emotional state. If the biting is associated with signs of defensiveness or fear (struggling when you put the collar/harness on, tensing up even mildly, growling) then you'll want to use a method that will condition the dog to have a different emotional response to that thing (known as counterconditioning). If the dog learns to have positive associations to the thing, it will stop being defensive/stressed and the biting will also stop.

If the biting is associated with playful behavior or body language, then ignoring / ending the fun will work best. 

Sarah


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## Mighty Hunter (May 17, 2011)

We too are going through the same thing and I tried ignoring him but he though it was a game. We also have the bitter apple spray but find that it is not used consistently enough to be effective since we do not have it on us at all times. When has worked so far for us is simply grabbing his nose, look him in the eyes and say " No bite Hunter". Now when I see he is getting into the play bitting mood I start saying "no bite" and he quickly backs down. He still gets a few in here and there but now nearly as much. 

Hope this helps!


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## DASHAW (Jun 22, 2011)

Make sure that your dog know the difference with play time and not, I never use my hands as a play tool. Make sure you have a ball or rope or something that you can both grab that the dog doesn't need to bite you to play but can still play. Ropes and such of a good quality really help their teeth and consequently their breath, we make sure to have them constantly. If one gets destroyed we get another, they are that important.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Our Sam is 4 months old and does the same thing if we run and he chases or we jump around him.
I found that if I just hold his mouth closed with my hand (like a muzzle with one hand on the collar) for 30 seconds he will not attempt to bite again until ...he forgets... and I do it again. I prefer this method.

Bitter apple solution works as well. The trick is to soak a cotton ball in bitter apple and put it in his/her mouth and hold mouth closed for 30-40 seconds. 
Get an old spray bottle (windex bottle) and fill it with water, add a few drops of bitter apple and spray whatever you don't want dog to chew/bite. 
You won't smell the bitter apple but the dog will surely smell it even if dry. 
I use this method on clothes, baseboard, flowers, couch blanket...


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

DASHAW said:


> Ropes and such of a good quality really help their teeth and consequently their breath, we make sure to have them constantly.


Just be carefull with Tugging on ropes, if you will hunt the dog at some point. Rope tugging will lead to bird tugging, and that's not good...hard to break in the field also.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Yeah, tugging leads to possession and guarding problems too. Also broken cuspid teeth.


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## RoxieVizsla (Apr 17, 2011)

Thanks for the advice everyone. Things have really gotten better now that Roxie is 8 months. I'd say around 6-6 1/2 months she really improved with the mouthing. The advice to use a treat to slip her harness over her head was so simple but brilliant--problem solved!


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Thanks for the follow up!


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