How can you stop a puppy from bitting

[Zues is my baby]

My Neo Mastiff 4Months old now, he loves to rough house with myself and my fiance ( which I don't mind). But when it comes to playing with children that rough housing is a bit too rough. His rough housing includes biting (most concern), barking and headbutting. How can I get him to stop bittin without having to give him a good ol' smack across the mellon? I want to break this habbit before he get too big and too used to this habbit.

[StaceyB]

A puppy of 4 months doesn't know the difference between an adult and a child when playing except that a child is more of an equal to them. If your puppy is allowed to play rough with you he will think he can with anyone. Has your puppy been to classes? Please don't hit your puppy unless you want an aggression issue as well.

[twodogsandacat]

I agree 100%. The puppy has to live with one set of rules as it is incapable of seeing the difference in the situations.

Imagine a child being told that he can't have cookies before dinner if the temperature is above 20 degrees. Unless of course it is an odd day of the month and the sky is blue. Keep it simple....one set of rules to live by at all times.

My girlfriend had a problem understanding this. I tell my large dog to sit when we come into a home and wait calmly until I take his leash and collar off. She allowed him to go nuts. She would say ‘but he loves me and he is just happy to see me’.

When we go to my parents house or if she meets me at my parents house you can imagine how he WANTS to behave as of course he loves them to.

One set of rules. Plain and simple.

[mona_b]

I also agree 100%

My suggestion to you is for you and your fiance to stop the rough housing with Zues.Also,PLEASE to not give him a good ol' smack in the mellon.Unfortunately you are teaching Zues that it's ok to rough house with you,yet you are punishing him when he does it to kids.You are confusing him.

[Zues is my baby]

Well when the kids play with him they just play tug -o- war which is not good because he is giving me a challenge now so with a little kid, he will hurt them. I play a little but more rough with him than I would with a little dog becasue he can handle it. If he bites me in the mean time and really hard I yell OW really loud and ignore him for 30min. Is that a good way of dealing with the biting or should I just not play at all. That's like the first thing he does when he sees you is his mouth is wide open like he's going to take a huge bite out of your bum.

[BullLover]

I hear ya! I have the same problem, but mine's about five months. She either bites your hands, arms, etc. or tries to pull you by your clothes. I usually turn my back, and stop playing with her. I make her sit or lie down and pet her then, but she still goes after the clothes when I get home from work. I'm trying my hardest. It seems to have subsided a little bit....?

[StaceyB]

5 months is the general time when a puppy is both teething and beginning adolescence(behavioural/sexual maturity). The best way I describe this is the time when they appear to know nothing and get into everything stage. Be consistant with your corrections and you will make it through ok.

[jessi76]

Originally Posted by Zues is my baby

If he bites me in the mean time and really hard I yell OW really loud and ignore him for 30min. Is that a good way of dealing with the biting or should I just not play at all.

you ignore him for 30 minutes? My pup is 5 months old, and we do stop playing if he gets rough, but not for 30 minutes. I think that's a bit excessive, and I'm skeptical that the dog will remember why he's being ignored for so long. We do 3-5 minutes. Then switch to something else, a short training session, then back to playtime.

[StaceyB]

Dogs will not remember after even a few minutes why they were in trouble.

[Zues is my baby]

But yelling OW and ignornig him is a good thing to be doing or is there a more effective way of correcting this problem.

[StaceyB]

The ouch is to get an instant stop. Walking away is fine as long as they don't follow. The best is to yell ouch and leave the room, close the door for aprox 30 sec. You need to be out of sight. If puppy whines, barks wait til it stops before you return. Return, if puppy doesn't start again right away, give your puppy an alternate job or chew toy.
Puppies mouth to get you to play. By doing this your puppy will start to realize that this type of play causes you to leave and not play with them, the last thing your puppy wants. You will though have to show puppy what you do accept when playing. They need to have an alternate acceptable choice.

[jessi76]

Originally Posted by Zues is my baby

But yelling OW and ignornig him is a good thing to be doing or is there a more effective way of correcting this problem.

I think it's fine to yell OW and walk away (stop play, ignore pup...) but for only a few minutes. 30 minutes seems excessive to me.

[Zues is my baby]

Is it best to change things into a trainning session after the ignoring? or just play a different game.

[StaceyB]

Either is fine.

[mona_b]

Originally Posted by Zues is my baby

I play a little but more rough with him than I would with a little dog becasue he can handle it. .

You need to stop doing this.It doesn't matter if he can handle it or not,but kids can't.He may only be a pup,but he sure can do damage to a childs face,arm or leg.You are doing more harm then good when rough housing him.

Stop the rough playing and focus on the biting issues.........

I also have to agree,30 mins ignoring him is just way to long.

[love my dogs]

If he bites, nips or even nibbles, loudly say "OUCH" pull your hand away, then "TIME OUT" and lead him straight to the bathroom, or another unoccupied room then shut the door for 2 minutes. No more no less. It's long enough for it to sink in that all fun stops when he bites, but not so long that he will forget why he's in there and find something else to get into.

You must do this every time, even when it is just a soft nip. He will test the bounderies, but within a couple of weeks or less he won't bite at all!

You really don't want a dog that thinks biting is fun or part of some type of a game.

Also make sure that you have LOTS of chew toys. If you think he is about to put his mouth around you or the furniture, catch it ahead of time and slip a bone or toy in his mouth instead.