Have you been Bitten?

[SirdanceAlot]

Has anybody ever been bitten by there dogs?  I was wondering is that something to look foward to, and if so What is the next step.  If Spazz ever bit me I really think I'd have to bite him back.  Just wondering?

[GoldenPyrs]

I agree with everyone, mouthing or play nipping is a very, very common puppy behaviour.  Cassie was still doing it when we got her in February and she was 22 months old at the time.  She should have learned by then not to, but she was the very pampered baby of an elderly couple and I just don't think that they'd set a lot of limits for her.  We dealt with it by just saying the high pitched "ouch" that was mentioned, followed by a firm "no", then we pulled our hands away and turned our back to her for 10-20 seconds.  The very gentle training methods have worked very well for us.  The play biting decreased quickly and she's very gentle with her mouth now.  I think that since dogs really want our attention and they want to please, that by ignoring her for a moment, that made the most impression. 

Spazz is an adorable puppy and I'm sure that he'll learn quickly too that you want him to be gentle.

[kathryn]

I do know someone that bit their dog after it bit them and it seemed to work for them on stopping the behavior.  Now it was a puppy and they didn't bite them hard but still not the way I would go.  Kaila is really mouthy and when she gets excited she will nip and bite.  She's 2yo and while she's still mouthy she will do a gentle mouth when you say "No Bite". 

[Ali]

I would never suggest biting a dog back - it seems like you'd just reinforce that behavior if you respond in kind. My aussie/boxer mix bit me in play recently - she went for a spot higher up on the tug rope and it happened to have my arm behind it. It HURT like nothing I've ever felt before!!! I can't imagine being bitten by a dog in an agressive manner. Anyway, I carefully removed my flesh from her mouth so that she just had the tug toy, and I tried really hard not to react. She didn't mean to hurt me, and she would have been really sad and felt bad if I had freaked out. I'm looking at the bruise now - it's a lovely shade of brown now!