How Do I Stop My Dog From Biting?

[kayleigh_b]

I have a 11 month old lurcher and he keeps biting me and my parents. We have tried so many things: tapping him on the nose, distracting him with a toy, ignoring him and pushing him away. He comes back harder when we push him away or tell him off and he ends up using us as the chew toys. I'm sick of this behavior and shouting at him, it has no effect. The only reason we haven't got rid of him yet is because he can be really sweet and affectionate at times. We can't really afford a dog trainer so I was hoping somebody could give me advice on what to do.

[woofgang]

ladybirder, it really depends on the dog. Squeaky toys are so fascinating to some dogs to munch on because they sound like dying prey...if you squeal like dying prey, many many dogs, especially hunting dogs, will be stimulated by the noise to bite more and harder!

[ladybirder]

Yep I get all that woofy, quite right. I don't think I sound like dying prey though, I do short, sharp and loud. My daughter's English bulldog just sat down and stared at me in shock. It was so funny but she learnt.
Kayleigh it's not expensive to go to a local puppy training class. Swapping and changing how you treat your dog is just confusing him, you must be consistent. Can you answer woofgang's questions please.

[kayleigh_b]

Thank you very much everybody! I wasn't expecting so many replies within the same day and I will certainly try some of your suggestions! Thank you so much! xxx

[kayleigh_b]

Ladybirder, he gets at least one off lead walk a day or more if we can fit it in. We've had him from a very young age so we don't think he was with his mother/siblings very long. We have tried puppy training classes but they haven't helped all that much with him and we also have been trying to teach him to go to his bed when we ask but he hasn't got the hang of that yet. However, it is sort of odd how he takes a long time to learn other things because he learnt things like, sit, paw and lay down it less than a day each.

[woofgang]

How much mental exercise does he get? Does he like a stuffed kong?

[tamborine]

keep a cushion between you and his mouth for when he growls/bites, (or you want to remove anything from him), and make hissing sound. In time, when he hears the hiss he will learn to back off.

[Tilly2]

If he responds to 'sit' just make him sit when he starts getting out of hand. Let him calm down a bit.

[chickensrock]

If I squealed at my dog it would definately snap hard at me, I found, bitter spray worked, and not allowing her on the sofa, do not stand over her to spray her, dogs feel cornered, spray her from the side, no words should be involved, once she has made the decision to move away, waite till she yawns or shakes her fur, loads of praise is then needed, x

[woofgang]

don't use aversive sprays, its not kind and will make the dog scared of you.

[Peaspeculiars]

Hi Kayleigh,
I had a beautiful lurcher many years ago and he was a 'nipper'. The best advice I've ever been given for when dog play biting gets a bit out of hand is to teach him what you DO want him to do instead and be consistent - he won't learn from the first time you reinforce a positive/ negative reaction.
For example: When he bites, squeal (it works, as it is extrordinary for you to make the noise) and immediately ignore him. turn back, don't make eye contact, walk away. If you do this every time he bites he will eventually realise that biting leads to no attention, and that you 'the boss' are in control of playtime. After 30 seconds to a minute, find a tug toy and praise him for playing with you nicely, make positive sounds and do long rubs on his back (try not to ruffle ears or pat him on the head (would you like it? try it)) Really play with the toy, it's a game, he's a good dog.
Tapping him on the nose can seem like another 'game', he is still getting your attention even though you wanted it to be seen as a negative reaction (same with pushing away). It's easier to do this, but make the effort to get up and walk away.
Lurchers are fantastic dogs, truy loving and I really hope that with some perserverance this works for you - they are a bit like labradors and take a while to grow out of 'puppy' mentality.
All the very best - Ps There are loads and loads of YouTube vids on dog training, so if you can't afford training, have a go at some of the sit/ stay, Wait/ down tips that they offer at home. My lurcher (bearded collie x greyhound) eventually went to agility classes when he was old enough and became a much better behaved hound.
Keep loads of little treats nearby to reward him also.
Good Luck xx

[ganesh]

Peasperculiars is right, though I know how hard it is in practice. I am a sort of puppy trainer, I volunteer with handling puppies at a rescue centre, and believe me MOST of the puppies bite or 'mouth' as they put it. They are only playing, I know, but sometimes, usually when they get excited, they really HURT and the natural reaction is to say no firmly and push them away. This doesn't work and they think it's part of the game. As with other puppies in the pack they will back off a bit if they hurt another puppy and it yelps and stops playing with them. It is tricky but yelping loudly when they 'cross' the line' is only doing what mum or another litter mate would do. Yelp, stop playing, then find a toy to play with and say 'good boy' when he chews the toy and not your hand. They all grow out of it eventually and sometimes you just have to persevere until they understand.

[ednamay]

the only thing to stop our 11month lurcher is water i only have to show him a glass of water and he backs off from biting
sometimes he drinks out of the glass and calms down he does have plentyof clean water in his bowl
ednamay