Why do you let your dog bite you?
Why do you let your dog bite you?
The main reason training your new dog is necessary
She was near tears during the dog sitting meet-n-greet as she told me, “My dog won’t stop biting me. Everywhere I go, she runs up behind me and bites my ankles. And it just hurts so much!”
I looked from her dog to her and quickly realized who runs her home, regardless of who is paying the mortgage. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this story. There was another couple whose dog would run under the dining table every time they tried to walk him, and he bit both of them when he wasn’t in the mood to walk. I cannot relate.
Neither of my dogs (Labrador Retriever/German Shepherd crossbreed for 13 years and German Shepherd for 9 years) ran around biting me. Even during the teething stages with my Hound mix, she knows not to bite me. In 500 individual walks and 14 dog boardings and sittings, I was only bitten once. And even then, I was collateral damage because my toe happened to be too close to two dogs wrestling. That puppy felt bad about it and stayed in the crate afterward for awhile, inching his way back to me and sitting under me until we were cool again.
Recommended Reading: “When your dog gets mouthy ~ Acknowledging the difference between playful nibbling and dog bites”
While professional trainers, which I am not, have all kinds of tips to stop dogs from being mouthy, my tried and true is to gently but firmly close the mouth of the dog who is nibbling. That way (s)he knows where the problem area is. Or, just stop playing with the dog altogether when the nibbling starts. If all else fails, put him/her in the crate as soon as the dog does it. Like any other form of training, the dog will start to connect the dots.
(Note: In the middle of me typing this post, my dog flung a dog rope too close to her food bowl and it loudly flipped sideways. I glanced over at her, and she walked under my desk and sat down. I didn’t say a word. Sometimes all it takes is a look for your dog to know it’s time to chill.)
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