Dog Training Biting

PetsDogs

  • Author Noel Dcosta
  • Published September 4, 2009
  • Word count 660

Dog Training Biting, needs more priority because about 5 million people are bitten by dogs every year in the united States alone. It is fortunate that only one out of every six dog bite cases are that serious so as to warrant medical attention.

Emergency rooms in the hospitals across the United States treat about one thousand people per day for dog bite related injuries.

It is a very sad fact to note that the majority of the victims are children, and that the injuries are most always on the face.

Given these statistics, it is clear enough that as stated earlier dog training biting should be a priority in dog training programs and dog behavior modification programs.

What we have to try and teach in our dog training biting programs is biting inhibition, because, it would not be wise nor possible, to eliminate or completely remove biting from the dog's nature.

All puppies are taught biting inhibition by their mothers along with their siblings in their litter. But as most pups are removed from their natural social structure long before they could learn bite inhibition, it is left to us to complete their dog training biting.

Modifying any type of dog behavior is best accomplished when we first know and understand how puppies and dogs learn to curb the same trait or behavior pattern in their natural social setup.

When in their social groups, with their siblings or other puppies there is a lot of simulated fighting. They use their mouths to grab and to hold on, biting each other in the process. When any one puppy bites too hard , there is resultant yelp of pain from the bitten puppy. When this happens all activity freezes. Puppies then automatically learn that if they bite too hard two things would happen :

(1) They would hear a frightening noise, being the yelp of the bitten pup, and

(2) There would be a stoppage of activity.

Since the puppies do not like either of these outcomes they condition themselves to play and bite more gently.

Dog training for biting should work in a similar way. Your immediate and primary aim is to inhibit the force of the bite.

If bitten too hard by your puppy while playing, yell "ouch" loudly and stop playing for a minute. The amount of time you wait before returning to play should depend on the force of the offending bite--more time off for more severe bites. This should then begin to teach your puppy that painful biting halts playtime.

Once the puppy knows what triggers your yelling and halts play activity, you can start applying the screws by lowering the pain threshold that triggers your reactions. Keep on until you react even to the slightest of pressure and halt play.

This would train your puppy to do away with the biting all together. It would be ideal to teach this type of bite inhibition when the puppy is aged between 4 and 6 months old.

Now that your dog training biting has reached this point, your dog should be doing nothing more than "mouthing." You can now progress to teaching your dog to stop even this behavior when requested.

This could be achieved by hand feeding the dog part of his dinner, teaching him with commands when he can touch your hand and take the food. Repeat this process until you can eliminate the food and use these commands during your playtime.

This final phase in dog training biting teaches your dog not to mouth in the first place. This means that play fighting can only begin on command. Some trainers advise that play fighting should not be allowed at all, but if done correctly, play fighting can reinforce the bite inhibition that you've trained your dog to achieve.

Dog biting is a very serious problem and should never be treated lightly. In following this process of dog training, biting can be controlled without completely eliminate biting which is an instinctive behavior.

Noel Benjamin DCosta has more detailed and free information on Dog Training Biting, and many other tips about dog obedience training and behavior problem solving at his website Secrets to Dog Training dot Org.

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