Ask Dr. Swingle

Countryside Veterinary Clinic
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Q. My 12 week old puppy, Byron, bites me when we play hard and often chases me and bites my pants leg. Is this a sign of dominance?

A. What Byron is exhibiting sounds more like play biting than dominance. This is normal puppy behavior, but not desirable.

Excessive play biting can be caused by many things such as lack of exercise, lack of interaction and boredom. Because Byron is a young puppy, Byron needs to be consistently corrected when excessive play biting occurs. This can be done by a verbal “no”, a spray of water in the face, holding their muzzle closed (but not squeezing), using a controlled down position or a time out in his kennel. Regardless of which correction method you use – it must be done consistently to be effective. If Byron appears crazy active, more exercise will tire him out and lower his excitement level. Several long walks a day usually makes for a better behaved and more relaxed puppy. If you cannot stop this behavior, or if Byron becomes more aggressive, please contact me or a qualified trainer for more help.

Play biting is in contrast to fear biting – a very serious behavior problem.

I am currently working with a Coco’s Heart rescue puppy who initially exhibited serious fear biting. I first met Senna as a 16 week old puppy. She was in the clinic for her exam and vaccinations. As I reached to pet her – she growled and lunged at me – biting my hand. Senna had a terrible start to life. She was

found abandoned along a road at a very young age. Puppies that do not have a normal relationship with their parents and siblings often do not learn self confidence and submission. These puppies are extremely fearful – causing them to be aggressive. Unless you can re-condition these puppies prior to becoming adults they are at risk of having lifelong issues which often leads to early euthanasia because they have bitten a child or adult out of fear.

I became Senna’s foster and began her training by giving her lots of treats and affection but also holding her in a controlled down position until she was willing to submit, and correcting her verbally whenever she growled or showed aggression. I kept a leash on her so I could control her at all times.

The change in Senna was dramatic. Within 24 hours she was submitting to me and acting much more comfortable.

Socialized puppies view people and other dogs as safe until proven differently. Unsocialized puppies see people and dogs as threats until proven otherwise. Unsocialized puppies bite because they see every interaction as dangerous, and they lash out in self preservation.

The Pack psychology is very important to puppies. A socialized puppy understands that he or she is at the bottom of the pack order and readily submits to other dogs and to people because they are looking for approval.

An unsocialized dog thinks that he or she must be the Pack Leader since everyone they meet is a danger. This makes the puppy very anxious since puppies feel much safer submitting than trying to deal with scary situations on their own.

Senna would lash out in fear at any person or any dog she came into contact with.

Her initial training consisted of learning submission. This was done by scruffing her and correcting her verbally every time she growled or tried to bite me. I also put her on her side in a controlled down position until she was willing to submit.

Within 4 hours, Senna was recognizing me as top dog and seemed to be relaxing and not trying to bite me. She still would cower in the back of her cage. Step 2 in training was finding a treat she really liked and offering her treats whenever she would come to the front of the cage. Within a day she was willing to come to the front of the cage for a treat and allow me to pick her up. Within 2 days she thought I was great and would play and even climb onto my lap. At this stage, she was still afraid of everyone else and other dogs.

Once Senna was comfortable with my wife and I at home, we began socializing her carefully with other people. Every day she went to the clinic with me and the staff plied her with treats and won her trust.

At the same time, I began introducing Senna to Charlie. Charlie is a young yellow lab pup who is also in rescue and was in the clinic for his neuter surgery. Charlie is a typical lab puppy, loves everyone and just wants to play. Their supervised visits did not go very well at first, with Senna growling and biting while

Charlie jumped all over her and chased her around. Very soon though, they were best friends chasing each other, play fighting and having a ball.

Within a week, Senna was readily approaching staff members to receive treats and was playing with multiple dogs without showing aggression.

Within 2 weeks, Senna was acting like a normal puppy. She had found her place at the bottom of the pack and was very happy there. Senna is now ready for her forever home and will make someone a wonderful little companion.