Desperately seeking bite inhibition

[Nancy McDermott]

Rosie, our six month old large standard golden doodle desperately needs to learn bite inhibition. She mouths everything and is actually becoming scary to play with. Typically I take her out in the yard off leash and throw her a ball or Frisbee. She runs to retrieve it then charges back to me running at full speed runs into me then jumps up and nips or bites me. I usually turn away and ignore her or walk away but she follows me nipping at my pants legs, the back of my jacket, etc.  It's not so bad for me but it's terrible for the kids who are now afraid to play with her. 

She's not agressive and was even a little submissive with other dogs in her training classes but she is really difficult to manage in any sort of play situation. I take her on two to three walks per day which helps calm her down somewhat but doesn't really address the play problem. isolating her only works sometimes. 

Here's my dilemma. All the dogs in the neighborhood are behind invisible fences. They simply don't go for walks and the nearest dog park is over an hour away. I am pretty sure she needs to be with a dog or dogs who she can not dominate. She is now much bigger than our neighbor's dog who is also the main dog she has interacted with. 

She's a smart dog, and a sweet dog except when she's trying to playfully rip my arm off. I'm getting to the end of my rope. 

[Ellie and Cooper]

Cooper did the same thing to me.  I looked like I had been attacked by a paranaha.  He has finally quit that, except for the attacking me when I come in the yard from work or wherever.  He jumps all over me and grabs at my clothes.  My husband has been keeping him in the house when I get off work and we don't let him go out when I go to leave the house.  He seems to be easing up a little bit.  I don't know if it is where we had him fixed or what. 

Good luck as I have been there, Cooper is now almost nine months old and was Neutered when he was around 5-6 mos. old. But the neutering has slowed him down a little.

 

Take care and hang in there, it gets better.

 

 

[Gail and Bailey]

Maybe once a week you could drive to that dog park and let her run free and interact with other dogs.....or you could take her to a doggie daycare a couple days a week where she could play with dogs.  Are there any dogs that you know who could come into your yard and play with her?  I got my doodle when she was 6 months old and I searched everywhere for dogs to play with her.  I am sure people thought I was crazy  but I finally found a dog park and it has made such a difference!  I got to know folks with dogs and we meet just to have our dogs play.  The gal who cuts my hair has a dog and I invited them to come over to my house so the dogs could play.  I start up conversations with people I see walking dogs and get a feel for possibly setting up play dates. I never knew I would be on the lookout for doggie playdates...LOL...but here I am.  She has regular "friends" at the park that she runs like the wind with!  I think some of it has to do with maturing and I would encourage you to hang in there as it really does get better month by month!  I certainly does make a difference if a dog gets to run free and play with other dogs on a regular basis.  Bailey is now 15 months old (where does the time go??) and she has really calmed way down.  I am sure she would have calmed down anyway but it sure has made life easier having doggie friends! 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I might have a little different take on this.  I don't really think she needs other dogs, I think she needs more obedience training.  Starting with a sit and sit/stay.  Once you have a reliable sit then you can throw the ball and when she returns you tell her sit.  Then she gets to do it again.  I personally would lose the ball until which time she can do the sit/stay (reliably) and not attack you when she returns.  When you are working on training it is just as tiring for them as running etc.  There is nothing wrong with taking her somewhere that is fenced so she gets to run and play and get lots of exercise because at this age they really need it, but it doesn't necessarily have to be with other dogs.  One thing I used to do for my two and Sophie in particular loved it was blow bubbles.  She would run and jump and chase the bubbles.  Those are just my thoughts.  Good luck.

[Gail and Bailey]

I think training is very important as well!   However...you can't beat running with a doggie friend.  I assume Lucy and Sophie have always had each other to play with since they are litter mates.  Love the bubble idea!!  It would be a great thing for the kids to do with the pup.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Lucy and Sophie have always had each other to play with and I have a much better appreciation for what a wonderful thing that has been lately.  Since Lucy's surgery she isn't able to be outside playing with Sophie and Sophie has been a little lost.  She asks to go outside but then gets out there and doesn't really know what to do with herself.  Lucy and Sophie though will have nothing to do with the other dogs when we go to the dog park.  They hang right beside us or will run with each other but never very far from us.

[Gail and Bailey]

That is exactly what my daughter's two dogs do when at the dog park.  They had one of them for about a year before rescuing the second.  Before the second dog came to live with them the first dog would play with any dog who would run with her!  Now they only want to play with each other!  I am wondering what is going to happen when we go visit with our one dog......I am hoping they include her in their play!

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

I agree with the advice from Lucy and Sophie's mom  Same advice my trainer gave me with my little biter.  She also finally outgrew the biting.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I also agree with Lucy and Sophies Mom. In addition to sitting on returning with the ball, try also having her sit and STAY after you throw the ball. Give a release word, like 'okay' or 'go' to allow her to take off after the ball. General structure to all kinds of play between Rosie and you outside should go a long way in molding the behavior you want. Nothing beats bits of natural chicken to get our Lucy to listen, learn and obey, especially in those early stages of training any new command. She would do back flips I think if she thought it would get her chicken.

We're getting a 2nd doodle puppy next month (Lucy will be 3 the day the puppy arrives). It will be interesting to see if her play style changes with dogs at dog parks and doodle romps after the puppy arrives.

[Ellie and Cooper]

OMG, I love the bubble idea.  It used to work with the grandchildren, kept them entertained.

Got to run to Wally World and get some.

Serious.

LOL

[Erin & Maizey]

Maizey was a crazy biter around 5 months or so - I posted a plea for help here also and people had lots of helpful solutions.  For about a month I had so many scrapes I had to wear pants and she put holes in quite a few items of clothing (I still have a bag to take to the dry cleaner).  I think I referred to my precious little puppy as a spawn of satan.  I'm very, very happy to report she did eventually grow out of it. Hang in there!!  As everyone told me (although admittedly at the time I didn't believe it), they do grow out of the attack puppy mode.  

I also started taking her to daycare a few days a week along with some training sessions which I think helped re-focus her biting.  I also tried really hard to encourage good behavior and ignore the bad (totally understand how frustrating it is though when you do that and they just nip at the back of you - so painful!!)  I also tried to direct her chewing with lots and lots of chew toys - bully sticks, frozen ice cubes, carrots, anything that took her a while to chew. 

She's totally wonderful now (although she seems to have it out for stuffed dog toys that have ears - she goes right for the ears and rips them off.  :\ )

good luck - I promise it really does get better.   

[Gabby and ZOE]

We had the same problem with Zoe.  My forearms were loaded with scratches and band aids.  She would bring her toy back to me and regrip my arm instead of the toy.  We started taking her to classes and the dog park and wore her butt out.  She is now 7 1/2 months old and rarely uses her mouth on anything but her chew toys.  I think you have to exhaust their minds and bodies when they are puppies so they don't have the energy to act a fool..... Good luck !

[Bethany]

Our aussiedoodle Amelia went through this stage and we called her lots of names. She actually would be really sweet with kids and around strangers. But whenever we were home we had this devil dog. I remember calling my husband when he was on the way home from class. It had been a long day, I was crying and said "She doesn't care!! I could put her in a dark closet and she wouldn't care! If I ignore her she doesn't even care she will just nip and chew to my bones!! All she wants is something to tear up!" When I would load the dishwasher she would lick everything her tongue had time to get to and when I picked her up and took her off she would just nip at my heels. Anyways, the best way to cope was TRAINING. It was time consuming. Amelia was dying for attention and chewing was the only way she knew how and I'm sure a perk was that it tastes and feels AMAZING. We taught her every trick we could think of. We turn to youtube when we are looking for new tricks. The only one she doesn't really like is shake. She is now 9 months old. She still chews and mouths on occasion. But it doesn't last as long and we can distract her with commands to get her at attention. If we don't keep a close eye on her she will sneak into dirty laundry and dig out the smelliest one she can find to chew up. However, we can see the good dog that she is coming out. She's adorable, sweet, and accepting our challenge to be the GOOD dog that she is. And occasional slips and can't resist. :) Now to get my attention she will play dead while I'm loading the dishwasher!! It's ADORABLE. And of course she get's a treat for that. Good luck! Sending lots of patience and perseverance your way :)