By Pat Miller
Animal care professionals are fond of saying, โAll dogs will bite, given the right (wrong) circumstances.โ If thatโs the case, how have I managed to suffer only two punctures in a 30-plus-year career working with dogs? Partly through reading and responding to canine body language well enough to avoid provoking an attack (see โHow to Save Yourself,โ September 2005). Partly, Iโm sure, through luck. But largely, I suspect, because many dogs possess a wonderful quality known as โbite inhibition.โ
Unconscious control
Bite inhibition is the ability of a dog to control the force of his bite. Without it, even a playful grab at your sleeve when you are wrestling with your dog or a quick snap of shocked self-defense (when you accidently step on his tail, for example) can result in a serious or painful puncture. In contrast, a dog in those same circumstances who has well-developed bite inhibition can grab your wrist and even gently shake it, or bite at the ankle of the foot that is planted on his tail โwithout leaving a mark or causing you more than a momentโs minor discomfort.
Canine behaviorists theorize that dogs have evolved to normally develop bite inhibition for good reason. In canine society, dogs normally use escalation of force effectively to get their messages across without inflicting grievous injury upon each other. This is important from a survival standpoint; if pack members consistently punctured each othersโ skins over trivial issues, theyโd risk their own injury and debilitation, even death, as well as that of the pack mates they depend upon for mutual protection, food gathering, and survival. Even when encountering canines from an โalienโ pack, the less actual physical engagement, the better the chances of survival for all concerned.
Fortunately for humans, this bite inhibition often transfers to us, as members of our caninesโ social groups.
How to get it
Bite inhibition is clearly a desirable thing. So how do you get it? Or more correctly, how does your dog get it? Itโs not something youโll find on the shelf of your local pet supply store!
Bite inhibition has both genetic and environmental components. That is, a dog can inherit the potential to use gentle bite pressure from parents who are also genetically programmed to mouth softly, and he can also learn to bite softly. Of course, the more strongly a desirable behavior trait is encoded in the genes, the easier it is to nurture appropriate behaviors. If your pup lacks good genes for bite inhibition, heโll need lots of environmental influence โ the sooner, the better.
Genetics of bite inhibition is one of the very important reasons to meet a pupโs parents, if possible, when you purchase from a breeder. While sometimes one or both parents simply arenโt available for legitimate reasons, if the breeder declines because either of the parents arenโt friendly, have bitten in the past, or cautions you to be careful when interacting with them, you may not want to risk purchasing a puppy from those lines. Make it a point to specifically ask if either parent has ever bitten, and if so, the severity of the bite, and how the breeder would characterize both dogsโ levels of bite inhibition. If sheโs not willing to discuss the topic, doesnโt understand the question, or seems not to be forthcoming with information, make your puppy-purchase decision accordingly.
If youโre adopting from a shelter, Mom and Dad arenโt likely to be around. When you canโt meet parents, your personal observations during puppy selection โ always important anyway โ become even more critical. Most puppies will engage in some degree of mouthing โ itโs how they explore their world. However, if you play with a number of puppies, youโll discover that some mouth your hands gently, others will repeatedly bite hard enough with their wickedly sharp baby teeth to cause pain, and still others will even draw blood.
Those who consistently mouth gently have a healthy degree of innate bite inhibition and/or have learned their lessons well from Momdog and siblings who let them know when they bite too hard. Those who cause pain or draw blood need more lessons. Thereโs a good chance they can still turn into great dogs โ and it will take more input on your part to teach them to be gentle with their teeth. The older a pup is, the more effort it will take to install bite inhibition, and the greater the likelihood that youโll be less successful.
One of the reasons itโs such a tragedy to remove a pup from his litter too soon is that heโll miss those all-important bite-inhibition lessons from Momdog and sibs. This is also one of the big drawbacks of adopting a singleton โ a pup with no littermates. I strongly recommend you wait to take your new pup home until heโs at least seven weeks, preferably eight, regardless of how eager the breeder is to give him up. Your own bite inhibition lessons can never be as effective with your pup as those from his own kin. No matter how hard we try, we just canโt speak dog as well as dogs can.
Donโt punish!
In past times, and unfortunately sometimes still today, dog owners were counseled to use aversives to try to teach bite inhibition. If a puppy gnawed on your hands, some trainers suggested holding his muzzle closed as punishment, โcuffingโ him under the chin with an open palm, or worse, shoving a fist down the pupโs throat. In a wordโฆ โDonโt!โ
Not only are these methods abusive and have the potential to teach your pup to fear your hands, they can also trigger aggressive responses from assertive or fearfully defensive pups. If they do succeed in putting a stop to the mouthing, you may have taught the pup that his only options are to โNot Biteโ or to โBite Really Hardโ rather than the third important โIf You Must Bite, Bite Gentlyโ option.
Remember, all dogs bite, given the right (wrong) set of circumstances. With enough provocation, even the most tolerant and gentle of dogs might be induced to put her mouth on human skin. With good bite inhibition, provocation is likely to result in a polite, โPlease donโt do thatโ mouth-on-skin warning. Without it, the provoked dog is likely to cause serious damage when he puts his teeth on someone.
Things to do
The older a dog is when you start trying to teach bite inhibition, the greater the likelihood that, while you may succeed in teaching the dog to consciously use his mouth more gently, he will still fall back into hard biting during times of stress and arousal.
If you have a pup with naturally good bite inhibition, consider yourself blessed, and take steps to preserve this valuable natural resource. If not, start immediately to cultivate bite inhibition.
Play fetch games with your pup to direct his mouth toward appropriate toys to take some of the โwild puppyโ edge off his bite. Be sure to give him plenty of exercise daily. A tired pup is a well-behaved pup. Consult your vet for guidance on how much exercise is appropriate for your pup.
Work with his bite inhibition while heโs in an ex-pen or on a tether so you can calmly escape his shark teeth. Begin petting him and playing gently. As long as heโs not causing pain, even if heโs putting his mouth on you with some pressure, continue playing.
If he bites and hurts you, calmly say โOuch!โ and walk away from him. Step outside the reach of the tether, or exit the ex-pen so he canโt follow you and continue to bite. The โOuch!โ isnโt intended to stop the biting; it only marks the behavior โ tells him what he did that made you leave. This is negative punishment โ his biting behavior makes a good thing โ you โ go away.
Wait 20-30 seconds to give him time to calm down, then go back to him and calmly resume playing. If heโs barking and aroused, wait to return until he settles. As long as he bites softly, continue playing. Any time his bite hurts, say โOuch!โ and leave.
If several repetitions donโt seem to reduce hard biting, give him longer time-outs to give him more time to settle.
Over time, as he learns to control his hardest biting, you can raise the bar โ use the same methods to gradually shape a softer and softer mouth. When heโs no longer biting hard enough to hurt, use your โOuchโ technique for moderately hard bites, then medium ones, then finally, as he outgrows the puppy stage at 5-6 months, for any bites to skin at all.
If you must handle him when heโs being โbiteyโ โ to groom, trim his nails, attach his leash โ keep his teeth busy nibbling at treats you hold in one hand while you work with the other, or have a helper feed treats so you have both hands free to groom, trim, or leash.
This method of marking the inappropriate behavior and walking away from the pup imitates, to some degree, the behavior of Momdog and littermates when a pup bites too hard. If needle-sharp teeth clamp too hard on Momdogโs tender teats, she may stand up and exit the den. Pups learn to nurse gently to keep the milk bar open. Similarly, when pups play together, if one is too rough his playmate may โYipe!โ and decline to continue the game. Pup learns to inhibit his bite to keep the fun happening.
Some trainers teach owners to give a high-pitched โYipe!โ or โOuch!โ to mimic a littermateโs protestations. While this can work with some pups, others find it more arousing โ perhaps because we donโt really know what weโre saying when we try to speak Dog.
I advise my clients to skip trying to imitate a puppy โYipe!โ and just use a calm โOuch!โ as a marker. If you do try the โYipe!โ once or twice and it works, great. If it doesnโt, donโt keep doing it! Simply replace it with a more composed marker.
More tips
Pups with poor bite inhibition can exhibit exceedingly frustrating behaviors. Itโs easy to lose patience when those needle-sharp puppy canines sink into your skin. Remember that these โsharkyโ little guys usually love reactions; youโre playing into their paws when you lose your temper with them.
Use management solutions such as crates and baby gates so your pup doesnโt have access to you when youโre dressed up. Have treats and toys handy so you can toss them away from you and divert him when heโs approaching with mayhem on his mind. Do lots of work on the tether so you can repeatedly send the message that hard bites make the good stuff go away.
Young children should play with a shark-pup only under direct supervision, and only when the puppy is in a mellow mood. Most pups develop predictable cycles โ if you know heโs calmest early to mid-afternoon, thatโs when he can play with the kids. Controlled games only โ no running around the backyard squealing while puppy tries to latch onto chubby, tender toddler legs!
If youโre doing positive training, with treats โ and of course we hope you are โ a hard-mouthed puppy can bring you to tears and leave your fingers bleeding as he clamps down on treats. Itโs reassuring to know it gets easier when they lose their sharp baby teeth at five to six months, but meanwhile youโre tempted to stop training, or at least stop using treats! Try these temporary solutions:
โข Keep your treat hidden in your closed fist until you feel your pupโs mouth soften. Then open your hand and feed the treat from the palm of your hand like you would feed a horse. This teaches the pup he gets the treat when his mouth is soft, and prevents finger-shredding because heโs taking it from your palm.
โข Use metal finger splints. Available over-the-counter at pharmacies, these handy gadgets protect your fingers and teach him to be soft because most dogs donโt like to bite on metal.
โข Feed treats from a metal spoon. This keeps your fingers out of his mouth and teaches him to be gentle; few dogs like to bite metal.
โข Toss treats on the floor instead of handfeeding. This is a temporary solution, as there are many times in training when itโs far preferable to feed from the hand than the floor. On occasion though, it can save your fingers โ and your sanity.
It may take a while to see the positive results of your gradual bite-inhibition lessons, but itโs worth it. Lucy, our Cardigan Corgi came to us at five months of age with a pretty hard bite โ you knew when she took a treat from your fingers! It took months, and a lot of patience, to get her bite to soften.
At first it seemed we made no progress at all. Then for several months sheโd start to bite down, Iโd say โOuch!โ and feel her pause and relax her mouth before taking the treat. Now, at age 18 months, she takes treats sweetly, leaving fingers behind, intact, without a reminder. That alone was worth the effort, and I pray that it translates to true bite inhibition and nothing more than a Level 2 bite should the occasion ever arise that she feels compelled to put her teeth on human skin in earnest.
Also With This Article
“What To Do When Your Dog Bites”
-Pat Miller, CPDT, is WDJโs Training Editor. She is also author of The Power of Positive Dog Training, and Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog. Miller lives in Fairplay, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center.
