Bitting Question
Hello I know there are a lot of topics on this already as well as some information in the FAQ but I did not want to hijack another thread.
Kallie my sweet little 15 week Corgi is my first Corgi every. I fell in love when I first met her and brought home to spend the rest of her life with me. She is adorable, curious and energetic and has changed me a lot since getting her only almost two months ago. I wouldn't give her up for the world but I do have a question in terms of her behavior with bitting.
She is very sweet most of the times. When I'm holding her or she's walking and even when seeing others she generally does not nip at them and is very sweet. However she can at times get very hyped up and wil try to chew my hand while playing. Now I've just been chalking it up to play as she only does it when playing but it happens all the time. When she is playing she will play with toys but if I put my hand down she will run up and bite me. She usually doesn't press to hard however if I were to let her continue she will apply more pressure. I try saying "Uh Uh" to her and she listens and stops but then after a few minutes will start back up. Even if I put her in "Time Out" while she will stop she will start again pretty quickly.
When I feed her by hand she won't bite hard or at all for the food. It's like she knows what to do but looses focus when playing. So I guess my reason for posting was to see if this is normal behavior for a Corgi. I know reading past post some say their dogs stopped and learned by 3 months but some have learned later. I try not to get frustrated as I love her and have to remember she's not that old. I'm hoping what I experience is just being a puppy but I wanted to get some input to see what others thought. Again she never bites out of anger and she only bites when playing. I just would prefer her to learn to control it even when playing.
Any thoughts or input would be great. Thanks!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Chris West on
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Frosty is 4 years old, we have had him since he was 1, and we still have this same problem. We have gone to multiple obedience classes, and tried lots of different techniques to stop biting, but whenever we start to play hard, he just gets all crazy. I am sure there is probably some way to fix it, but we haven't found that it is that big of an issue for us. We just remind him not to bite, re-direct his biting to his toys while playing and if he gets too rough, we just stop playing those kind of games and switch focus to more listening type games (like do this trick for a treat games). This seems to be pretty common with a lot of corgi owners I have met.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I would try doing what you do for nipping at heels...a sharp "owe" and the game is over, you get up and leave. This should work. It is ok for a pup to "mouth" but NOT bite.
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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I believe the standard response to a bite, however soft or accidental, is to shriek and squeal abruptly and loudly, just like a hurt puppy only louder. Dogs are programmed to back-off at this squeal. Puppy learns, "Ew, these hoomins are FRAGILE! I've gotta be careful!" Rule is: you get to put your fingers in the dog's mouth anytime you want, but the dog NEVER gets to initiate tooth contact, not even accidentally or in play.
When she learns Stay, put her in a sit/stay and slowly proffer a treat,closer and closer, but if she moves towards it, she doesn't get it. She only gets the treat if she sits still enough for you to put it to her lips. She'll learn to accept a treat with you scarcely feeling her teeth.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Instead of putting her in time out, you should leave the room. Then she learns that mouthing you means that she drives you away and the game ends.
By the time you pick her up and put her somewhere she's already forgotten why she's going. If when she bites you, you instantly turn and leave, then she will make that connection.
She's still young. She'll improve as long as you are consistent. Dogs mouth each other in play all the time, not just puppies but adult dogs too. So it's normal for them and it takes awhile to learn that it isn't ok with people.
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By the way, most puppies mouth and bite in play, not just Corgis. Corgis do tend to bite harder than some breeds, in my experience, but almost all puppies will bite in play.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Phillips on
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Thanks for the replies, I'm not to worried yet and I see improvement every day with her. I just kind of wanted to get a feel for normal Corgi puppy behavior as this is my first time with the little devil (okay she's a cutie).
I've tried the yipping with her but it just seems to rile her up more in play. Maybe my pain just sounds like to much fun to her. :) So I do the uh uh with her and she is listening more. Beth I've found what your saying to be true, when I said time outs I meant I leave her for several minutes or more and then come back. She I think is getting it, I saw a nice improvement yesterday when I came home from work. She did nip a little but quickly calmed down when she new it was the wrong thing to do. I would catagorize what she's doing more as mouthing than nipping but she does nip on occasion. Like I said she only nips and mouths in play, when she's tired she snuggles and I can pet her or when I'm feeding her by hand she does not bite.
It sounds like at her age she's doing what puppies do and I'm thinking from what I've read I'm on the right track. I just need to stay positive I think. :) I just always get worried since I have very little experience with puppies but I wouldn't trade her for the world. Thanks again for the suggestions and please feel free to keep them coming! :)
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Hi Kevin,
It's normal to second-guess yourself. :-) But it sounds like you are doing things exactly right and she is learning, at her own learning curve.
Imagine if you went to a foreign culture and didn't speak the language, and in this culture it was rude to touch things with your hands. Think of how long it would take you to remember not to use your hands, and how many times you would do it and just as you did it remember that what you did was a no-no. :-)
That's the learning curve your pup is going through, and she's right on track. Some pick it up right away, some are going on almost a year before they finally give it up 100%.
Good luck!
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