Ms. Puppy Dagger Teeth

Our pup is the most well behaved little girl.... usually. However, it's as if overnight she discovered that she has teeth. The second she starts getting wound up, it is flying teeth of fury. If we put her down she takes it out on our feet, if we hold her on her back she gets more wound up. If we're sitting on the ground she jumps at our face. This has also transferred into her trying to herd our adult dog, nipping at her face, and chewing on her tags. Our dog is being very patient, but the puppy seems unphased by the other dog's warning growls and body posture.

I know that most of this will pass with time and consistent training as she gets older, but I was wondering what everyone else did to help train their puppies during this period? Also, how did you discourage your pup from herding people and their housemates? Thanks :)

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Permalink Reply by Abbea and Vivi on September 1, 2009 at 12:57pm

I don't have a puppy yet, but I've seen topics like these posted a lot. I've read that when you're playing with a puppy and she starts to play bite, give a firm "no" or "ah ah," stick a toy in her mouth so she'll learn to bite that instead then praise her. If she continues to go after hands and feet, either stand up and stop playing with her or step over a gate/playpen so she can't get to you so she'll learn that biting means no more playtime for a few minutes. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Beth on September 1, 2009 at 6:44pm

Wonderful summary of the other threads! Sounds like you've been doing your homework. :-) You will be a wonderful Corgi mom someday soon.

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Permalink Reply by Abbea and Vivi on September 1, 2009 at 8:05pm

Thanks! Hearing that makes me so happy! I'm always worrying whether or not I can handle the puppy stage so I read a lot of the forum posts about puppy problems and how to fix them. Now, I think my main problem is figuring out how to teach my husband everything I learned on this site before we get our puppy. XD

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Permalink Reply by Beth on September 1, 2009 at 8:23pm

If you figure out a way to teach your husband, please let me know! ;-) I could use the advice.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on September 1, 2009 at 6:38pm

Have you tried a can of pennies? also the squirt water bottle can help as well.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on September 1, 2009 at 6:52pm

Lindy, I could not have survived Jack's biting stage without baby gates. My poor husband looked so sad one day when Jack was a pup and I asked what was wrong and Shawn answered "He's horrible!" Eh, he wasn't, but he was a puppy with a capital "P". You could not walk across the room, and when I would step over the baby gate I needed to detach him from my pants or shoes.

I know some trainers say you should never play tug with a puppy, but I did and that was the only way I could interact on the floor with him for a few weeks, since it occupied his teeth. It's also a great way to teach "leave it". What you do is have some treats in your pocket, and when puppy is engrossed in tug you wave a treat in front of her nose and say "Leave it!" as she's releasing. Then progress (and it only takes a couple times) to saying "leave it" and then showing the treat. WIthin a couple days, chances are she will release when you say "leave it" without seeing the treat first. Reward, reward reward and now you have a little puppy who already knows "leave it" and who you can play with because the tug toy keeps her teeth busy. We only played tug with one specific toy and I always ended the game by having him leave the toy, and it did not lead to biting or aggression.

The other thing I did was started to teach him "sit" right away, because then if he started getting wild I had a way to control him.

The worst of it only lasted a couple weeks but he continued to bite some for probably a month or two.

Some people do have success with the squirt bottle or pennies. I didn't take that route myself. You can see how your dog reacts; some can become head shy very easily if they have a high startle reflex. Many others do not. You just need to know your dog.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on September 1, 2009 at 7:34pm

You are welcome. :-) And such a valuable command, too! Especially with a dog like a Corgi (or mix) that can be very intense because of the herding thing.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on September 1, 2009 at 6:55pm

One other thing:

"if we hold her on her back she gets more wound up."

I think that is not uncommon with Corgis. They often do not tolerate physical corrections. That means that method does not work, so continuing it won't help, of course! Abbea's summary above is a very non-confrontational way to teach a puppy to stop biting. It takes a little time and patience, but it is usually fairly successful if you're consistent.