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Biting and nipping

Joshua Ingram

New Member
Hi Everyone,

I am a new mastiff owner and my girl Lily is 10 weeks old. All is going well with her except for one thing. She is biting and nipping A LOT and when attempting to correct her she gets into it even more. We have tried putting butter on our hand, have her lick our hand and give her a treat and praise. She does it for a couple of times but goes back to nipping. We understand that she’s a puppy and is exploring her world with her mouth but this part is concerning to us as we know once she’s much bigger this is an issue that can be dangerous.

All that said, can anyone provide some tips and advice?

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
I used the technique below with my singleton, taken from his mother too soon, most bitey puppy ever. Al ended up being my softest mouthed dog. Bite inhibition is what you're really going for. Dogs are dogs and given the right circumstances every dog will bite. If they have good bite inhibition then they'll be able to control the force of the bite.

https://www.clickertraining.com/puppy-nipping

And there's a ton of good info in this next article. Some infographics at the bottom that are excellent. I wouldn't take the middle section about when to be concerned as gospel truth. This bit -
  • puppy is growling, stiffening and biting when physically manipulated, restrained, moved or picked up
  • puppy is growling, stiffening and biting when items are removed from them, such as chews, toys or ‘stolen’ items, or when approached when puppy has such items
I find most of that to be pretty normal pup behavior that goes away when we handle it properly. That usually means not doing things that frighten (picking up, restraining, scruffing, rolling, etc) the pup, working on cooperative care (do this for every pup), and teaching a solid leave it. I've dealt with one pup that was truly aggressive at 9-10 weeks and it's very different than just what's described above. We called in a certified behaviorist for him at ten weeks.

https://aniedireland.wordpress.com/2020/09/21/puppiesbite/

And here's a couple of links for you on cooperative care . The last one is my daughter's page. She's a behavior technician, elite fear free certified, KPA certified trainer. She teaches cooperative care classes. I highly suggest cooperative care training. It makes so many aspects of handling easier and less stressful.

https://fall2018.iaabcjournal.org/2018/10/25/cooperative-care/
https://www.facebook.com/pawprintsonthesand/videos/?ref=page_internal
 

timmy59

Well-Known Member
Josh, this board is sadly not real busy, but there is some good peeps that poke their head in here.. @Boxergirl has a good history here and may provide you with some good reading and or advise.. Our pup now 7 months also was there months ago.. I'll say I am NOT qualified to give advise but you know everyone has an opinion.. When she bites/ nips and hurts you or another holler OUCH to let her know she hurt you.. Ignoring as mentioned above is another tactic too.. LOL, there's BG now..