Describe "normal" biting

[laurenlentini]

First time owner of now 13 week old female. I am extremely worried I may have a problem. The usual routine is crate rest, snack or meal, potty, supervised indoor play, potty, crate rest. I brought her home at 8 weeks and began applying all the "training" tips I could find on the internet; not to pull away with puppy bites, yelping to teach bite inhibition, swapping toys for biting, let her come to you for petting, dragging the leash to promote acceptance, short training exercises daily (sit, down, come). She rang the doorbell for potty within the first week and responded to basic commands with treats. I recently took her to a trainer who instructed me to click train for the biting and was shown to click and toss treat when she bites to distract the behavior and click for good responses to basic commands while tossing a treat. The ONLY time she does not bite is when I open the crate to let her out, and it lasts for less than a minute. I take her out to potty, and when I bring her inside, I can distract her with a toy or treats, usually for about 20 minutes - that is the indoor play/free time. She is confined to the house's main space (living, dining, and kitchen) and supervised. The biting escalates, and she comes at us with more intensity. That is when she happily (most of the time) returns to the crate for another rest. The bite pressure does not seem to be improving; she is landing some serious bites. Our vet tech advised a holding technique (body, head, and neck compression) and releasing when she relaxes - this seems to make her more aggressive, so I stopped doing it. My breeders response was "you wanted a Corso". Board and train is not an option. Do I have a problem? Or is THIS normal?

 

[Boxergirl]

Click and toss a treat when she bites? The click marks a behavior you want to reinforce, or to be repeated. Is the trainer KPA certified? Did the trainer attend the Karen Pryor Academy? Clicker training is awesome, but the timing of the click is imperative or you're marking the wrong behavior. I was using a clicker (self-taught from books and such) and when my daughter was doing her Academy training I learned that sometimes I was marking the wrong things while thinking I was marking the right things. I'm also not a fan of what your tech told you. That often escalates aggressive responses in dogs. Honestly, the biting doesn't sound abnormal. You need to be working on bite inhibition rather than no biting at all, imo. Since you're willing to use a clicker or marker (which can be verbal), maybe check out some videos by Kikopup or take a peek at her Dogmantics page. She's got good stuff and explains things very well.

Kikopup

I used this technique with my singleton, taken from the breeder too early, alligator pup. It worked and he had a soft mouth his entire life
https://www.clickertraining.com/puppy-nipping

 

[apollo92]

My best advice would be to always remain calm, give a stern NO, redirect to toys. If you are playing immediately stop and walk away, ignore puppy for 5 minutes. Stay consistent! It will get better this is normal puppy behavior. Also get lots of bones/toys that are good for teething pups.

I tried the Yelp technique with my puppy and it made him bite me more. Some people swear by this technique for me it didn’t work one bit.

I am not a trainer and my corso is only 6.5 months - he still at times can be mouthy when he gets in his moods. Now since he is over 6 months I use an e collar and it fixes the issue very fast when he acts up. I do not shock and only use vibrate mode. I wouldn’t recommend an e collar until your dog is over 6 months and you are properly informed on how to use it.

 

[laurenlentini]

Click and toss a treat when she bites? The click marks a behavior you want to reinforce, or to be repeated. Is the trainer KPA certified? Did the trainer attend the Karen Pryor Academy? Clicker training is awesome, but the timing of the click is imperative or you're marking the wrong behavior. I was using a clicker (self-taught from books and such) and when my daughter was doing her Academy training I learned that sometimes I was marking the wrong things while thinking I was marking the right things. I'm also not a fan of what your tech told you. That often escalates aggressive responses in dogs. Honestly, the biting doesn't sound abnormal. You need to be working on bite inhibition rather than no biting at all, imo. Since you're willing to use a clicker or marker (which can be verbal), maybe check out some videos by Kikopup or take a peek at her Dogmantics page. She's got good stuff and explains things very well.

Kikopup

I used this technique with my singleton, taken from the breeder too early, alligator pup. It worked and he had a soft mouth his entire life
https://www.clickertraining.com/puppy-nipping

Thank you! I had seen this posted by you on another thread and that was the reason for my post; I felt I was doing it wrong. And I just wanted to ask others if they experienced the same behavior as I do with my puppy. In the days since my port, she seems to be much more responsive to my verbal markings of "uh,uh and no. And since I can't leave her, I am giving her 3 opportunities to self correct or she is placed back in her crate; with a neutral tone. She seems to understand and accept it and it feels like she simply has become tired when she starts biting and settles for a nap when crated. I am hoping this continues to improve as the weeks go by and I will start reducing the "opportunities" accordingly.