www.dog-bite-prevention.com Page 1 3/23/2005 How to Stop Your Puppy or Older Dog from Biting World Class Trainers Tips To Raising a Well Behaved Dog. Compiled by Lateef Olajide www.dog-bite-prevention.com http://aggressive-dog-behavior-training.blogspot.com www.dog-bite-prevention.com Page 2 3/23/2005 How to Stop Your Puppy or Older Dog from Biting. (c) 2005 Success Brothers Enterprises. No part of this book may be reproduced or redistributed in any form or by any means. Making copies of any part of this book for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of United States and international copyright laws. www.dog-bite-prevention.com Page 3 3/23/2005 Dedicated To All Dog Attack Victims. www.dog-bite-prevention.com Page 4 3/23/2005 CONTENT Reasons Why Puppy Bite. ………………………………….…. 7 Dog Bite: The underlying causes. ………………………………. 12 How to recognize warning signs? ………………………………..14 How you can get a puppy to stop biting ..………………………. 16 More on puppy biting: Stop Puppy from Biting. Puppy Biting - Have Patience My Puppy Keeps Chewing What Do I Do? Teaching Puppies Not To Bite How To Prevent Dog Bites: ………………………………………27 Preventive measures applicable to potential dog owners. Preventive measures for dog owners. Preventive measures for parents. Preventive measures for general Adults. How to Socialize - Critical stage for puppy …………………….. 31 www.dog-bite-prevention.com Page 5 3/23/2005 More on Socialization Techniques: Puppy Dog Socialization. Dog Bite Injury prevention - Socialization tips for Puppy owners. Seven things you should do if your dogs bite…. ………………….. 50 Advice To Dog Bite Victim:………………………………………… 51 Guest Expert Articles: Baby on the Way - prepare your dog………………………………. 52 Children and Dog……………………………………………………. 54 Bite Inhibition.. ……………………………………………………… 58 The Complex World of Canine-Car Relationships.. ……………… 60 Canine Bloat and Temperament.. ………………………………….. 62 Compulsive Canine Behaviors: Too Much of a Good Thing ..……. 64 Desensitizing Possessive Behavior Parts I & II. …………………… 66 The Large Dog and Children..………………………………………. 70 Dog and Puppy Biting, Mouthing, Teething..………………………..73 Litter Mate Behavioral Variation: A Multi-Ingredient Stew ………76 Ten Rules for Buying a Puppy ……………………………………….78 Two most important things you teach your children ………………. 81 Three Most important things Dog Owners can do. …………………83 The Ins and Outs of Canine Guilt……………………………………. 84 Case Studies: ………………………………………………………….. 85 Links to dog bite cases with solutions. Top Dog Site Recommended by experts. ……………………………. 86 www.dog-bite-prevention.com Page 6 3/23/2005 INTRODUCTION In the preparation of this little work. The writer has kept one end in view: to make it serviceable for those for whom it is intended, that is, for those who have neither the time nor the opportunity, the learning nor the inclination, to peruse the most elaborate information source ever – INTERNET. Also provision of educating- entertaining training tips that will help reduce the burden of dog bite, if not totally eliminate, the most aggressive behavior of dogs- a big threat to our health, which our kids are the most affected victims. If you buy this book you don’t expect to be presented with statistics of dog biting again. You can find lots information about dog bite statistics in news. What we are after here are ways to avoid the problem. How we can discover the reasons, warning signs, ways to prevent, and reinforcement training that can help you turn your dog into better friend he is suppose to be. That is exactly what you will get in this book. The editor has to acknowledge his indebtedness to following people for their assistance in one way or other: Kenneth Phillips of www.dogbitelaw.com Butch Cappel of www.dogbiteprevention.com Rita Peters of www.cbrrescue.org Kristina Vourax communication manager of www.ddfl.org Lyn Richards of www.Doglogic.com Jeanneane Kutsukos of www.prodog.net Ed Frawley of www.Leerburg.com Norma Bennett Woolf Editor of Dog Owner's Guide http://www.canismajor.com Pam Dennison www.positivedogs.com Renee Premaza of www.jerseydogtrainer.com Terry Ryan of www.legacycanine.com Becky Schultz Coordinator of Animal Training and Behavior Programs Animal Humane Society Golden Valley and Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Stacy Braslau-Schneck of www.wagntrain.com Melissa Alexander of http://www.clickersolutions.com and several others that space does not permit mentioning their names here. I thank them very much. This little book goes forth—a finger-post on the road of positive reinforcement training. It is hoped that if you follow the steps according to the index you will arrive at a state of peace of mind with your dog. You are advised to call on a dog-training professional, veterinarian or animal behavior specialist if you notice unusual behavior in your dog. I will also advise that you visit www.dogbitelaw.com to read more about legal issues concerning dogs. www.dog-bite-prevention.com Page 7 3/23/2005 Chapter 1 Why Do Puppies Bite? "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Newton’s third law of motion Don't be surprised that a book on dog training is starting with an old physics quote. It's from Newton but it's a natural law which is applicable to other events including dog training. I know you will want to ask: Of what use is this law here? You see, lots of people are trying to find solutions to problems without actually knowing the cause of these problems. Lots of dog owners have been trying to stop puppies from biting without even knowing in the first place why puppies bite. According to Isaac Newton, every action is a result of an opposite reaction. Everything happens for a purpose and for a reason. Your puppy will bite because of certain reasons, which if you study will help you in creating a good old dog as a friend. The main reason why puppies bite is as a result of TEETHING. The teething period is a state when puppies are cutting new teeth. This is mostly between the age of 4 to 6 months and the maximum age is 10 months. A nursing mother once told me about her experience when her toddler was passing through the teething stage too. How painful it was for her little baby girl. In the same way it is also painful for puppies passing through this stage of having loose teeth hanging in their mouths. Puppies’ jaws are weak and for them to inhibit the force of their jaws as a result of these new teeth they gnaw, mouth and even play-bite to sooth the gums around the teeth. The combination of weak jaws with extremely sharp, needle-like teeth and the puppy penchant for biting results in numerous play-bites which, although painful, seldom cause serious harm. Thus, the developing pup receives ample necessary feedback regarding the force of its bites before it develops strong jaws - which could inflict considerable injury. The greater the pup’s opportunity to play-bite with people, other dogs and other animals, the better the dog’s bite inhibition as an adult. For puppies that do not grow up with the benefit of regular and frequent interaction with other dogs and other animals, the responsibility of teaching bite inhibition lies with the owner. All puppies love to play by being mouthy and biting or chewing anything they can get their sharp little teeth into. These sharp teeth are the reason that it is crucial for puppies to www.dog-bite-prevention.com Page 8 3/23/2005 learn bite inhibition (controlling the force of their bite) during the first few months of life. Normally this is learned naturally and effectively through contact with mom and other littermates. If the puppy bites mom during nursing, mom can roll the puppy over to correct it or just get up and walk away. Lack of socialization of puppies: It is very important to socialize your puppy if you want to have happy dog. Lack of socialization of your puppy between the age of 3 wks to 3mths with your environment, your children, other people and other dogs can also lead to growling which can lead to biting. Thus proper socializing is important. Apart from teething and socialization, always bear it in mind that puppies explore objects in their environment with their mouths. www.dog-bite-prevention.com Page 9 3/23/2005 Expert’s article: Why Do Puppies Bite? by Susan Bulanda, M.A. All puppies will mouth, a behavior that some people mistake for biting. The best method to prevent puppy biting is to provide the puppy with the foundation for not biting. This involves leaving the puppy with it’s mother and litter mates until they are at least 12 weeks old. This way the mother dog will teach the puppy it’s most important lesson – bite inhibition. If the puppy is taken away from its mother before 12 weeks of age or if the puppy tends to be very mouthy, the owner can do a few things to help the puppy learn this most important lesson. The first thing the owner must do is understand the nature of puppy biting. The owner must realize that the puppy does not have hands such as humans do. Therefore all of the puppy’s manipulation and exploration of its environment is done mainly through the mouth. (Much the same as a human baby). It is the responsible owner who learns the difference between mouthing and true aggressive biting. Most young puppies do not aggressively bite. If they do, the owner should give very serious consideration about keeping such a puppy. This type of puppy may be dangerous as an adult if not properly handled.