Mouthing/Biting Beagle

[Vicki]

My partner and I adopted a 4 month old Beagle---Maggie. She is now just over a year old and a great dog. The only problem we have with her is, when playing with my partner, she "mouths", or bites my partner's hands and wrists. This is more "play" biting, not aggressive biting, but it still hurts and leaves marks on her hands and wrists. Maggie does NOT mouth or bite me at all, just my partner. I am at home all day with Maggie and my partner works. Most of this occurs when she gets home at the end of the day from work. Maggie gets very excited when she walks in the front door. They do most of their playing in the evening and thats when the biting occurs. Does anyone have any suggestions as to WHY she does this, and how to get her to stop? We have tried the spray bottle with water and vinegar and that just seems to get her even more excited. HELP!
Vicki in Houston

[Lindsay]

Play biting is ok, but you should NOT allow it to happen, because as they get older they will think its ok to play bite and could actually hurt, even though they dont mean to.

with that being said, its REALLY common for ALL puppies to mouth. You need to teach the dog BITE INHIBITION. Usually its the momma or other litter mates that teach this to the dog, but since she is the only dog, you will need to do it.

There are several schools of thought on how to teach bite inhibition, but the main goal is the teach that biting in ANY way is NOT OK.

One thing you can do is if you are playing and rough housing, and the puppy bites or nips, you YELP loud and quick like a dog would if it was getting snapped at. Then you ignore the puppy until they calm down. Ignoring her by means up standing up and turning around but NOT leaving the room is the BEST way. The dog will jump up and try to play, but just keep turning you back to her until she gets the point.. BITING MEANS NO MORE PLAY.

If that method does not work, then you can use a more dominence style of training. The key to having a happy and healthy pet relationship is to let your dog knwo that YOU and in control and what YOU say goes and the pet has to answer to YOU. now it sounds harsh, but its true. You dog should not run your house. With bite inhibition, you want to teach her that you are top dog and she is NOT allowed to bite you or anyone else that is above her (which is everyone) in the household. Basically, in this situation, if the dog gets overly excited and snips or bites at you after telling her NO, you should grab her by the scruff with a firm but gentle grip and hold her down on the floor until she submisses. The dog MIGHT yelp, but its never out of pain if you do it the way i said. You do NOT shove or push her to the ground, you just grab her the way the momma dog would and just hold her there while giving a quick correction command like shhht! or hey! or no!. If she doesn't like it, she WILL yelp but not in pain, just in frustration. Then you just let go when she is calm again and give her praise for being so calm.

I have a 6 month old beagle and we JUST went through this. he would bite my arms and sleeve EVERY time we played. We used BOTH methods here because the ignoring him just was not enough, he just barked like CRAZy, as most beagles do.. Now, 2 months later, you can play with cappy all you want and if seems like he is getting a little too crazy you just say hey! really quick and loud and he stops and waits for you to play with him again.

he is shaping up to being a very good boy now.. aside from his clepto tendencies.

[Vicki]

Thanks so much for the "tips"! We will start doing it immediately. Hopefully, we'll have the same success you did. Other than the nipping/biting, she has been a very good puppy. She hasnt chewed excessively like a lot of pups do, except her own toys. She just has this one problem we cant seem to get hold of, and we want to "nip it in the bud" (LOL) before she gets any older. Thanks again!
Vicki

[Lindsay]

well good luck to you. i HOPE that everything works out for you.. just dont worry because it is something that is VERY common in puppies.. Just steady and regular training is key here