Puppies bite, they have needle like teeth and a need to chew. The mouth is their primary way of exploring the world. As a species, dogs are naturally equipped to kill, their mouths are designed to rip, and tear apart their food. In the wild, dogs have developed a ritualized set of behaviors that allow for conflict resolution with a minimum risk to each individual. As a dog owner we would like to promote this behavior set to keep our new puppy from biting us.
The basic behavior that we need to capitalize is bite inhibition. Dogs are not born with a desire to bite softly but the behavior is hardwired into their psyche. Soft mouths can be developed in the pup given the right conditions and consistent reinforcement. The right conditions means that we need to provide the pup with lots of feedback when the pup crosses the line and bites too hard. Eventually we will need to remove all permission for any biting but to start we need to allow the pup to understand when the bite is too hard.
Puppies should be allowed some play biting this provides a way to get them to understand when the threshold has been reached. First we should target the harder bites. With its littermates when a bite was too hard the bitten pup would let out a yelp. If the pup persists the littermates would run away and cause the offender to be all alone. We will take a similar tact with the pup. When it bites too hard, we are going to yelp "OUCH!". This needs to be way out of proportion to the offense. Leave the pup for a minute and let it be alone for a bit like its littermates would. The puppy should learn after a few repetitions that if the pup bites too hard it gets to play alone.
The pup needs to generalize this behavior, so all the people in the household should repeat this procedure with the puppy. Small children should be supervised around the pup and taught the correct manor for relating with the pup. Children are especially attractive to small puppies as they flop and flail around like wounded prey. If the children are introduced to the correct way to socialize with the pup accidents can be avoided and a much better relationship will be developed.
Puppy biting is just one aspect that needs to be addressed when bringing your Labrador Puppy into a new household. Other training such as housebreaking, crate training and chewing also need to be addressed. The following link provides a basic introduction into these behaviors: http://www.squidoo.com/training-labrador-retrievers-bringing-home-a-new-addition Please click on this link to get a better understanding of the needs of your new Lab Pup.
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