{"id":310,"date":"2013-03-03T10:28:32","date_gmt":"2013-03-03T18:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thedoginc.com\/?p=310"},"modified":"2013-03-03T10:28:32","modified_gmt":"2013-03-03T18:28:32","slug":"puppy-biting-tips-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shibashake.com\/dog\/puppy-biting-tips-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Puppy Biting – Managing Excitement and Self-Control"},"content":{"rendered":"

To a puppy, everything is new, interesting, and exciting. This means that our puppy will try to bite, play with, and chew just about anything that he sees.<\/p>\n

In addition, puppies have the infinite energy of youth.<\/a> Like the Energizer Bunny, they can keep going, and going, and going. After a nap, their engines rev-up from SLEEP to GO, faster than you can catch your breath and shout “Stop!”.<\/p>\n

Sound and movement are especially irresistible to a puppy.<\/em> <\/p>\n

The more we shout and move our hands, arms, or feet around, the more likely our puppy will get excited, bite, jump, and act even more crazy. <\/p>\n

A very important part of training my puppy involves managing his excitement level, and teaching him self control. By doing this, I set my puppy up for success, and reduce out of control biting and jumping, before it occurs.<\/p>\n

\n

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
\n~~[Benjamin Franklin]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Husky
Managing Puppy Excitement and Self-Control<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

1. Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF)<\/h2>\n
\"Girl
1. Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF)<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>\n

NILIF stands for Nothing in Life is Free.<\/a> It is a great way to train a puppy, build a strong bond with him, and remain sane in the presence of our bouncing ball of fur.<\/p>\n

NILIF is simple – we just ask our puppy to do something for us first, before we give him anything in return. This includes food, toys, freedom, and yes, even our affection<\/em>.<\/p>\n

First, I train my puppy to do some very simple commands. Here are three simple commands –
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Husky
Look simply asks puppy to give you eye contact for a short amount of time.<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>\n

1. Look<\/h4>\n

Look simply asks a puppy to give us eye contact for a short amount of time. <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I train this command by showing my puppy that I have a piece of food.<\/li>\n
  2. I say “Look”, and bring the food up to the level of my eyes.<\/li>\n
  3. Puppy will naturally follow the movement of my food-enhanced hand, and look-up at me.<\/li>\n
  4. As soon as he looks, I mark the behavior (Good!<\/strong>) and reward him with some food from my other hand<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  5. As my puppy improves, I get him to look at me for longer, before rewarding the behavior.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/a><\/p>\n

    2. Touch<\/h4>\n

    Touch asks a puppy to gently touch our hand with his nose. <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Again, I let my puppy see that I have some food in my hand.<\/li>\n
    2. Then, I close my hand, move it a short distance away from my puppy, and say “Touch”.<\/li>\n
    3. Puppy will naturally follow the food. At first, he may try to mouth or lick at my hand. I ignore these behaviors and wait until he touches my hand with his nose.<\/li>\n
    4. As soon as that happens, I mark the behavior (Good!<\/strong>) and reward him with some food from my other hand<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      <\/a><\/p>\n

      3. Sit<\/h4>\n

      Sit is a useful evergreen command. Even after our dog has matured into an adult, we will still find this command to be very handy. <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. To train a Sit, I show my puppy that I have some food in my hand.<\/li>\n
      2. I close my hand and move it over and above my puppy’s head. He will naturally want to follow my hand, which will cause him to turn his head up and move his rump down into a sitting position.<\/li>\n
      3. Some dogs may move backwards instead of sitting. That is fine. I just repeat the motion until I get a Sit. However, it is important not to repeat the verbal command. I only say “Sit” once.<\/li>\n
      4. As soon as my puppy sits, I mark the behavior (Good!<\/strong>), and give him a treat from my other hand<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Once my puppy understands these simple commands, I ask him to do something for me, before I do anything for him in return. For example,<\/p>\n