Q. We have a puppy who is almost 4 months old who bites like an alligator. He has made all of the family bleed and has caused bruising to most of us. He will be a big dog and we don’t know what to do. We’ve tried giving him time outs and stopping play but he just goes right back to biting. Will he grow out of this?
A. Actually while many people hope their dog grows out of a behavior what is just as likely if for the dog to grow in to it. Now, isn’t that a scary thought? I can make it out next week to see you but in the meantime I want you to do a couple things. First, if there are small children in the house purchase a muzzle for the puppy so he is not banished to a crate and missing out on interaction. While muzzles aren’t the main approach here it is important to stop your puppy from rehearsing the behavior and prevent further injurries. Once I see your puppy I can decide if a group class is right for him and I can give you my schedule. Has he had any training yet? Sometimes training basic cues can give a dog something else to do other that the behavior we don’t like. In class we cover: ‘easy’ which is a cue to teach the puppy to control its mouth, socialization is allowed in puppy class and is a huge help in teaching bite inhibition – the puppies teach each other in ways it is hard for us to teach them, we also discuss things like ‘zen puppy’, ‘settle’, and ‘place’ which give the puppy an understanding of what it means to chill out.
