jakesmom
07-30-2007, 05:31 AM
I am wondering what is considered normal behavior for puppies learning bite inhibition. I have a 5-month old aussie shephard/pitbull, and lucked out as he plays really nicely with other dogs. He's gentle with the tiny ones and backs off and is submissive when the big one's don't want to play. He did have to be taught by bigger dogs that they don't like being herded -- but he seems to understand it now. I recently brought home a 9 wk old that is mostly yellow lab with a little golden retriever and chesapeake bay. The 5 month old is gentle, but very persistent at trying to get the little guy to play. About half the time the pup tries to ignore him/ plays with chew toys by himself (really cute because the older puppy will steal the chew toy, then bring it back as an offering to entice the little guy to play). The puppy, when he does decide to play looks like a hungry hippo, biting incessantly and fairly hard. I keep expecting the older dog to react and he doesn't. He let's the puppy bite him, and keeps trying to get him to play. I know if the puppy bit me like that it would hurt, and puncture the skin in several places.
I feel fine about letting the dogs get to know eachother on their own terms right now as the bigger one understands that he needs to be gentle, even though he is still a puppy himself ...he mouths the pup on the neck, nose, collar, and everywhere else, but he never bites down. Is it the job of the older dog to let the puppy know that he's biting too hard and how soon should this happen? Right now the 5 month old is twice the size of the 9wk old. A year from now the 9wk old will be twice as big as his brother. One way or another I'm sure the two dogs will learn to like eachother, but since the older dog seemed to learn bite inhibition naturally, I'm not sure how to make sure I keep the younger pup on track. Is he still too young too make a noticeable bite on other dogs? Do I just need to give him a few weeks so his jaw gets stronger and then the older pup will react and let him know "you're biting me and it hurts, and I'm still bigger, so you're gonna learn." Or do I need to look to socialize him among other safe, adult dogs to teach him puppy manners so that he learns that play biting is OK, but real biting is not?
I feel fine about letting the dogs get to know eachother on their own terms right now as the bigger one understands that he needs to be gentle, even though he is still a puppy himself ...he mouths the pup on the neck, nose, collar, and everywhere else, but he never bites down. Is it the job of the older dog to let the puppy know that he's biting too hard and how soon should this happen? Right now the 5 month old is twice the size of the 9wk old. A year from now the 9wk old will be twice as big as his brother. One way or another I'm sure the two dogs will learn to like eachother, but since the older dog seemed to learn bite inhibition naturally, I'm not sure how to make sure I keep the younger pup on track. Is he still too young too make a noticeable bite on other dogs? Do I just need to give him a few weeks so his jaw gets stronger and then the older pup will react and let him know "you're biting me and it hurts, and I'm still bigger, so you're gonna learn." Or do I need to look to socialize him among other safe, adult dogs to teach him puppy manners so that he learns that play biting is OK, but real biting is not?