Havanese puppy biting
Dear Darcie, Could you help me? We’ve tried everything with our 5 month old Havanese but he still uses his mouth on our hands, not in a painful way, but very regularly. We love him a lot and most of the time he’s a sweetheart. He I’m worried that he’ll get worked up and hurt a child. We have a 15 y.o. daughter who is alternately very in love with him and scared of him. In play, he drew blood on her nose. We’ve had a personal trainer work with him a few times and he talked about how he’s still pretty dominant. When do you know you’re in trouble and need to give him back as you spoke of earlier? We’ve raised several dogs and never had a reason not to trust any of them. I’m not feeling trustful of this little guy — but I love him a lot. Help! Thanks, Brenda
Dear Brenda, I’ll do my best to help. I’ve never had a Havanese but I know a friend who does have one. It’s sweet and very playful. I understand that is the temperament of the Havanese. In my experience, puppies are puppies. I’ve had working dogs, herding dogs, water dogs, a terrier, one very small dog years ago, and lots of mixed breeds. They are all pretty much the same when it comes to teeth.
So, where to start? Let me ask you some questions, get back to me if you think there’s more to his story or if you need more help after you read the rest of this post. I’ll give you some help in this post which should make a difference in your dog and your house.
The best help I can really give you is to have you start all over again. I’ll put a link at the bottom of this post to my Bite Inhibition article. Read that and start the whole bite inhibition thing from the beginning.
Questions: How old was he when you got him? Did you get him from a pet store, breeder, or where? Have you talked to your breeder about this? Did you meet the dog’s parents and were they very sweet natured dogs? Have you had him checked by a vet, is he hurt or ill? Has anyone been teasing him, like blowing in his face? Are you walking him twice a day for at least 30 minutes? Do you pick him up and baby him? Does he have the run of the house? Are there any other problems except the tooth pressure and the one nose bite? Do you feed him by hand? When he takes a treat is it with a soft mouth or does he use teeth? What kind of play makes him start to put pressure on with his teeth? Where does he sleep? Does he have other puppies to play with? Did you take him to a puppy kindergarten class (that can be priceless)? Did he have litter mates?
Do not leave your puppy with children under 12 years old until you are absolutely sure they are not teasing the dog and the dogs is absolutely trust worthy with the children. You might never want to leave your dog with too many kids at a time, kids can forget their manners and hurt the dog accidentally.
You ask about dominance. I know that some trainers will tell you that a puppy will try to dominate you. Maybe it’s true but I don’t buy it. Not in all my years with dogs but once have I ever seen a normal puppy do anything resembling dominance; and that wasn’t really dominating. It was dog to dog aggression. The pup was eight weeks old, bad temperament, bad breeding in that little guy. He would attack the other pups and dogs at the throat with his teeth and would not let go even when they were screaming. That is not normal behavior. I did not keep him. That sure doesn’t sound like your pup.
Normal puppies don’t try to dominate, puppies just want to play. Small dogs who are treated like human babies may start biting and controlling their space but that’s not usually the temperament of your breed. I’d say unless he’s guarding toys, space, food, chews, he’s not showing what some would call dominate behavior. If he is doing those things at this age, you do need some professional help or read a lot of books on the subject if you’re good about learning that way. I can’t help with that too easily in an email.
He sounds like a normal puppy from your note. I like it when my pup puts his mouth on me, several times a day, even as he grows into an adult, it’s continual proofing throughout his whole life. Dogs who like to use their mouth make very good service dogs. And if someone pulls their ears or steps on a tail, they might put their mouth on a person but they more than likely will not draw blood. That is bite inhibition.
You said that in normal play, he uses his mouth on your hands, not in a painful way. That’s good. That does make me think, though, that he’s using tooth pressure, just not biting down enough to hurt your skin. He’s at the age where there should not be any tooth pressure at all. I like it when my puppies put their mouth on me. If it’s soft and no teeth, “That’s so good. You’re a good dog. What a soft mouth” and let them gum me to death.
My puppies are four months and almost seven months old now, they know when they are biting on a toy or on my hand. It’s pretty amazing really, we can have a fast or slow game of who has the toy and they know my hand from each other and from the toy. I have a video I’ll get into the blog as quickly as I can. They bite hard on the toy, soft on my hand and soft on each other, no teeth. If a tooth makes contact, I squeal like they have just killed me and so does the other puppy. We all train each other. The next mouth on me is soft again. The more you can play with this, the better. More and more practice helps them understand that people are too soft for doggie teeth and we’ll stop playing with them when they put teeth on us.
You might be playing too high energy of a game, getting him too wound up. If he’s biting a nose, for one thing, the nose is too close and he was probably too excited. Until there is no pressure on an arm or a hand, keep noses and ears out of the mix. Those come later. Keep your hands and toys low during play. A puppy will follow your hands. If the hands are not at face level, they probably won’t try for a nose.
Start clicker training. It’s the fastest and most fun way to train that I have ever found. Even your daughter can do it. Do read a book or watch a DVD before you start, you can create bad behavior as quickly as you can good so know what you’re doing before you ever click that clicker. Go to www.sitstay.com and search for the words “clicker training”. You might like our Getting Started Clicker Kit. Puppies can and do learn very quickly. Start early and keep training. It’s never too early to get started.
Puppies do love to be close to our faces. Make sure your puppy sits for greetings. Those front feet have to be on the floor before you squat or kneel down to pet him. Control the dog from getting up with a thumb through the collar. No jumping onto your nose. At least not until all biting has stopped and then he can only come up into your face if you invite him there.
My pups gum my nose and ears gently, no teeth. Getting to noses and ears can be a little scary at first, that why we start with hands and fingers. Expect when you do start with nose and ears that there might be teeth at first. They’ll learn just like they do with hands, no biting, no tooth pressure, I’m a pussy, little puppy, I can’t take your teeth, little buddy. Want to play with me? Be gentle.
Puppies that are too tired, play too long, or get too excited tend to get bitey. Make sure that he’s not too tired to play. Don’t play for too long. Fifteen minutes at a time, several times a day, see how that goes. If he’s not putting teeth on you in that length of time after several days, you can lengthen the time of play. If he does put teeth on, shorten the time for play. Just play short sessions more often. Give him successes, a full play session with no teeth, no play stoppage, and no time outs. Play for five minutes, no bites, “good puppy, what a soft mouth” and end the game. Slow down the play, play quieter games. Like “find it”. Show him a soft toy, put it under a pillow. “Find it”. He’ll get it and be so happy.
Your dog breed is very intelligent, play intelligence games with him (again go see those toys at SitStay.com). I’d stay away from play tugging until the tooth pressure is gone. Then you can start play wrestling a bit and some tugging. Not too much at first, over stimulation can bring on the teeth again. He needs time and patience from you so he can learn that we play without biting. I let my pups win a tug game sometimes, sometimes I win. (I hear other trainers yelling really loud right now, “No, don’t play tug with your dog!”) It’s all in how you do it. I do get the tug at the end so I can put the toy up until the next game. I say, “Wow, you were great. Give it to me. We’re all done playing today.”
Make sure he has time alone every day. And a good chew stick for chewing. He is at the age now where you can put him on a mat, give him a chew stick and stay there. If he gets up don’t say anything, put him gently back there as many times as it takes until he stays there and chews his stick. Gently, please. No hurting, don’t lose your patience. Your dog is learning that laying down and chewing under your quiet supervision will give him peace and a clear head, he’ll learn that he can be still and that’s okay. Please don’t give your puppy bleached rawhide, it can hurt him. You might like a bully stick for long lasting chewing pleasure. Chewing is a huge mental exercise for stress release, too. Your puppy has to chew. We have more high quality chews and treats at SitStay.com than any other pet store has. Your puppy will love them.
You start the play. You end the play. End it when things are still going good. I say, “That’s enough” and we’re done. I put up our special toys. The dogs gets to keep one or two toys that he’s good with. The dog does not get to start the play or end the play. Ever. All the toys are yours. All the food is yours. All the everything is yours. He gets to share it if he plays fair.
If he was mine, I’d take him on my walk first thing in the day just before breakfast and again in the evening just before supper. Feed all food, all meals, all treats by hand…forever. The only thing I don’t feed by hand is tripe. I’m not going to hold onto that stuff no matter how much the dogs love it, it goes into a bowl. Nothing is free. Have him do something for every single bite. Sit. Down. Speak. Something for the next bite. Don’t make it too hard when he’s first learning, remember he’s just a puppy. Later on, he might turn somersaults for you but for now, sit and down are good. If puppy puts teeth on your hand or fingers, he doesn’t get that bite. Say, “Ow!” pull hand and food away just a few inches. Offer again immediately, “Gentle. Oh, good boy. What a soft mouth.” Dogs understand that.
Puppies need naps, too. The get tired easily. Into the crate for at least a two hour nap morning and afternoon, your pup may need longer or more naps than that. It depends entirely on the individual dog. Do make sure that your dog is getting quiet time away from the people in your family. And if you can, find other puppies for him to play with, that is a priceless learning session. Most cities have puppy kindergartens, check your local clubs or trainers.
There was a boy in my childhood who used to blow into his dog’s face, he thought he was faster than the dog and could pull back before the dog got his nose. Never happened. Over and over again, the dog got his nose and drew blood. Do make sure that your daughter is not teasing the dog. Usually boys are the ones who do that. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a girl trying it but best to make certain.
My best guess is that your dog was over stimulated during play. Your daughter may have had her face too close and that’s why he bit the nose.
Dominate dogs? I don’t really buy into that theory any more than I think kids can be dominate from birth. In my opinion, it has more to do with spoiling or not having a firm hand rocking the cradle. By firm hand, I mean a fair, gentle hand. Don’t allow bad behavior like biting. It’s best if it’s learned like I posted in Bite Inhibition. Puppies want to play, they’ll do anything to keep playing as long as nobody bites them.
He’s a dog and he knows it. He’s really cute but do make sure that you’re not treating him like a human baby. All fours on the ground when walking, no carrying unless you have to pick him up to save his life for some reason. Treat him just like you would a big dog.
A firm, gentle hand and routine will get you a long ways right now. I would suggest that your daughter not play with him unless you are there to supervise. At least until she and he are playing well together. That will help her get over her fear. She’ll need to relax when she’s playing with him and that will come more and more easily as he quits biting.
Get these books from my SitStay.com library now (you might even find them in your local library for free): Before You Get Your Puppy and After You Get Your Puppy. Then read every book in my library to learn more about dog behavior and why dogs do what they do.
I had to chuckle when you said you’d had dogs before but this guy is giving you fits. I had to brush up on puppies myself just recently when we got Frankie. It’s been twelve years since we’ve had a pup. A person tends to forget all the little things that need to be done to have a wonderful, normal, happy puppy turn into a wonderful, normal, happy dog living in the house with us.
Read my post Bite Inhibition, Puppy Stop Biting Me again. Start over just as if the dog was brand new to your house. I think that will help the most.
P.S. When to give him up? When a dog is drawing blood and you cannot work in play to get that to stop, you may need to consider a rehoming to someone who has more experience with dogs who bite. Again, your puppy sounds normal to me. Good luck and keep smiling. Patience and kindness go a long, long ways.
