- Now we know that all puppies bite
and that's a natural part of puppy behavior
but your puppy needs to know
that is not an acceptable behavior.
So in today's video we've got instructor Steve
and his adorable puppy named Final.
And they're gonna give you some tools
to prevent puppy biting.
So that they get started off on the right paw.
I'm Ken Steepe.
- I'm Steve Walsh.
- And this is Final.
Welcome back to McCann Dogs.
(dog barking)
- So puppies nipping and biting is part of having a puppy.
Every puppy does it and even though we really try
and prevent it from happening
it's something that every puppy does.
Every puppy that I've had over the years.
I know.
Has done it.
And this one is no exception.
This is Final.
He's my little Border Collie puppy
and I've had him for about a week.
Even though he does nip and bite
I'm teaching him some things that can help him settle
to be a little more proactive when it comes to biting.
Things that when he is really excited
or even a little over tired
I can sort of go back to and help get some success
and prevent him from sort of increasing
in his level of excitement or increasing that biting
that hurts so much with those little puppy teeth.
Now in some of our other videos we've talked to you about
what you can do when your puppy is biting.
But I'd also like to take a few minutes
and talk to you about how we can spend some time
doing some things that might prevent your puppy
from biting and also prevent them from getting
a little over excited at the time.
And one of the things that really can help
is having a dog that's comfortable
with you holding on to their collar.
Now little Final here since the time he came to me
I spent a lot of time building simply value
for a calm behavior while I'm holding his collar.
You'll notice right now even when he's in my arms here
I've got a hand on his collar to help sort
of secure him first and foremost.
But also he knows that's a really really good thing.
When I have a young puppy first things first.
We wanna make sure that we always have a leash or a line
on them and you know this is a pretty common thing.
You see what he's doing right now.
He says hey this line looks kind of fun to chew on
and I'm just gonna remove it from his mouth each time.
Now what I can do to start
the process of teaching him that me holding his collar
is a great thing is by simply using some food
to build some value and some calm nature.
So here's what's gonna happen.
I'm gonna come out.
I'm gonna have this line on my dog.
Now I am not gonna reach for my dog.
I don't want him to worry about a hand coming towards him.
And you'll notice he likes food a lot.
I haven't fed him yet today
so this is something I do before I feed them
in the morning or lunch or at dinner time.
I use a little food to get his focus
and I bring him in nice and close to me
and then as he's gleefully chewing on those treats
I simply reach underneath take a hold
of his collar and say yes in reward.
Good boy.
Yes good boy.
And let him know that when I take
a hold of his collar good things happen.
Good boy buddy.
And then I can let go of his collar
and I can try it again.
I can take a little food.
Put it out to his nose.
Bring him in nice and close to me.
Take a hold of his collar underneath.
I'm not reaching over his head.
And yes and reward.
Yes and reward.
Now you notice my voice is nice and calm.
I'm rewarding him very close to me.
I'm not reaching the food away from him.
And I have a good hold of his collar.
I'm not holding with a couple of fingers.
He knows I have a hold of it.
And then while he's calm I can also give him
some nice calm praise and some nice calm touch.
Very good boy.
Yes good boy.
Excellent.
Very good boy.
So that's sort of step one.
Anytime I get a new puppy this is the thing
that starts to let them know that me taking
a hold of their collar is a really really good thing.
Now often times when it comes to nipping
and biting we wait a little too long.
We wait until the dogs are overtired or they're distracted
by a lot of different things
or they're just a little bit overstimulated.
I like to take some opportunities
to allow my dogs to play when they might
be a little bit more calm right off the bat
to A first let them know that I give them permission
to play and we can have some fun.
But also then take the opportunity to teach them how
to settle at the exact same time.
Now I give my dogs permission with a clear command.
It is okay play time.
And play time means we can have some fun.
We can jump around and I do very short little spurts of it
because what happens is I play for a little bit
and then I use my leash as sort
of the conduit to get my hand to his collar.
So when I have a puppy that's jumping around
and playing I don't want to just try
and reach out and grab them.
I want to calmly let them know that it's time to slow down.
So it's sort of a yellow light.
My subtle command is a bit of a yellow light
that says hey something's gonna change.
My hand slides down into that collar
and because I've spent some time building value
for him being calm with me holding his collar
you can see what he just did there.
He went oh okay.
I guess I should sit.
So here what it would look like okay.
I give you gonna have a little scratch there buddy?
I know the collar's itchy.
It's all new.
I'm gonna tell him okay play time.
Let's have a little fun.
Oh that's good.
Settle.
Good boy.
Excellent.
And then when he does settle I can say yes
and reward him.
Over and over again.
Good boy.
And then we can repeat the process again.
Take a hold of my leash.
Now you notice I'm holding the leash.
I'm not gonna let the dog run away.
I wanna make sure I have secure hold of him at all times.
I can tell him okay let's play.
Oh that's good.
Get that thing.
Good job.
Now he's gonna play with the leash.
I'm gonna just take it out of his mouth.
And begin to play.
Good job.
Settle.
Slide down in.
I'm just gonna remove that line from his mouth again.
Good boy.
Yes.
Good settle.
So I'm not getting him very excited.
You'll notice that I'm doing it
in very small snippets because I want
to put more value for the settle than the play.
I want him to understand that when he settles
that's a really really good thing
but it's all about my permission.
I say okay buddy now it's time to play.
And now I need you to slow down.
Now often times when we start
to play they can get a little over excited
so if that happens and he's not settling
with simply holding the collar
I can draw him into me.
Just tuck him up into my side here
and go to that little passive restraint
and let him sort of settle in that position.
And you can see when he does that
he gets to this position and he goes oh okay
I like this spot.
I'll just hang out here.
Now you can see he's doing very well at this.
He settle quite a lot
and again I've only had him for a week
but this is something I focused on right off the bat.
So I'm actually gonna make it a little bit harder for him.
I'm gonna get him a little bit more excited
because he's being respectful right now.
He's not putting his teeth on me
but I kind of want him to so you can see
exactly what we will do.
And again I have the leash in my hand.
And now you're gonna see whoa.
He says he is excited.
So okay play time.
We're gonna have a little fun.
Get that thing.
I'm gonna use my hands.
Let him play.
Get it get it get it.
Get that thing.
Ja he's crazy.
Now I'll see if I can get it again.
Settle.
Yes.
Good settle.
Excellent boy.
Now I'm gonna try it again
and I'm gonna up the ante even more.
I'm gonna stand up.
I'm gonna jump around.
I'm gonna make myself really exciting
to see if I can kinda get him a little bit silly.
So here's what it's gonna look like.
Okay let's play.
Ah get the thing.
Ja get it get it.
Ow hey.
Now my hands were nice and close.
His teeth went on my fingers.
So I simply said ow followed by a little hey.
Took a hold of his collar.
Settle.
Good boy.
Good job.
And then I can yes and reward that good settle.
So I feel him relaxing while I'm holding the collar.
He's not still tense waiting
to explode the moment I let go.
I want him nice and settled and again
when he is I can let go of that collar.
I can calmly pet or praise.
And then we can do it again.
Okay let's play.
Ah crazy.
Ooh who's nuts?
Ooh are you ready?
Are you set?
Are you ready?
Are you set?
I'm gonna push you over here.
Settle.
Good job.
Good settle.
That's my guy.
Very good job.
And he's very interested in the line in the floor right now.
In fact that's something that most puppies will do.
The moment you put this line around their neck
it becomes a bit of a chew toy.
Now I don't make a big deal out of it
but I do every time he tries to chew on it
simply remove it from his mouth and see
if I can get him to leave it alone.
That's an important thing that you follow through
with every single time and often times people will get
to the point where they go oh my gosh.
It's just a line.
Let the puppy eat it.
You need to follow through each and every time with him
to let him know that he shouldn't play with it.
Ready?
Are you set?
Okay get it haha.
Ow hey settle.
Good.
Good now I was actually intending
to get him a little higher there.
However he opened his mouth and his teeth hit me.
He didn't bit down.
But I want to address that every single time.
If I interrupt things and let him know
that's not appropriate,
he quickly learns that's not something
that keeps the fun going.
It's something that in fact requires a little settle.
But again once he is settled and nice and calm
then I can yes and reward him again.
Now as he gets a little bit more adept at this
I'll also try and push him a little bit more
and to really test his understanding
of that idea of settle.
So you know using the collar
is a great way to do that but sometimes
I'll test it and see if simply changing my body language
can let him know what to do along with that settle word.
So my next steps for him is I'm gonna put him on the ground
and we're gonna have some play.
But instead of reaching for his collar right away
I'm simply gonna stand up and tell him settle
and see what he does.
Now of course if he settles right away
I'm gonna calmly yes and reward him for that.
If he doesn't I'm simply gonna slide my hand down the leash.
Take a hold of that collar.
Let him settle and then still yes and reward.
I need to let him know when he's correct.
So let's see what he does here.
He says I'm an itchy puppy.
We're gonna do some things.
Are you ready?
Are you set?
Okay let's play.
Ah crazy wow.
Oh he's nuts.
Oh he's crazy.
Oh he's nuts.
Now I'm gonna get that leash out of his mouth.
Settle.
Yes good boy.
Excellent boy.
Good job.
Very good.
And I'll give him a couple of treats for that.
Simply me standing up really changes his picture.
Now I'm gonna see if I can get him
a little bit more excited and see
if he will maybe not settle.
Okay let's play.
Ah oh oh are oh.
Oh he's crazy.
Oh he is nuts.
Oh are you ready?
Are you set?
Settle.
Oh good boy.
You are an excellent boy.
Now how do you not settle?
No big deal.
The leash is in my hand.
I can slide my hand right down to that dog's collar.
Take a hold under his chin.
When I feel him relax then I can yes and reward him again.
Now when I talk about feeling him relax
what does that exactly mean?
Well with me taking a hold of his collar
he's sitting calmly.
He's not pulling against me.
I'm not feeling him tense.
He is literally nice and relaxed in my hands
and I can give him a nice calm pet.
And let him know what a great job he's doing.
If you feel your dog still either pushing against you
or pulling against your collar.
Or just in general feel them sort of stiff.
That's not exactly the idea of relaxed.
I want him just sort of saying okay dad.
You got my collar.
No big deal.
Now he's still very interested in that line
and I'm just preventing him from going hey.
Good.
That's better.
So as I was doing that he was
a little distracted and thought you know what?
I really want to go to that line.
I'm gonna just take a little bite at you.
Now he didn't bite hard.
But the point is I addressed it
in that moment in that second.
I didn't wait.
I know.
Good that's better.
Excellent boy.
So again he got a little stiff there.
I thought about biting at this line
and we're over there and he really wants this right now.
I'm just letting him learn.
Good boy.
I know.
Life is very exciting.
Hey leave that.
Good.
That's my guy yes.
Excellent.
So he was a little excited.
He was a little frustrated.
He wanted to go to that line.
He really thought that would be something
he should do right now.
I'm letting him know every time
that he just needs to wait for my direction.
- I want to thank instructor Steve and Final
for giving us some tools for preventing puppy biting
and instructor Steve mentioned
a little bit about leadership training.
If you're looking for more information
on leadership training click that card right there.
On that note I'm Ken.
- I'm Steve.
- And this is Final.
Happy training guys.
Bye for now.