# Biting out of control



## Chritty (Aug 17, 2014)

Are you open to using corrections or are you just looking to try and control it through aversive-free methods?


----------



## Chritty (Aug 17, 2014)

This may be a good thread for you to read through

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=358962


----------



## Mom of a Golden (Nov 18, 2014)

I had the same problem with my golden! Mine is now a year and almost two months. (He is very hard headed.) We tried everything just like you. Our trainer said that we could use hot sauce and that would sometimes work. We put it on our arms so that he wouldn't like it when he bit us. We also would spray him in the face with a water bottle that you buy to water plants the one where you can change the nozzle to mist or the harder flat line spray if you will. They do this at his daycare also when the dogs get too rough. It might be something to try. We also kept a toy in our back pocket and as soon as he would lunge for us we would put it in his mouth. He still gets nippy sometimes when he gets in his "play" zone and it is hard for him to snap out of it. We taught him a command to "find your ball" and that sometimes gets him to snap out of the state he is in. Around 10 months he had gotten a lot better. They are just in their adolescent state but it does get better. 

Another thing our trainer taught us to do was to put him in a down and hold him there until he gives in. All you do is get the dog into a down and hold their collar to the ground or when the dog is on the leash you step right next to where the collar is with very little slack and you just wait until they calm down. 

I hope this helps!


----------



## SwimDog (Sep 28, 2014)

When you talk about playing - is he playing with you or playing by himself - and what kind of play is happening? What is he doing when he's outside and not playing? Does he do this only in your yard? Can you predict that it will happen? 

The good news is it sounds like some variation of attention seeking - and in many ways that's way better than a dog who, when outside, wants nothing to do with you.


----------



## michiganst8er (May 6, 2015)

Have you tried bringing a penny shaker can outside with you? Our pup stops in her tracks when we shake it - then she gets distracted by anything and everything else...squirrel!

I also spray all the kids pants legs, sleeves, and shoes with Bitter apple. 

Ours is much better now but still has her moments. It sounds like yours is more of a challenge than ours.

Hope you find something that works and quickly.


----------



## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

Be careful with the pennies in the can trick - I did that with Max and to this day, he is easily spooked by sudden sounds like that.


----------



## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

How often does he do this? Chloe does this maybe once or twice a day. She is also six months. You need to keep a mental note of when he does it. For her it's when you play to long. So we have to stop before she gets to that point.


----------



## farah1993 (Jun 30, 2015)

*Mine is getting way out of hand!*

My Golden is 10 months old. Her name is Lola, and since the day I got her I can't seem to figure a perfect way out for her to stop biting me, my friends, strangers, family, etc. She bites aggressively. I even got her a trainer, and nothing happened. I also realized that she bites even more when she is around 2 or more people. Any ideas on what to do?


----------



## Goldylover2 (May 1, 2014)

Biting out of control can be very frustrating. My pup did it also. I didn't experience it with my first golden. But my current dog did it a lot. I had to seek out a trainer because I didn't know what to do. Of course your dog needs to learn the basics. Heel, sit, down and stay. Do they follow those commands? My pup knew sit well but the other ones not so good. That is what you have to work on. Here's is what my trainer told me to do. You have to put a leash on your pup while in the house. This will let you get control of your pup much easier. Especially if they run away or hide under a table. Plus my pup wears a prong collar. I also used a shock collar. I didn't want to at first and regretted on buying it. But it was needed and did help. You need a trainer to show you how to use these tools. Someone who has been in the business of training dogs for a long time and uses these tools. Because some trainers do not.


----------



## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

By 6 months of age puppies are leaving behind puppyhood and entering adolescence. A sign that this is happening is that your puppy is making you crazy. 

Two suggestions.... 

1) Your dog needs to receive *daily* aerobic exercise to help with managing his behavior. 'Puppy Play dates' a 30 minute session a couple times a week with another adolescent large breed dog is ideal and can be just as effective in the living room as outdoors if the weather is bad, teaching your dog to retrieve to hand is another excellent way to get appropriate exercise. _A leash walk around the block is simply not enough hard work for a healthy young retriever entering the prime of life._

2) Increased attention to obedience work and 5 or 10 minute training sessions snuck in several times a day are the rest of the puzzle. Keep the dog on leash and train "settle" and have the dog practice down/stays while you watch t.v. or work on the computer. Teach the dog "Place" where he goes to a mat or small rug and stays there until released. Research the term "Nothing in Life is Free" and begin running a tighter ship around your house, expect more from your dog and be consistent about behavior. Don't allow bad behavior sometimes because you're too tired to deal with it and then come down hard when you're frustrated. Try you best to be consistent at all times.

Have the dog drag a short 18" piece of leash from his collar and you can use that to control him when there are behavior issues in the house or yard and he begins mouthing. 

I have included two links to get you started with understanding what is going on and suggestions on dealing with it....


http://www.houstonspca.org/site/DocServer/developmental_stages_of_puppy_behavior.pdf?docID=369

http://dogtime.com/exercise-needs.html

http://dogtime.com/dog-training-settle-down-dunbar.html


----------



## Welove2run (Apr 24, 2015)

Thank you all for the advice and support. We have a trainer coming this week and hopefully they can give me some tools to help me use the appropriate method for him. I noticed he only exhibits biting me after playing fetch. So today I stopped playing before he got to that crazy behavior. He is hard headed, not like our old boy Max we had (golden too). I just need to change the way I react to his behavior and not lose patience.


----------



## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

How about having him drag a check cord- lead, and calmly step on it when he gets landsharky. Immediately ask him for his "down", and reward that big time. Once he calms down, release him. If it happens a second time, repeat and then crate or set up a good-sized xpen in the yard and stick him in there. He is done for that hour.


----------



## Leslie B (Mar 17, 2011)

Good comments from Kristi about the exercise and the NIFL. Read up on both. Quite often we don't give these active dogs enough hard physical movements to drain their energy and it comes out as bad behavior. The old addage that a tired dog is a good dog still stands today. 

I also like the check cord but I would make it more like 30-36 inches. You want to be able to step on it and 18 might barely touch the ground and not give you much actual cord to get your foot on. At the first sign of any movement toward the biting behavior I would step on the cord, pick it up without touching the dog (so he is less likely to want to put his teeth on you) and give him a leash correction and off to the crate for 30 minutes. If the leash correction amps him up further then just take him directly and immediately to the crate. Put him in without a word and leave the check cord on if touching him is an issue. When he comes out of the crate - treat him like you did not know he was there. He has to come to you first.

You will be doing a whole bunch of in the crate and out of the crate for the next few weeks while your boy learns that if he puts his teeth on you he is banished from your company. Once the light bulb goes on then he will put the teeth away and learn some self control.


----------

