Play biting....
Submitted by Victoria on September 8, 2012 - 2:44pmWell, we have been having quite the time stopping our 3 year old bulldog from play biting. He is a rescue and evidently was not taught proper manners. He's such a sweet boy otherwise. We've tried switching his attention to a pre-stuffed Kong.....does not work. We've tried standing up and ignoring him....does not work. So today, we went to the local Petco and bought some Fooey Ultra Bitter Spray. And let me tell you....after spraying the ba is of our hands, our arms, and our feet.....good old Onslow took one little bite and backed right off. We're certain we'll have to keep up spraying ourselves for a while longer, but it sure beats all the black and blue marks on our arms and feet :)
Besure to add a positive
substitute to the spray. Give him a favorite toy or treat after he backs off. Use a command like "No Bite" when he tries to nibble your hand, then a treat, ,toy and "good" when he backs off . The spray works if they don't like it but it is a negative reinforcement and you don't want him afraid of you, so make a positive out of the negative. Hope that makes sense.
Play biting
You're right about the positive reinforcement. We pet him and tell him he's a good boy, etc. and show him his toys and he seems very happy. On another note....when he tries to engage our 4 lb. yorkie to play, the yorkie goes crazy on him. Onslow doesn't seem to be bothered at all, as I've said, he's very sweet....what we're worried about is Onslow accidentally hurting the yorkie. Do you think they'll work it out? During the day when they are walking around the house together, it's not problem. It's only a problem when Onslow wants to play.