biting and ripping clothes

Question
QUESTION: We have a 5 month old wire fox. her name is Foxi. We have had dogs all our married life and this is our 2nd fox terrier. about 1 or 2 times a day, she wants to nip at our clothes, and bites at us. I am home with her all day, and do lots of yard work. I usually have to put her on a tieout to keep her from biting at me when I want to work. I would love to know what to do when she starts this behavior. She is coming along nicely on potty training. We don't put her in the crate much anymore.It seems when we try to correct her she thinks we're playing.

ANSWER: Marilynne -

This is almost the exact same question the last person asked me (only the breed and gender is different).  Please understand that this is normal puppy behavior, but that it is something you need to resolve right now so she doesn't remain nippy into adulthood.

Here's the answer I gave to the last person:

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I might suggest using the phrase "no bite" instead of a plain "no" so it doesn't get confused with other times you tell him no...

You may end up saying "no" when you mean for him not to steal your sock, and he thinks "but I'm not biting her."  See what I mean ?

He is trying to play with you as he would his littermates and his mother. But at about this age his mother would also get sick of it and start to correct him.

I recommend grasping his muzzle shut, look him in the eye, firmly say "no bite" and then wait 5 seconds or so before releasing him. You may have to do this a bunch of times in a row the first few times, but he will soon learn what you mean.

You should make a point of also offering him something else to chew on when you release him. So it would be release him and then immediately hand him a chewy toy instead.

The other thing that is important to prevent this kind of behavior is to **not** play tug of war games with him. Many folks end up with accidental bites from adult dogs who have played this game since puppyhood. They are just not bite inhibited because it's always been OK to bite things when in close proximity to people.

I'm thrilled you are planning ahead for your little fella. You should also seriously consider some puppy classes followed by at least beginning obedience.

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Please let me know if this didn't cover some part of your question.

Thanks !

-Beth


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What kind of chewy toys do you recomend? I've tried kongs with food inside, but she seems indifferent to those.My husband won't let me give her rawhide chews because he had a dog choke on one.

Answer
I agree completely about the rawhides - Not only are they a significant choking hazard, but they are not easily digestible and can cause all kinds of nasty digestive problems.

You can use something like Greenies or any of the nylabone toys.  If you buy Greenies or any of the other edible bone type toys, pick one size bigger than they recommend.  For instance they might recommend petite greenies for your pup, but you should buy the next size bigger.  I say that because it is possible (though highly unlikely) that a dog can get those kinds of products pointed the wrong way down their throat... Buying the bigger size prevents this and entertains them longer.

You may want to try peanut butter in the kong. I do that and then freeze them for when I am going to be away for a while. It lasts much longer that way.  Perhaps leaving her with one a time or 2 when you're going to be out will get her used to them and learning to value them higher.

The trick to this whole this is to find something she will "Value" and knowing this.  For training, I always use pretty high value things like cheese, but for just plain snacks I might use a small piece of a super high quality dog biscuit.  I am a fanatic about my dogs' diet - both quality and quantity,

It's hard to guess what toys Foxi might like, but I would suspect something like the squeaky tennis balls that Kong makes might be a good choice.  Once you release her muzzle you could squeak the ball and toss/roll it for her.

-Beth