Question
My 2 month old puppy is teething and has a natural proclivity for biting things; anything and everything. While I understand that this behavior is natural and might stop after a while, he also bites people and that's becoming a problem as he grows older.
I've tried saying a firm, "No" and ignoring him for about 10-20 minutes after he starts biting, but he'll still jump and bark and try to bite the flesh. He'll follow me if I distance myself from him and then bite me, so there's really no ignoring him. It's particularly more concerning when he tries to bite people that are sleeping.
I looked through the comments and answers posted here and here and I like the idea of temporarily confining my puppy (e.g. using baby gates) but I don't have those so I resort to putting a leash on him and tying him to a newel post.
That results in him calming down after a while but not before he barks incessantly and tries to break free of the leash. After a few minutes, he'll whine and guilt-trip me into cutting him loose, which I do. However, the biting behavior will still continue albeit after a little while.
So my question is this: "Is it okay if I tie him to a post temporarily if I am unable to effectively distance myself from him while he's biting? If not, what's a better alternative?"
Answer
Overall, I'm not too fond with the post (or seeing people tying up dogs in general). It might help, but it really depends on the individual dog and your actual situation, I guess.
Always keep this in mind: Just because something worked (or didn't work) for someone else, it doesn't mean it's the same in your case.
The important part in your situation is the fact that the dog understands "biting = getting on the pole" and that's something it won't understand, if overused or in any and all situations. If you tie it up to calm down, you can't do it, if you have to leave the dog alone. Otherwise you'll most likely mess up impressions/understanding.
Imagine tying up the dog and leaving. It might immediately think it did something bad (not necessarily biting). This could be a completely unintentional association. Let's assume the post is outside. The dog peed on the grass. Seconds after, you tie up the dog (because you go to work). Now the dog thinks "peeing on the grass = bad". What's next? Try to pee on the carpet instead?
Instead, I'd try different things:
First, try to get the puppy something it's allowed to chew on. There's a huge selection of toys, just make sure it's robust and made for puppies.
You can buy special tied up ropes for pulling and biting. Play together with one of those. If you're bitten, try to make a high pitched noise, stop playing, grab the toy, push the puppy off, and turn away. If the puppy follows, push it away again and try to growl a bit. Leaving the room might be optional.
As an alternative distraction, try buying some dried lamb ears (or rabbit ears in case of bigger dogs): They're a nice distraction, won't screw up nutrition values (stay reasonable) and will tire the dog out a bit. Bonus, they're fine for dogs of all ages and will help with teeth as well.
You don't need any baby gate. Just leaving the room might be enough, if you have to. To push a bit further, just close the door for a few minutes. Make sure there's nothing left behind the puppy might destroy or eat. This doesn't have to be long, even half a minute might be enough. Just make sure the dog doesn't get the signal to bite you, if it wants to be alone for a bit (e.g. to sleep).
Also try to not give in too easily. Otherwise the dog will learn to just cry if it wants something, every single time.
In more extreme cases, let's assume you've been bitten and got a small tiny wound (like a red dot of blood or some scratch), stop playing immediately, turn away repeatedly, play a bit "fearful" (don't exaggerate), you could even try to sob a bit yourself, and while doing so, give your puppy a chance to sniff on the wound. I can't vouch for this, but at least in our case our puppy immediately noticed "whoa, I screwed up, sorry, sorry, sorry", started to lick me and the biting was over for the rest of the day.
Answered By - Mario