# How much play-biting is normal/acceptable for an 11 month old?



## Milliekins (Mar 31, 2012)

I'm not sure how much is normal and whether we should be trying to discourage this as a complete no-no when playing with humans, or accept it as it is the way that young dogs play, keep trying to teach her to be more gentle and she will gradually grow out of it? It is quite firm play biting with her sharp little teeth which can be painful though she doesn't normally end up breaking or scraping the skin. She does it less than she used to, but a bit harder!

It is just sometimes when she wants to play and is excited, and I don't think she means to hurt us. She has clearly learnt something as sometimes she will move as if to play-bite me but pause and redirect herself to a toy instead to play tug. Other times though it's apparently much more fun to growl and bite at my dh's feet, grab our arms or try to pull his socks off, rather than play with her toys of course! (We are still practising 'leave it' for these occasions as well as telling her 'no'...)

Should we not allow any rough play at all? Currently we end the game/attention if she bites hard enough to cause us pain.


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## Clarrity (Mar 5, 2012)

I think it will just come down to how you want to play with your dog. We didn't mind playing a little rough with Sora. 

What i did as first was taught him what 'ouch' meant. If he ever bit even the tiniest bit too hard i would say 'Ouch!' loudly even if it didn't really hurt. He now stops completely if I say ouch and looks at me like 'opps!'. Its kind of like when dogs are playing and one yelps the other would back off. 

We also end the game with 'enough' and he'll stop playing.


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## Poodle Head (Sep 12, 2011)

I agree with the previous post. It is more what you are comfotable with, and when you had enough, that's it - game over. I play rough with my pup once in a while and after a minute or so she gets pretty wound up - she won't really bite, but will sometimes jump up at me and I look at that as the same thing - not acceptable. When I say "enough" she will quickly sit and wait until I say ok to start play again. Basically if you let her get too carried away it is harder to snap her out of it, so at the first sign of the "wild eyes" stop and take a quick break. As long as you don't mind, and she only plays rough with you - then I don't see a huge problem.


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

Agree, definitely what you are comfortable with, though I'd consider that if the dog mouths you, she'll probably mouth other people also and it might bother or even frighten them. Especially a kid.

I completely lucked out with Kohl. He did the basic puppy mouthing, but redirecting to a toy worked super fast. He seems to have the characteristic retriever soft mouth. By the time he started teething, he wasn't even trying to mouth me any more..

I do have a game with Kohl where I make 'I'm going to get you' grabby motions, and he bares his teeth, rolls his eyes, and pretends that he's going to bite me - exaggeratedly and in slow motion, so it looks pretty funny. His teeth always stay at least a couple of inches away from touching me, even if I'm moving towards him.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

I consider any contact with flesh and teeth unacceptable. All the dogs I have had have learned this early on and they definately knew this by 11 months. I do play rough but it is more pounce. I will let Swizzle go for my socks but once my foot is in there he knows not to use his mouth anymore. To break them him of the mouthy habit just yelp if any type of bite happens and make it convincing. The breeder of my Aussie taught me this as they can be mouthy if not taught properly. It works like a charm.


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## Milliekins (Mar 31, 2012)

Thanks for all the replies 

We don't mind playing a bit rough with Millie but I think the main concern is if she gets excited and tries to play rough with someone else, they may well be scared. The other concern is that she doesn't mind charging at us randomly with her mouth to try to initiate play.. that includes sometimes coming for your head if you are sat on the floor (!) Obviously we never encourage this, and don't play with her etc.

We're encouraging lots of tug which seems to be a good replacement. She seems to like to having things in her mouth when she's playing so when I see she's wanting to play I'm trying to make sure she has a toy or ball to keep in her mouth and then there's almost no playbiting. I'm hoping that gradually she'll learn to just go for toys, not arms and feet! We're also yelping / telling her no if she starts biting too hard, which is also the end of the game or at least a time out for her to calm down.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I think that at 11 months I would teach her that ANY pressure is too much. It sounds as if she has learned to moderate her bite a bit, but perhaps not enough, and that could cause difficulties if she tries the game with someone who does not understand that she is playing. I moved pretty swiftly when mine were pups from Hard bite = Ouch, game over to Any pressure = Ouch, game over. Sophy still enjoys mouthing games, but they are just that - very gentle play mouthing, when the only thing that hurts is if in playing I bang my finger against one of her teeth.


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

We have elderly women in the picture, and small children. We live in the city limits, and we go out in public a lot. 

Any touch, push, etc, that is more than literally a touch is absolutely a "NO" here. ANY mouthing of people is unacceptable. The dog must be invited to come for petting and is NEVER allowed to lunge people for attention. We give new people treats and when there are people who want nothing to do with the dog, I'll reward the dog for sitting and leaving them alone. 

Those may seem like extreme rules, but that's what it is here. Is it perfect? absolutely not - the dog is 7 months old. Is it enough that he can be left with the old people or the little kids without concern for anyone's safety? absolutely. 

As dog owners, we feel we have a responsibility to have a dog that will not incite fear, nor cause injury, to anyone, at any time, in a setting where we have invited someone in, or been invited in, or are just out in public. (intruders are a different story, and we really don't mind if someone who approaches our home, who does not know us, or the dog, has their wits addled by the threatening barking....)

I get that ti is a personal comfort level thing - and I am comfortable with much less than my husband, so we choose to go by the strictest standards and apply them across the board. There are times of exception, but not many, and only with him. Poodles are smart dogs - they get that the few minutes of being allowed to mouth (no real contact of teeth to skin) dad's hand is not a generally accepted behaviour, and ours does not try it with anyone else. 

sarah


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Excellent post sarahmurphy and fjm. I want to clarify my own. When I mention pounce it is the item, like a sock, that is pounced. Even though I have a toy I don't allow him to jump on people, it just seems rude to me.


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## sarahmurphy (Mar 22, 2012)

We let Spike do what he wants with his stuff - he can pounce on the stuffed duck - shake the frog to death, growl at tennis balls all he likes, but never anything with a heartbeat. 

Both parents have a pretty high prey drive - our dog spends time with cats, kids and old people. You have to do what makes sense in your dog's environment...

sarah


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