First off, between weeks 7 & 12 (what Richard Wolters called “preschool”, click here for more info) pup is learning to be part of a family of humans for the first time. He does not inherently have a sense of what to chew and what not to chew; this is where you come in and what you will have to teach and show him. Kind of like bringing home a newborn baby for the first time, one of the things not to do would be to get angry, frustrated or perturbed about your brand new bouncing baby crying or pooping in his diaper. Likewise, pup has not been built or created with a sense of right or wrong.
During these first few weeks, everything must be fun and games. You can still be stern with pup, but not in a harsh or raising-your-voice-out-of-displeasure kind of way; this would be poor entry exposure to his new family. Yelling, punishing, or showing general displeasure of pup during this time around the area of biting may have a negative effect if you are training him to be an Upland Pheasant or General Water Dog. This may incite a fear of holding and potentially even keep him from his job and passion - retrieving. Keep all training and work in the fun and games division, nowhere else.
So how does one teach a young pup not to nip, bite or chew your stuff and yet be excited about the retrieve where they are supposed to bite and mouth a bumper and bird? Well, it is really quite simple. We already discussed the first tenant of bite training (1) Do not punish your pup for biting – the negative effects of this will follow your training for the life of pup. One negative action will not immediately effect your pup, but a consistent iteration of negativity surrounding him using his mouth in this manner is what will cause the damage, so to speak.
Snatching your hand or item away from pup or moving it around in an exaggerated manner will only cause him to want it all the more. So the second part of training your pup not to bite or chew you and your personal effects (2) is to hold the item or yourself still while you slowly remove them from pup’s mouth. One other thing that I have found beneficial in training my pups is to use this as an opportunity to teach the “give” command. A simple and stern “Give” while pulling it down and out of his mouth, followed by repetition and consistency, will go a long way in solidifying the right things expected from pup.
The third and final part of teaching pup not to bite the wrong stuff is to teach pup (3) to bite or chew the right stuff. As stated before, pup is new at this thing called family and needs a little training on what is acceptable and what is not; pup needs to know what the right things to chew and bite are without ruining his passions for what he was bred for.
The attached pictures show a good positive flow of what should happen:
Shoe? No.
Hand? No.
Get his attention.
You can have this, not that.
So just to recap, (1) don’t punish for biting, (2) slowly remove the item from pup’s mouth while teaching the “give” command, and (3) give pup the right thing to chew on and bite. Most of all, never forget the fact that you are trying to teach your pup to become the best retriever he can be while also making him a truly fun and satisfied member of your family.
Feel free to ask me for any advice on training, I’ll gladly do what I can to get you the correct and best information for training your Working Dog.
