Pet care: A biting puppy causes people pain

Q: We have a smart, beautiful 5-month-old collie. He has the bad habit of always wanting his mouth on us, usually biting. He’s not mean at all. It just seems that biting or mouthing is his favorite way of communicating and playing. We don’t like it. It hurts. We are expecting a grandchild in a couple of months and we can’t have the puppy biting the baby.

Dr. Nichol: Your puppy is enjoying you much as he would another puppy. He’s an active young hellion, play fighting with the nearest warm body because he has no one of his ilk for mutual mouthing and slobbering.

Reprimands would be pointless. There are people who believe that it’s the puppy’s mouth that needs punishment so they hit him on the mouth. Please don’t do that; you would only damage your good relationship while teaching the little guy nothing of value. It’s the cause of this problem that needs attention, which, by the way, is not dominance.

May I pontificate on dogs dominating people? Utter BS, and I don’t mean bachelor of science. There is plenty of dominance politics among dogs in a group, but it’s exceptionally rare toward humans. People who intimidate by alpha rolling, scruffing and pinning pets to the ground can reduce the frequency of a behavior, only to trigger fear and defensive aggression. That’s not a trade-off you want.

Have this pupster drag a leash from his collar whenever he’s inside. When you’re about to become a surrogate playmate, you must completely ignore as you grab the leash and march to the time-out room. When the little devil calms himself, he will have earned a kind word and a rawhide that he can mouth to his heart’s content.

The kid needs to scratch this essential itch. The Nichol family dog gets his social needs met at the K9 Resort. Their big indoor/outdoor play area has him horsing around with his wild knucklehead friends so he can be more civilized at home. You’ll have this problem managed well before your grandbaby resembles a puppy.

For help with behavior problems, you can sign up for a Zoom group conference at drjeffnichol.com

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