Our 3 month old husky has been biting everyone! Yesterday we took him to Victoria Gardens(an outdoor mall where there is a lot of people) and a lot of people were coming up to him to pet him. They would approach him slow by letting him smell their hand first but sometimes he just barks at them after smelling their hand for a few seconds and sometimes once they pet him, he just jumps and bites them(playfully)! What do we do?

We take him on walks all the time and socialize him with other dogs 3-4 times a week by taking him to dog parks, public parks, etc, etc. He gets plenty of exercise and has plenty of things to chew on that we give to him when hes biting but we don't know what else to do..

I just give my boy a little flick on the nose every time he nibbles or chews on people

lovelyred wrote:

I just give my boy a little flick on the nose every time he nibbles or chews on people

I used to this until someone on this forum told me it would create a hand shy dog. Thus, I no longer recommend it. For Delilah, simply ignoring her would work, but with Cato it wasn't that easy. I, like Brooke, have to lightly grab his muzzle and give a firm NO. He no longer does this and it doesn't hurt him. Normally, I wouldn't advocate negative reinforcement, but with Cato nothing else would work.

It won't create a hand shy dog if you come at them from behind their peripheral field of view.

Another option is to poke 'em at the back of the last rib. But the dog WILL snap back reflexively in response.


Honestly, based on the dog pictured in your avatar i would simply have him leashed and stand on it so he doesn't have enough room to move. Just enough leash to sit. That way there's nothing but a solid hit at the end of it every time he jumps or moves forward. He'll get the point soon enough.

harrise wrote:

It won't create a hand shy dog if you come at them from behind their peripheral field of view.

Another option is to poke 'em at the back of the last rib. But the dog WILL snap back reflexively in response.


Honestly, based on the dog pictured in your avatar i would simply have him leashed and stand on it so he doesn't have enough room to move. Just enough leash to sit. That way there's nothing but a solid hit at the end of it every time he jumps or moves forward. He'll get the point soon enough.

I believe the suggestion was made from Tori and she never mentioned the peripherals. Hmmm - something to think about.

Don't you support negative reinforcement? I'm not hating on it, just curious.

Indeed I do support it. Most of my stuff comes from Koehler, Dunbar and McConnell mixed with a bit of the celebrities Milan/Stilwell. Probably in that order. Most of the things I spout are based on my own experience with 5+ dogs at any given moment. This particular issue with the dog pictured would be treated 180 degrees from a full grown 4 year old rescue. For me.


Or like I did with Limbaugh... Use extremely high value treats like fast food chicken nuggets to make yourself more interesting than the people they encounter. This breed loves stability and a steady hand. Control every encounter and the dog will differ to you when it doesn't know what to do.

But that brings up a completely new subject about food and treats. That's not a specialty of mine.

I doubt many of us haven't had this happen with our puppy at some point. I have told the story of my dive biting lab many times on here lol. Balon was so much better then her, I really don't think he has ever nipped anyone thank god.

What I first tried with my lab was simply tell her no and walk away. And yep it never worked with her. The thing I found that worked best was the "settle" much like what harrise mentioned above, only when it was taught to me the dog had to lay down. Basically you step on the leash until the dog is on the ground, use your key word mine was "settle" some people say "chill". Keep the dog down until you feel it give up, (or relax). Then let the dog up again. Gradually she just stopped doing it, I swear I almost feel like it was a teething thing. It really stopped as quickly as it began, really weird.

Good luck and be patient.

The people that used to have Violet my Dachshund used to use the nose flick, she flinches still to this day when you reach down to pet her, even though I have never done it the 8 years we have had her. Personally, I would not recommend it.

Sounds like he is scared of all the people all at once. Maybe bringing him to such a huge stimulating area was too much for him to handle. Start with a smaller group of people and work with him, then start working up to crowds. If I were to bring Kale to a huge place with all those people when he was 3 months he would have reacted the same way.

He's 3 months old so he is going to nip at people in a playful way.. I don't know if its the techniques I used or the fact that mine just grew out of it but they do eventually learn not to play bite! Luka only bites me now, and thats only because he's allowed. I don't mind it when we're trying to wrestle each other to the ground (he is a very sore loser, and he never wins lol).

But back to the training...

I used a combination of holding his mouth closed with a firm no, placing my thumb under his tongue and holding onto his bottom jaw with a firm no, and what seemed to be most effective was just getting up and leaving the room, shutting the door behind me every time he bit me. They want to play, thus they don't like being left alone in the middle of playtime! They're incredibly smart and pick things up pretty quick!

Good luck