Would you gently bite your dog as a form of punishment?

Question

I read about this online, but since I had never heard about it before I wanted to get opinions from others.
The website said that little bites (nothing that would hurt your dog at all), is more effective at asserting dominance & teaching your dog what's wrong.
For example, if you have a dog that playfully bites a lot, he'll respond more if you give him a gentle bite than if you yell at him.

Dogs will understand a gentle bite more than yelling because biting is more their language.
A mother dog will nip at her puppy to teach him.

Q1: Would you ever gently bite your dog/have you?
Q2: Opinions? pro/cons

Additional Details

I would NEVER hurt my dog!!!
I haven't tried it, I wanted to hear opinions first. It's meant to get your dog's attention, not to hurt him. . .

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Yes, I used to bite my Pitt when she was a young pup. It is natural to them, just don't bite hard. But why are all these people saying it is wrong and your going to get bit. So I guess whenever the mother bites her pups to get them in line, it's bad right??? The mother bites just real quick and not too hard, just to get their attention. I would agree that if you don't know what your doing, to first study up on it, then you will learn that biting is ok...

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

I agree with you, why do some think it's so horrible? Dogs do it to each other all the time.
It's not like they're clamping their mouth on the dog to hurt it or make it bleed, just gentle.
It's the only thing my dog would respond to.
He is very alpha, & this puts him in his place.

Answer 2

hahaha yeah. i bit my aussie's ear when she was a puppy everytime she bit me.
i agree with hope. it is an odd thing to do. go ahead and call me a freak, but it works!!

Answer 3

No, i'de rather spray them with a light mist of water...
Thats an odd thing to do..

Answer 4

Who in their right mind would bite a dog (except for the Koreans)? :\

Answer 5

no i wouldn't
i think its weird.

Answer 6

I have heard of theis form of correctino as well but woudl never use it myself mostly as i don't want a mouth full of fur. I use things like scruffing a puppy and doing an alpha roll to assert myself as dominant over a dog i think that they work better. I think as long as you are consistent in your training you will get the results that you want.

Answer 7

Hey I think that's a good way of getting your face bitten, having it down there biting your dog.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content…

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/praise-co…

Answer 8

You should not bite and you should not yell.

Biting puts you on the same level as your dog. When he decides that he doesn't want to listen, he may bite you back.

And why would you want to purposefully harm your dog?

Few dogs ever need to be yelled at if they are trained properly. A stern snap in a voice usually does the trick, with a raised voice only to get attention - ONE WORD ONLY!

I don't know what breed of dog you have, and specifics vary by that. But, it sounds like you need to help of an actual trainer, not a stranger's column or blog on the 'net, or a bunch of kids on Y!A.

Please, find a good, LIVE, trainer in your area.

Answer 9

dont know where its been! gross

Answer 10

that's an asinine idea. only good if you want your dog to continue to bite. asinine.

Answer 11

noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!… how would you like it if i bit you!

Answer 12

are you serious? please say no. First off, you would bite your dog?? no thanks. Try a diff route. also all tho i do not agree with it my dad just kicks, uses his hand, and a two by four works perfectly well. not on small dogs. we had a boxer it was trained VERY WELL. it could speck, sit roll over, sit out side of restaurants while we ate for a hour anything you name it, and even tho my dad hurt the dog a lil as punishment when it was younger the dog was loyal, obedient, kind, and loved but feared my dad so he never disobeyed as he grew up I dont agree with it tho really, it was crule, the dog would yelp

Answer 13

i wouldn't, seems kind of nasty to me
i'd use a rolled up newspaper

Answer 14

I have NEVER nipped my dog before. To be honest it is more likely for a puppy to respond to the mother striking at them, because coming from another dog and a bigger dog is more intimidating, but when a human does it I don't think they really understand what you are doing. When they are puppies and they nip they obviously just need to teeth on something like a baby. Preferably something cold. Sometimes if you bite them back they might think that they are playing with you as well and will carry on. I've never heard of this method, and would personally not try it.

Answer 15

no, i wouldn't do it.
but if it works for you.

Answer 16

Q1: Yes, I would. It proves you are the leader of the pack, to put it the dog way.
Q2: The pros: Teaching your dog you are the leader. Teaching your dog it did something wrong. Teaching your dog that we understand her and can be like her at times, which may make her warm up to you easier. It may sound weird, but it is true.
The cons: Your dog might not like you anymore, or might be afraid of you. She might bite you. She might think you are trying to pick a fight (pretty much same as last one)

Luv,
Moon Wolf

Answer 17

Definitely a no. Doing something like this may encourage your dog to do it more to you. It may seem like play to him (since that is how dogs play with each other) and will only encourage him to bite you more.

I also would not use the hand-claw thing that Cesar Millan uses to simulate a dog bite. Yes, dogs bite and play-bite each other, but we do not have their speed or precision. Such aversive techniques can sometimes backfire and make problem behaviors worse when not implemented with the proper technique, timing, and redirect. Here are the pros and cons between positive techniques and aversive techniques.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Pros-and-Cons-of…

To stop biting behaviors, you need to teach your dog that mouthing on humans is unacceptable. Whenever he mouths on you, yelp loudly, just as his littermates do, then ignore him for a while. This shows him that mouthing is painful for you and the fun and attention stops when he does it. If he won't stop and escalates his behavior, then take him to a time-out. Hand-feeding and redirecting on a toy can also help. Here are more tips:
http://www.shibashake.com/ss_how-to-solv…

Answer 18

No, I'm not a dog, and that would probably result in me getting bitten or them having some other behavioral problem.

Answer 19

not a good idea. you risk getting your own face bitten if it is so close to the dog.

Answer 20

Biting (even gently) is a dangerous game with a dog... you run the risk of escalating the behavior instead of making it better. But also agree yelling isn't very effective either.

Better to go with a command sound - a sharp sound like "EH" or "BAA" to get their attention and snap them out of the behavior you are trying to correct. So if the dog is playfully biting at you, if you sharply say "EH!" then "no".. it should snap him out of the playful biting.. and then praise him/her for stopping, that should work for you. Of course you have to be consistent and give the correction every time and eventually it'll go away altogether. Good luck !

Answer 21

om no

Answer 22

did this with my gsd after nothing else seemed to work, female but extreamely aggressive and dominent. if i had a problem when she was a pup up to about 2 yrs old, would put her on her on her back and bite( gently) or grab her throat again gently and worked wonders, never had any problems or reactions to it other than her becomeing submissive

Answer 23

Would I personally bite my dog?

No, not with my mouth.

However, there is a thing you can get called a "bite collar". These have a series of small and harmless spikes along the inside of them, and a string you can pull that lightly tightens them, simulating the mother dog's nip on the neck.

You can simply pull that string whenever your dog is acting up.

It's a lot safer (you don't risk getting your face bitten) and more sanitary (where has your dog been anyway? who knows?) than actually biting the dog yourself.

Answer 24

I bite my dog everytime he acts a fool

Source(s):

http://www.amazingdogsplace.com/dogblog/

Answer 25

I would never bite my dog, for she never bites me, she only rubs her teeth on my hand which only tickles when we play lol . But if I had to discipline a dog, I would buy a horn and every time a dog would do something I did not like I'd blow it :b I'm sure it would work because it's a loud distracting noise.

Source(s):

Owner of a pregnant miniature dachshund & proud (Due in September)

Answer 26

The principle is fine but the execution is difficult. Human teeth aren't very effective for this, and you'll probably make very little impression on the dog and end up with dog hair stuck in your teeth. If you have not watched any Cesar Millan, do so. He uses a light grip of the fingers on the back of the neck to simulate what a dog will do to another dog who's getting uppity. It's not grabbing the skin but placing fingers on either side of the neck, in the muscle, and squeezing a little. It's easy to do but hard to describe which is why seeing it done will help you understand.

I have been doing a similar thing with my dogs for years without understanding until lately exactly why it worked. For those who think it's cruel, I must disagree. It's one of those things you should really only have to use on a puppy or in an emergency situation when the dog is older. Used properly as part of puppy training, it does not hurt the dog, and once the puppy stage is over, if you've trained the dog well, you're unlikely to need it again. Haven't used it on my 9 year old dog since she was about a year old.

Answer 27

No never. Two wrongs do not make a right. Its are job to train him or her the right way.