# Play biting, in a 2 year old!?!?!



## Nickyb (Jul 11, 2011)

Zoey my rescue is a great dog that has a few flaws that need to be corrected, one being, play biting. When she gets all worked up and wants to play, she'll start play biting me and holy cow does it hurt. I know she doesn't mean it and just doesn't know otherwise but i need to break the habit and help doing so. It mostly happens in my bed where shell bite the blanket and then go to play with me, few seconds later my whole leg is in her mouth and it hurts!
Immediately when I catch her about to or go to bite me, I kick her out of the room for 5 minutes or so. What else can I do, would a shock collar work? Give her a little buzz that its a no no because anything I'm doing just isn't working. 

Also, she has this weird obsession with blankets. She'll put them in her mouth, as much as she can, curl it in with her arms and lay down like that until i get up or do something. I don't know if this was normal so i figured I'd add it.
Here's a pic of her doing it.
*** oversized photo removed ***


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

You have Tuft's behavioral clinic SOOOOOO close by. I am not saying she's a severe behavioral dog, just that you both could really benefit from learning about some of her behaviors. I like to take shortcuts whenever I can and instead of trial and error, would go to a place like this to get help. Ask for references but...seems like it could make things easier. 

She MIGHT be blanket sucking. I don't know. Good for people who can observe to see/understand. Nicole Cottom at Tufts was doing a study on things like that. 

Don't let her on the bed if this is where it happens. No need to shock or kick her out of the room, just this is a dog that for now cannot be on the bed. 

There is a post in the puppy section about jumping that includes information on the dramatic ignore. 

I like mouthy dogs of my own (under my control during play) but also know that when I am fostering (all ages so 2yo is normal if they have been taught to do it, or not taught not to do it) this cannot be a behavior that leaves with the dog, so I teach the foster dogs to take treats nicely, redirect when they start to mouth with another thing like a ball or toy, they sometimes just get told EH! it's not happening, and I ask them to do a kissy-kiss, which is just stopping the biting and using their mouth to lick instead of bite, which dogs just seem to get. 

It all goes back to teaching bite inhibition and you know who is one of the premier experts in this? Dr. Dodman of Tuft's University! Faculty and Staff at Tufts Animal Behavior Clinic : Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine


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