My Dog Didn’t Bite, Thanks to Dr. Dunbar Mar 2nd, 2013 by Pamela


A disaster waiting to happen?


Silent TerrorIt happened in slow motion.

Layla, the Beagle we’re fostering, had climbed up on the back of the sofa to get a good view out the window. Honey, my Golden Retriever, was sleeping on the cushions below.

As Layla began to lose her balance, I tried to catch her. I was too slow. She fell, hard, onto Honey.

Honey woke up, startled. Then she watched placidly as Layla bounced off her kidneys.

I’ve seen similar happenings with other dogs. They never end well.

And Honey could have done a lot of damage given Layla’s small size and short coat.

But she didn’t. And I thank Dr. Ian Dunbar.

Any Dog Can BiteI can hear you now. “Well of course she didn’t bite. Honey is so sweet.” Or, “You know Golden Retrievers. They have that soft mouth.”

But Dr. Dunbar convinced me how important it was to teach bite inhibition when I read his examples of the reactions of dogs who had been awoken, startled, or hurt. The dog who mauled the arm of a woman who had accidentally shut a car door on his tail — was a Golden Retriever.

Any dog can lash out in shock or pain. The idea behind teaching bite inhibition in puppies is so that even if they do snap or make contact with teeth, they won’t break skin.

And it works.

Honey was very rough with her teeth as a puppy. I’ve heard other people with Golden Retrievers say the same thing. They explore with their mouths. And those sharp puppy teeth are terrible.

I spent much of Honey’s early weeks with us in tears. And I wondered if I hadn’t made a big mistake getting a puppy.

How to Teach a Dog Not to BiteThe best teacher is a Mama dog and brother and sister puppies.

Dr. Dunbar’s steps for teaching a puppy to inhibit her bite remind me of what you’d see in a litter.

• Say “ouch” or yelp when a puppy bites too hard. Spend a moment “licking your wounds” before calling the puppy back to you to sit and play some more.
• If puppy continues to bite, leave the room briefly. Return a few moments later to resume play.
• Continue to yelp for the hardest bites as the puppy softens his grip until he makes only gentle contact.
• Finally, teach the puppy to stop mouthing on cue using food or a toy as a distraction.

It worked.

To this day, if my finger ends up in Honey’s mouth during an athletic game of tug, she instantly loosens her grip.

Hard to believe I was ever frightened of this fuzzy land shark.


Life Long LearningI know that when I need to handle Honey’s teeth or jaws I’m safe.

But we still practice her skills. We interrupt every exciting game of tug to make sure Honey knows how to release her grip when we ask her to.

If Honey was ever injured, I’d like to know that anyone who tried to help her would be safe.

I wasn’t thinking of that when she was a bitey little puppy. I just wanted her to stop.

But I’m glad Dr. Dunbar did. Because Honey’s bite inhibition has been a blessing to me.

But it’s an even bigger blessing to the clumsy foster Beagle who can’t stay off the back of the couch.

Note: I recommend Before and After Getting Your Puppy: The Positive Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy, and Well-Behaved Dog by Dr. Ian Dunbar to anyone thinking of getting a puppy. And check out some of my other favorite dog books.

Puppy Class And Biting, Mouthing PuppiesKelly Gorman Dunbar  |  Wed, 03/06/2013 - 10:21

What is the number one reason for puppy class? To continue to work on puppies’ acquired bite inhibition. Put differently, to teach people how to give appropriate feedback to their mouthy young pup with needle-sharp teeth.

It’s generally the very first question we get at our SIRIUS Puppy & Dog Training School, “How do I stop my puppy from biting?”  Even though puppies are pretty tiny and have weak jaws, there pointy little teeth really pack a punch. It is no wonder people don’t want their pups to bite them, but our job at puppy school is to convince people not to punish out mouthy exploration too soon. Rather, we teach people to give appropriate feedback to a biting puppy.

We start with ground rules. Young pups are allowed to mouth human hands and only human hands. Not hair, not faces, nor feet, or clothing. Hands are both pretty durable and yet quiet sensitive. This gives us the opportunity to gauge the pressure of a pup’s bite quite well, without enduring lots of damage.

Each week we tolerate less and less pressure from the pup’s growing jaws. We praise gentle licks and chews and cry out in pain and surprise when the pressure gets too strong and end interaction/contact for a moment. Just like a pup’s mum or littermates would do if she got too rambunctious or rough.

The pup learns that humans are delicate creatures indeed, and that to keep attention coming or a game going, they must be super gentle and careful, lest they get banished briefly which is no fun at all.

Why do we put so much emphasis on this one particular skill? Because accidents happen and dogs may bite when startled or stressed and we want to make sure that if that ever happens, at the very least no one gets hurt. All bites are not created equally and it’s important to remember that a growl, snap, muzzle-punch, light-bite with no marks, bite with no punctures, and a damaging bite are all progressive levels of communication and they do not happen by accident. Dogs are very clear and precise in their actions.