Hi there,

We've had our 10 week old SBT for a week now, and he's hard work, but a darling. We're attempting to teach him bite inhibition using the "Ow!" + walk away/ignore method, and it seems to be having an effect. He's usually verrrry gentle with human flesh, but he gets overly excited by clothing/cuffs/pants legs, and often accidently catches our hands. When he's tired or over-excited the "Ow!" method only serves to rile him up, but we are working on it.

This is probably SUCH a silly question, but I was specifically wondering if squeaky toys can have a negative impact on teaching bite inhibiton, or if they're just a healthy outlet for his prey drive? I don't want to repress his natural doggyness (he is a terrier after all!), but I was wondering if the reinforcing 'squeak' of the toy when he bites it would seem similar to the yelp we make when he nips us? Does anyone think I should leave off the squeaky toys until he's a bit older and we've got him mouthing gently?

Thanks for any advice you guys can offer!

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Katie

I don't have SBTs however I would say that those of us who have gundogs and those who have terriers generally tend to avoid squeaky toys as it is far too stimulating and arouses the "killing instinct" (before anyone gets out of their pram I mean for little furry prey animals) :D

Certainly not appreciated when someone does this at obedience, ringcraft or agility!!!!!!!

I'd agree - avoid the squeakies as you risk turning yourself into a giant squeaky, and then all the 'Ows!!' in the world will just egg him on :(

Nonsense!

Even the stupidest dog in the world would not confuse a human yelp with a squeak from a rubber toy.  A dog's hearing is much more acute than human's, it can hear ranges that are not even audible to humans, can hear over much greater distance than humans, and the range where dogs really outhear humans is in the squeaky-toy spectrum, eg, the high frequency range.  A squeaky toy does not sound like a human to a dog, even a puppy.

Stacey

It's still an exciting noise though, because it is unusual! Anything out of the ordinary will elicit a reaction from most dogs, and confident dog will react in play.

Absolutely, it's a very exciting noise. My terrier enjoys killing her squeaky chick over and over again.  :-)  But she's never once confused it with a human "yelp", or even (to me) squeaky children's voices.

Stacey

Katie,

Squeaky toys are fine.  They are not allowed in the show ring or obedience because they make noise and distract other dogs - and their handlers.  (Same reason things like whistles, clickers and other noise makers are not allowed.)

Your dog, even though he's only a puppy, knows the difference between your yelp and a squeak from a toy.  He also knows the difference between a toy and your flesh.  The thing to do is when you are aware he is going to make a bee line for your clothing you need to distract him with something else.  If he loves squeeky toys, that's great.   If he grabs your clothing, immediately stop moving and cease playing with him.   He will stop.  If once you move he starts up again then put him in his cage/crate if you use one or put him somewhere where he can quiet down. 

All toys activate the prey drive, that's why dogs play with them.  In fact, almost all dog play is somehow related to prey drive.   Prey drive is not a bad thing.   Dogs with a strong prey drive are usually excellent candidates for obedience and work, like herding.   Teaching a dog good behaviour is usually easier if they go nuts over a particular type of toy or are very food oriented.  If your dog's toy-of-choice is a squeaky, that's absolutely fine.  I've owned several terriers and known many more - none of them have had problems related to squeaky toys.  (Although when your boy gets bigger make sure he cannot chew them up and swallow either the rubber or the squeaker - not many of them will stand up to an aggressive chewer.)

Stacey

Thanks for your reply, Stacey! I did imagine that a pup would be intelligent enough to differentiate between the squeak of a toy, and my yelp as he nips me, but I was wondering if I was inadvertantly encouraging a behaviour that I was trying to extinguish under other circumstances.

Thinking on it, I was being rather silly, as I know that dogs don't generalise very well at all. The fact that he's allowed to elicit 'squeaks' from a toy, shouldn't mean that he thinks he's allowed to elicit squeaks from me! I might chill out with the squeakies until I've taught him a reliable 'drop it,' though, as he does tend to get totally hyper with them. ;)

I don't let my dogs have squeaky toys to play with at all, because I also have guinea-pigs, which squeak ...

Ooops!! I can see why not! :D (I love Guinea Pigs!)

I no longer have squeeky toys for my dogs as my youngest bitch had her tail amputated thanks to her mum playing with her new squeeky toy (the puppy ) She bit through the tail, severing the spinal chord. It could hane been worse, I suppose. She could have picked pup up by the head

LindyLou,

What a horrible thing to happen.  I am sure you realise, however, that there is no way a bitch could confuse a toy (any kind) with a puppy. 

Stacey

I've often wondered if it was because Chloe was a singleton and the maternal instinct just wasn't there. Her mum was very squeeky toy orientated before this. Chloe went on to have a litter (BIG litter) so it obviously didn't do her too much harm. ;) I didn't breed again from her mum though, just in case :D