Bite inhibition - is it too late?

Hi

We got Alfie at 6/7 months, he was a rescue boy so don't think he had had any training up to that. He is now 10 months old and we are still trying to stop him biting us.

We say no and put him out of the room but it just seems to be taking so long to have any effect.

I remember reading something about bite inhibition had to be taught by a certain age or it wouldn't work, is there any truth in that?

Presumably starting late would make it harder? But do you think he should be ok in the end?

Any advice or experience appreciated,

Thanks

At his age i would be teaching that all mouthing is not okay at all. If he bites you you need to say nothing and immediately remove him or stand up if there is nowhere to put him. By you talking first, you are distracting him and he has most likley not connected why you are removing him in the first place.

Oh didnt realise that, will put him straight out after any mouthing then. But do you think he will still be able to learn it properly?

He will learn, it takes time, patience & perseverance, but he will get there, Darcy was an awful biter, but she's now learnt what's acceptable and what's not, and stops straight away during play if I say 'enough' hope this helps good luck

This link may help:- http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/stop_your_staffy_puppy_biting

Boss is now 7 1/2 months and when he was younger he was a terrible biter, used to cut me all the time, now he would still mouth when overly excited which still isnt good but his bites are a lot more gentle and all i do is move away from him until he calms down and hes fine. hope this helps, keep at it

He will learn it can just take a bit longer for them to pick things up as they get older, Daisy was 1-2 when I got her, not trained at all but now she knows all her commands!

Follow the advise above and the info on the link, be consistent and you will get there  

Thank you, will keep up with the gentle training then. Sazzle, nice to know your dog was even older and is fine, I was starting to worry.

It just takes time, and to be honest is an ongoing process, you have to keep practcing and reminding them!!

NO it is NEVER to late to teach bite inhibition.

Prime example is my Chance who is/was massive human aggressive, very very little human interaction, beaten, fighting dog! His first response was to bite anyone or anything.

Was 18 months old when he came to us and we basically went back to puppy basics and I'll tell you a fully grown adult ambull biting HURTS, but a sharp 'ahah' and removing him taught him bite inhibition, and we can now play fight with play biting and his is lovely and gentle!