2 dogs, 2 problems.

[thedayitrytofly]

I have two dogs. The one Stanley is about a year and 3 months old (brussels griffon/min. poodle mix) and the other Story is about 6 months old (Irish-wolfhound/shepherd mix). Story is doing wonderfully with picking up commands, but she is pushy with me.

Story will walk over to me and play bite me. I do not like her teeth touching my skin. I have read to say "OUCH!", "NO!" or yelp really loud. Ouch is my word of choice. Yelping made her want to bite me more. I have tried to turn my back to her after saying ouch so she doesn't get any attention, but she then bites me again. So I say ouch again and leave the room until I think she calms down. Once in a while she will get a 5 minute time out in he kennel. I don't just SAY ouch by the way. I make is loud and short. So to startle her. Is there anything else I can do to stop her from mouthing??

Stanley on the other hand seems to try and be incontrol of everything all the time. He chases the cats out of the room that I am in or tries to chase them away from me when they want attention. I don't let him get away with him. I tell him NO and then grab the cat and let the cat do what he pleases. I don't feel that it is fair for the cats to get attention when Stanley gives the OK. I am the one who gives the OK. We have had Story for about a month now and Stanley tries to the top dog. He bites her and growls at her when she is doing something he doesn't want her to be doing, like walking past him or if he is laying near her and she tries to get up. I have tried different advice for becoming the "leader", but it doesn't get through to him. Is there anything that I can try that is proven to be affective?

Sorry this got long, but I would like to know so I can handle the situation properly.

 

[Jean Cote]

Hi! And welcome to the site

Story will walk over to me and play bite me. I do not like her teeth touching my skin. I have read to say "OUCH!", "NO!" or yelp really loud. Ouch is my word of choice. Yelping made her want to bite me more. I have tried to turn my back to her after saying ouch so she doesn't get any attention, but she then bites me again. So I say ouch again and leave the room until I think she calms down. Once in a while she will get a 5 minute time out in he kennel. I don't just SAY ouch by the way. I make is loud and short. So to startle her. Is there anything else I can do to stop her from mouthing??.

It seems to me like your dog is looking for attention by going over to you and "play-biting" you. She might of learned this as a way to get your attention as a puppy.

You are absolutely right to say teethes on the skin is not acceptable, and I believe you are on the right track by seeking information and asking questions.

If you want your dog to completely stop any biting on your skin, you will have to introduce some consequences for his behavior. Leaving the room after she bites you might not be enough for her to stop. Try keeping a spray bottle filled with water, and when she bites you, immediately yell out your "ouch" and then give her a spray on the face.

But also, a very important thing to do is to figure out new and more empowering ways she can get you attention. Try leaving a tug toy near you so that when she starts to play with it you can join her, thus giving her plenty of attention.

Hope this works for you, let us know!

 

[thedayitrytofly]

Thank you so much. I will have to go and get one of those. I wasn't sure if a squirt bottle would work. I actually didn't put too much thought into it because Stanley isn't phased by it one bit. It is mainly for the cats, but then again the one cat hates it and the other could care less that he is getting squirted so that could be the case for her.

 

[Jean Cote]

You are welcome, but make sure you try it only for your dog biting problem for now. See what kind of results you get and if it doesn't get any better then you will have to try something else!

P.S. Make sure your timing is perfect, you should be saying your "Ouch" within one second after she "play-bites" you, followed with the spray one second later.

Looking forward to your results,

 

[invazn]

my dog has the same problem, except he doesn't bite that hard that you have to get stiches. He just bites you and makes a bruise. Jean, do you have any suggestions for my dog?

My dog is a belgian shepard named hardy.

 

[Jean Cote]

I really wish I could help you guys more with your biting problems; however it's so hard to tell why your dog is doing it, especially just from reading posts. It might very well be for reasons that you are not aware of, and that is the main reason I recommend seeing a dog behaviorist.

And I do not want to teach how to discipline a dog over the internet because so many things can go wrong, and you might make the problem worse without even trying to

The best thing I can say is to set up some rules for your dog, and if biting is not allowed then you have to figure out a way to make it stop. Whether to find solutions in books, the internet or consulting a behaviorist/trainer is totally up to you.

Sorry I can’t help you more than that … But I CAN help you train your dog to do tricks!!!

 

[lonewolf]

dogs are generally pack animals. in a pack all of the animals have a pack order. Do not worry that the dog that is getting nipped at is upset over it, far from it, it is a healthy environment. Let me ask you this, when the alpha dog nips at the other dog, where is he biting ? is it the other dogs mouth,side of the neck or shoulder? If so these are dog language bites and they are a way for him to communicate " I am higher then you in this pack". If he is going for the throat then you have a problem as this is anger and not communication.

as for puppy bites or mouthing the fast way to get him to stop is when he bites you grab the mouth and close it and say NO in a firm voice. Watch the dog after you do this, is you see tongue flicks it means he is appeasing you and is understanding the message. If his mother were here she would bite him on the mouth to teach him. Of course you don't want to start to bite him but a hand closing and holding the mouth is dog language for " this is not correct".

As for chasing the cats out of the room, give a small harmless pinch on the neck or shoulder and a firm no. Your dog if he is alpha will always control all the other pets in the house but with fast and firm dog touches you can at least get him to the point where he may show teeth or growl but generally will stay in place and not attack. Thats about the best you can hope for with an alpha dog.
Please be aware the pinches or holding the mouth closed are not to be done hard or to hurt. That would only invite even bigger problems. You corrections must be consistant, firm and fair, there should be no anger or pain on your part and if you find yourself getting angry, leave the room for a few minutes.

These exercises must be done as a parent teaching a child out of love not out of punishment. I am sure you dont do such things but it is important to mention.
Now the good news, an alpha dog is a one owner dog and once you teach him he will be hooked to you like glue and the amount of faithfulness and love you will get from him will be far superior to any other dog you have, just be careful because the love of an alpha dog is unique and you would be extremely lucky if you ever had that type of love again. This is most probably a once in a lifetime deal as most dogs are not alpha.

 

[lonewolf]

puppy mouthing

I have posted a picture of a mother dog correcting her puppy in the gallery. This is usually a mouthing correction.Take a look.
PS by grabbing and closing puppies mouth you are doing the same thing.

 

[Jean Cote]

Thanks lonewolf for another great response, you really help the community here on dog trick academy!

Your sentence "You corrections must be consistant, firm and fair, there should be no anger or pain on your part and if you find yourself getting angry, leave the room for a few minutes." makes total sense to me, and it's very important that new trainers learn this.

I rarely use any corrections but when I need to, I don't even get upset or make a big deal out of the problem. It's not about intimidating or hurting your dog, it's actually about caring enough to stop his behavior.

PS. Thanks for spacing out your post!

 

[lonewolf]

I am glad I made you happy be spacing the words. I would be happier if there were actually responses from the people that ask for help.

But spacing is good too.

 

[cturner37]

Start on 'Leave it' training. Hold a really tasty treat in your palm and Jeans water spray in your other hand. As he goes to take it out of your hand say Leave it, and a quick spray in the face. Close your palm at the same time. Keep repeating this until you are able to open your palm and your pup doesnt move. Then give it to him. Repeat this exercise a few time over the week, then move onto his toys. Again when trying to take the toy from his mouth say Leave it and spray. Very quickly they will leave it without the water re-inforcement.

Now you have the command use it daily in a positive way. Leave it, then reward when they do. If they go back to ignoring you,, go back to the water reinforcement. The next time your pup puts his teeth on you, the leave it command should do the trick to stop him mouthing/nipping you. The same with the cats. Leave it, opens up a whole new world to you and your pets, and makes your dog ownership experience a far more pleasurable one! Caro xx

 

[zhaira046]

i also have two dogs,
i have a black dog and a brown one to.
the black is a boy and he is 1 years old and he is a shitsu and puddle mix.
the brown one is a girl she is 8 months old she is a pure breed shitsu.
i dont know what i will do,
because they are not well bahaved and im just a kid.
please help me with this problem:msncry:

 

[bipa]

@zhaira046

I'm afraid that without more information, it is tough to give you any good suggestions. Could you describe what it is that your dogs are doing that you'd like to stop or change?

If you are having trouble getting started with training, you can get lots of help and information in the classroom area. Scroll up to the top of this page and click on the little sign that says "classroom". Then just start at the beginning, read, watch the videos and do the training excercises with your dogs. :dogsmile:

 

[brody_smom]

Thanks lonewolf for another great response, you really help the community here on dog trick academy!

Your sentence "You corrections must be consistant, firm and fair, there should be no anger or pain on your part and if you find yourself getting angry, leave the room for a few minutes." makes total sense to me, and it's very important that new trainers learn this.

I rarely use any corrections but when I need to, I don't even get upset or make a big deal out of the problem. It's not about intimidating or hurting your dog, it's actually about caring enough to stop his behavior.

PS. Thanks for spacing out your post!

I have been having the same problem with my 9 month old border collie mix. When we got him 2 months ago, his jumping and mouthing was really out of control. We have been working really hard and the jumping has almost completely disappeared. His mouthing has lessened to a degree, but I want to eliminate it entirely. I was afraid to do anything aversive, like spraying him in the face, but yelping seemed to excite him and increase the behavior. Turning away made him pull at my clothing. The last couple of days, I began to hold his mouth shut, not squeezing, but firmly and holding for about 10 seconds with a firm "NO". I started doing this out of desperation/instinct , as I hadn't read or seen anything from positive reinforcement trainers that suggested anything but yelping or turning away. I haven't noticed improvement yet, but I was a little afraid that this may be the wrong approach, so I haven't done it consistently. Would this be okay for my kids to do as well? My youngest is 11, and she works with Brody almost as much as I do.

 

[Jean Cote]

Yikes, this is an extremely old thread from 2007 and a lot of my views on Dog Training has changed since. I no longer believe in correction-based training, I've explained my reasons why in my eBook The Power of Positive Reinforcements.