Is my puppy trying to become dominant over me only

[Gareth]

Hey all,

 

Jacks 10 weeks on Friday and lives with my girlfriend and I. He's been biting as I would expect a puppy too. We discouraged him and it seemed to be working. Now though, he wants to fight back with me only. I hit his nose and sometimes his bum, and have now started excluding him for a few minutes too. His fighting back with me seems to be getting worse. What do you suggest I do to get on top of this fast?

 

Many thanks,

Gareth

[jasons gold]

might help if you tell us what breed it is

[J@mes]

I found this with my lab bitch, and the only cure for it was "if you are going to strike your dog, make it count"

 

don't tap him like it is something playful, grab him and give him a proper belt. Mine soon got the message and now only mouths me when we are playing. Doesn't do it to anyone else.

 

Others may disagree, but it worked for me.

 

edit: just to be clear, I don't mean hit so hard or in a way that you will injure your dog, but I made myself forceful and overpowering to her and it worked.

Edited December 21, 2010 by J@mes

[Gareth]

Oh sorry. Mum was a springer dad was a Labrador.

 

When I tell him off he seems to get nastier. Tonight a put him on his own in the kitchen about 5 times in a row after he bit me. Came out feeling sorry for himself more and more, but not made much of a difference. Saying that he's now laid up on my feet sleeping…

 

Thanks for any help,

Gareth

[dazco2121]

give him a proper belt :lol:

[Gareth]

Cheers for the replies. I have pinned him down and hit him quite hard on the bum and on the nose, but he still gets nastier. Earlier when I let go of him again he went more hyper than I've ever seen. I don't want to hurt him, I also don't make him ever yelp, should I? I don't want him to not like me, and tonight especially I've hit him a lot. He will still come and chew his toy on me after a few mins tho. I am scared of hurting his back end if I do it any harder. Unfortunately the real bad behaviour tonight may be down to bakers, they had nothing else in the shop! Will have to try again tomorrow…

 

The odd thing is he is only really like this with me! Any ideas?

 

 

Gareth

Edited December 21, 2010 by Gareth

[Tom&Dexter]

its a 10w old bloody pup dont be whacking him or you will have trouble

 

get him to some puppy classes in the next few weeks and get some socializing in with other dogs they will let him know if hes getting to heavy in the mean time use the excluding him method

[Devon Fox]

I have seen that bird Victoria stillwell I think she's called deal with similar - don't hit, but shout ouch as loud and as high pitch as you can, pull away from the dog and turn your back untill it's calm again.

 

The other thing she used was a bottle full of stones, like a rattle - again as the dog bites rattle it loudly, and again back away, I remember her saying not to make eye contact, but why I can't remember!

 

Worth a try, but you have to pick a method and stick with it!

 

Good luck.

[HDAV]

 

The odd thing is he is only really like this with me! Any ideas?

 

Don't take this the wrong way but who is the "Alpha" in your relationship? As you arent there all the time he might be trying to find his place...

[The Duncan]

It's parents would nip him!

You can do this using a pinching movement with your thumb and a couple of opposing fingers.

I have nipped a dog with my teeth before, on the ear and it has to be done until the offender yelps.

Then a spell of aloofness enforces the message.

Don't carry any grudge forwards because the pup will reflect this.

Dogs live in the moment and you can change their direction and attitude with your own.

As soon as you get emotional eg angry when dealing with the pup or dog, you've lost.

Maintain a dominant but calm disposition towards the pup - and don't expect miracles at 10 weeks.

 

A shame you're not a bit closer - my pack would welcome him and help him understand 'how it works'.

[Cannon]

I managed to stop my dog from biting by placing my hand over his snout and moving his skin under his teeth using my fingers. Every time he went to bite he would bite himself and he soon learned not do do it. Might sound cruel but it worked for me

[MC]

Right, firstly do not hit your dog. You will only end up as bad as the people who have suggested it. There is ABSOLUTELY no need to hit a dog, if you do you have failed in its training.

 

Get yourself an empty coke can, stick 3 pennies in it and tape up the hole. The very next time he looks like he may try and attack rattle the can as hard as you can so it makes a very loud noise. The dog will back away.

 

If he comes back for more than rattle it again. And again untill he gets the message. This is something you need to do every single time he looks like repeating himself.

 

It may take a day it may take 3 weeks but the important thing is to rattle it everytime he looks like biting.

 

Even when he has got the message leave the can so he can see it and you can get it quickly.

[Gareth]

Thanks for all the replies everyone,

 

I'm going to go to the pet shop and get some different food for him tonight, I'm sure that Bakers stuff sent him wappy. I've since seen a lot of bad reviews about it.

 

To all that suggested hitting him harder, I'm not really willing to try that any more. I need a new approach, it just isn't working. I don't know if he thinks it's a game or what, but he comes back for more even when I walk away or try to ignore him after the hit, as I said I'm not willing to hit any harder any more. I have started excluding him now.

 

Don't take this the wrong way but who is the "Alpha" in your relationship? As you arent there all the time he might be trying to find his place...

You could well be right. My girlfriend isn't working at the moment so spends most of the day with him. I'm only there for 20 mins in the morning and then throughout the evening. I don't hold a grudge towards him for biting me, if anything I try too hard with him.

 

I quite like the idea of the can with coins. I will try this from tonight when I get home. Lets hope the neighbours don't mind the racket too much

 

Many thanks for all of your help, as you can see this is new to my girlfriend and I.

Gareth

[Tis1979]

I'll start off saying I'm no expert but i am training my own dog at the moment that is going really well, First off i agree with some of what's been written in that you should not be hitting the dog i reckon it will have a negative effect in the long run. I would say work on your bond you have with the dog (he is still very young) spend as much time as possible with him, If your going to use the shake can just remember that he is young and that can is going to sound very loud to the dog and i would imagine that you will want to be shooting over this dog in the future so be careful not to make him wary of loud noises. If it was me i would take the advice that has been given in an earlier reply and do a high pitched yelp as if your in pain that with a better bond should stop it or if worst comes to worst don't hit the dog but when he bites you bite him back on the ear just enough so he knows you've done it. That method stopped my terrier doing it when she was a pup.

 

Hope that helps a bit its always hard to know what to do for the best.

 

Kind regards Tristram

[danimal]

i found grabbing my dobe by the scruff and pinning him down until he looked away from my eyes and submisive better and less damaging to the dog than hitting him! also doing things like eating first, making him wait when you go thorough doors first, making him sit before hes allowed his food etc will help you!

[Gareth]

i found grabbing my dobe by the scruff and pinning him down until he looked away from my eyes and submisive better and less damaging to the dog than hitting him! also doing things like eating first, making him wait when you go thorough doors first, making him sit before hes allowed his food etc will help you!

I have pinned Jack down and stared at him, it seems to rile him up more and he goes mad when I let go of him.

 

I didn't think of the loud noise making him gun shy when the time comes for that, good point.

 

I'll try the yelp and maybe ear bite method as you mentioned. Should I exclude him afterwards for a few minutes as well or not?

 

Many thanks,

Gareth

[darren m]

bite him back

 

my lab would bite quite hard , what i did was pin him down roll him onto his back so he was in a submission postion , lean over him NOT on him ( thats you showing who boss cause your on top ) and bite his ear lobe till he yelps .

 

also when nipping hands stick a finger gently down his throat to make him gag .. and shout NO..

[Devon Fox]

also doing things like eating first, making him wait when you go thorough doors first, making him sit before hes allowed his food etc will help you!

 

Top advice - more than one way to sort this, I did the above with my GSD, when you get home in the evening, ignore the dog, go to your wife & kids 1st, then the dog so he learns his place in Your pack:good:

 

Subtle adjustments will make the difference

Edited December 22, 2010 by Hot-Shot

[Tom&Dexter]

First off he is 10 Weeks old hes is very very young

he has been with you for what two weeks

 

internet forums are great for some things but you will get lots of conflicting and sum terrible advice ( not saying mine is any better)

Get him to some good puppy classes ASAP you will meet with others going through all the same stuff and problems you are having.

 

If delt with correctly now at 10W and not a major thing made of it, he will naturally grow out of it (will stand by to get slated for saying that)

 

As already been said its a package of things you need to be doing to help build the correct bond with your new mate and one of the is NOT striking him

[Fatcatsplat]

i found grabbing my dobe by the scruff and pinning him down until he looked away from my eyes and submisive better and less damaging to the dog than hitting him! also doing things like eating first, making him wait when you go thorough doors first, making him sit before hes allowed his food etc will help you!

[JBS]

The poor pups only ten weeks old, there is no need whatsoever to hit a ten week old pup.

 

Why is he nipping in the first place? Does this happen when you "play" and a game gets rough? I can't imagine the pup is actually attacking you for no reason. If he starts to get out of hand just get up and walk off into a different room, he'll soon learn that when he bites the fun stops as at the minute he thinks that when he bites the fun starts.

 

All puppies bite and nip and a simple NO in a deep voice followed by you leaving the room should suffice at his age, he will probably follow you to see where you are going but just ignore him until he is calm

[Devon Fox]

Should have read it more carefully - 10 weeks, dont panic!

[Gareth W]

What I found with our Ridgebacks was:

 

Hold them firmly either side of the head on the scruff of their necks (where their mother would pick them up or put her teeth to reprimand them), look directly into their eyes, say no very firmly then hold until they look away. Then ignore them and go and do something else. A day or two of that and it worked a treat however now they seem to want to lick you to death instead.

 

It could be a jealously thing with you being out all day, try ignoring the dog for first 5 or 10 mins when you get home, talk to the mrs, make a cuppa then go to the dog. I work away for 6 weeks at a time, when I get home I see her first then go to the dogs, this calms them down and reminds them where they are in our house.

[Gareth]

Thank you for all of your help and advice, I feel like I made some progress last night. The method I used was shouting "ouch" and then ignoring him for a while. If he came back for more or bit really hard I pinned him down by the scruff of his neck, leant over him staring into his eyes and then pinched his ear until he yelped a bit, and then ignored him.

 

After a while he jumped onto me on the sofa, licked my hand a bit which I praised a lot, and then fell asleep on my lap. He's never done that before

 

Thanks again, I'll let you know how we get on

Gareth

[kent]

ITS A 1O WEEK OLD PUP! for goodness sake don't go wacking it or hitting it harder, your interactions are encouraging it if it is only doing it with you. No the other members of a wolf pack wouldn't nip it only the dam could get away with such a warning without creating all out war in the pack, they might growl, yelp turn thier backs and constantly walk away or just grin and bear it. might i suggest you try the same?