Am i wasting my time

[chippy18]

Hi all

 

I have a 12 week old springer pup who has been creating a few probs. Got some advice on here a couple of weeks ago about him keep biting the wife. Got some advise back from NTTF that when HE bites the wife to get her to bite him back. Turned out to be good advise as this seemed to stop him. But just lately he has been getting really aggressive if we try to take anything of him that he has managed to get hold of and chew. Well up to tonight i had been giving him a good yelling at he seemed to stop. But tonight he had got hold of something which the wife tried to get and he really snapped at her. So i yelled went to grab it when he dropped it and he really latched on to my hand and i mean really latched on, lots of blood from the finger and lots of swearing from me.

 

What i want to know is as he has been slowly building up to this is he going to keep it up now. Maybe i have been a bit soft with him. He is in the house and the kids and wife have spoilt him rotten. I have only just attempted to crate him, which is the first thing i do now when he has snapped. Don't know if this is right or wrong. I am a novice when it comes to dogs this age as the other springer came to me alot older and i did nt go through this.

I want to keep at it with him, he is a great little chap when he is behaving and i really don't want to give up on him, but i have the kids and wife to think about.

Just to let you know he stays in the house as does the other dog and this does not happen all day long.

 

Any advice would be great.

 

Cheers

[dustyfox]

has he had the chop?

[chippy18]

has he had the chop?

 

Nope he still intact

[Guest The Outlaw]

I am considering this for Jimmy, if it doesnt work at least you feel better for calling him "Nonads"

 

I have heard it can calm them down a bit

 

Tony

[Spaniel]

I dont think having the chop does anything...think its old wife tale....i maybe wrong

 

You better wait for some expert advise from guys like NTTF. But I would say that he is trying to be the dominent one..as I have not encountered this before, so i am not about to give you any incorrect info..but i know what i would do, to teach him a lesson.

 

All the Best

Ian

[new to the flock]

At 12 weeks he is way to young to be neuterd. That should not be undertaken until he is 12 months to allow his body to develope.

 

Have a read through this thread and follow the exercise outlined.

 

http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/ind...amp;hl=dominant

 

I would say that he is trying things out to see just what he can get away with and you should be able to get ontop of it with some work. The funny thing is this is the 3rd thread dealing with out going aggressive puppies this week all of them springers......are they related by chance? There are a number of good hints in the other threads aswell so have a look about.

 

NTTF

[al4x]

just to add a little bit, it is relatively rare to get nasty springers but at that age they don't really know what their teeth are about and are getting into chewing things so I'd not assume it was malicious.

Get the crate sorted and make sure you do the dominance exercises on here and don't give up yet it is far too early

[fortune]

The pup is still only a child. I’m sure that you got up to no good when you were a child. Don’t cut him because he will need all that testosterone, as he gets older to perform in the field. Unless you just want him to lie out on the rug in front of the fire or wander along behind you like a tame old lab.

He just needs to be informed who is the pack leader. Which should be you? If you have ever seen huskies that are in a sledge towing pack, you may have noticed that the lead dog really gives the underlings a hard time and the guy on the sledge really lays into them to show them who’s top boss man. I don’t advocate giving the pup a beating but if and when he gets above his station then he must be controlled immediately. A good scruff of the neck shaking and sent out to a place on his own for half an hour usually is enough to make it clear that showing the fang is not acceptable.

[dustyfox]

When he bites you, give a yelp like a dog will do when they get hurt, he will know that he has hurt you but give him a telling of afterwards.

[deeksofdoom]

Chippy18,

I feel your pain, I have a nine week old brat at the same thing, however after our little moment yesterday evening (http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=47655), she has been well behaved and I've been following NTTF's advice on the dominance exercise. I've even taught her to sit in the meantime. So cheer up, all is not lost you've just got to keep at it.

Best of luck,

DOD

[ROBLATCH]

sounds stupid but why not try the police remedy this being :-

each time the dog (regardless of age) tends to snap or nibble throw your 4 for fingers into his mouth and press firmly on his tongue as to make him sick (you will notice the dog cockle) and i personaly think each time the dog is being untoward if this is carried out he WILL get sick . the thing is with any working dog dog they love nothing better than to ammuse and bemuse to make their owners happy,but some owners dont have the b---s to rectify the problems of the dog early enough to make him understand.we all love the balls of fluff we get when puppy's but growing dogs can be very boistrous and overtaking if let be. my mathod may sound mad but if you'r being bitten - nibbled' try it and beleive me the dog wont be happy and wont -bite-nibble much more.whilst carying out this method firm word need to be placed upon the dog such as NO NO.

i have just broken a little cocker bith in the same way and now she is as good as gold.

i found this method worthy through a current police dog handler and beleive me it works. you may end up with some scars to prove it works too.

 

good luck

 

 

rob

[ziplex]

I always found that from an early age you need to treat anything as 'matter of fact' sort of thing, if you make a big deal out of a bone or a toy..whatever, they tend to covet it. If you treat the item as a throwaway type of thing, ie: make it seem like you don't care, the dog will assume it's nothing worth fighting over. If my pointer wrestled with me with a toy for example, i'd let go and let her think I couldn't give a toss............in no time the aggression or need to covet the 'item' subsides. The result is a dog that will gently 'give up' things or happily drop them in you're lap if you let them think you're not interested. They are like children with furry coats!

[ROBLATCH]

I always found that from an early age you need to treat anything as 'matter of fact' sort of thing, if you make a big deal out of a bone or a toy..whatever, they tend to covet it. If you treat the item as a throwaway type of thing, ie: make it seem like you don't care, the dog will assume it's nothing worth fighting over. If my pointer wrestled with me with a toy for example, i'd let go and let her think I couldn't give a toss............in no time the aggresion or need to covet the 'item' subsides. The result is a dog that will gently 'give up' things or happily drop them in you're lap if you let them think you're not interested. They are like children with furry coats!

 

 

If my pointer wrestled with me with a toy for example, i'd let go and let her think I couldn't give a toss............

 

i think your problem starts here!

as a working dog you needs as much pleasure from them as they have working. it may sound harsh but to gain a good working dog dog the thing to rememeber is that of the dog is working for you and you are fullfilling the dogs happiness in letting them do so.you are not being harsh or anything like that in disciplining your dog because at the end of the day if you enjoy working with your dog he will enjoy working with you , but you cannot enjoy working your dog if he's biting,nibbling at you as you say.

i think you now need to try the inevitable which is not cruel and be the boss of the dog NOT the dog the boss of you.

you will find that being a little tougher you will gain more respect from him and you have more respect towards him.

i have had puppy's of this sort which have came so far as to make ftc.

 

if i can be of any assistance i would be obliged to help.

 

regards

 

Rob

[ziplex]

I always found that from an early age you need to treat anything as 'matter of fact' sort of thing, if you make a big deal out of a bone or a toy..whatever, they tend to covet it. If you treat the item as a throwaway type of thing, ie: make it seem like you don't care, the dog will assume it's nothing worth fighting over. If my pointer wrestled with me with a toy for example, i'd let go and let her think I couldn't give a toss............in no time the aggresion or need to covet the 'item' subsides. The result is a dog that will gently 'give up' things or happily drop them in you're lap if you let them think you're not interested. They are like children with furry coats!

 

 

If my pointer wrestled with me with a toy for example, i'd let go and let her think I couldn't give a toss............

 

i think your problem starts here!

as a working dog you need as much pleasur from them as they have working. it may sound harsh but to gain a good working dog dog the thing to rememeber is that of the dos is working for you and you are fullfilling the dogs happiness in letting them do so.you are not being harsh or anything like that in disciplining your dog because at the end of the day if you enjoy working with your dog he will enjoy working with you , but you cannot enjoy working your dog if he's biting,nibbling at you.

i think you now need to try the inevitable which is not cruel and be the boss of the dog NOT the dog the boss of you.

you will find that beig a little tougher you will gain more respect from him and you have more respect towards him.

i have had puppy's of this sort which have came so far as to make ftc.

 

if i can be of any assistance i would be obliged to help.

 

regards

 

Rob

I haven't huge experience with pointers but adopting this approach I can now return home after a night on the foreshore and offer her a teal/wigeon which she will gratefully accept and wander off with it, when called she will return to me and gently return to hand....no damage, without hesitation, she is coming up to 11 months old and i'm sure with to firm a hand she would not even do this, (big on sulking). Admittedly springers are different. Perhaps i've advised incorreclty but in my experience I don't think so.

[FBF]

call me old fashioned, and i do use the modern training methods of rewarding positive behavior but, there are times when the dog needs a clump. for me that is the time. i will say i very rarely hit my dogs but it has happened in the past and the dog wouldnt dare "re offend" i am the boss of the pack and they need to know it. in the wild the leader of a dog pack would have bitten the puppy back but harder

[chippy18]

Thanks for all the replies, sorry i have not replied sooner as they have been left but rather tied up with getting sorted for chrimbo.

Well i have taken all the good advice on board and will certainly be putting it to use. I am certainly not going to give up on the pup. I will def be sticking it out. Was just a bit concerned for the wife and kids, but have spoke to them and they already think the world of him and don't want him gone.

I have already started the exercises as recommended by NTTF and he hated it to start with, as i am sure he is supposed to, but today have been doing it and he seems to be showing a bit of an improvement to it.

 

As i say i am defiantly going to keep at it with him and fingers crossed.

Thanks again for all the advice.

 

Cheers all and have a great Christmas.