Aggressive Biting

[kcbutsch]

How do I nip this in the bud?  Jack has bitten myself and my children.  He is very territorial about his toys and his bed which led to these incidents.  He also does not like his tail touched.  I have talked with my kids about what not to do, but I need him to know that the snarling and biting is not ok.  Any ideas?  I am extremely frustrated as he very nearly missed my dd's eye with his last bite.

[Ann]

This is a concern, I'm not sure what to advise you on this matter as I have not had this experience. If Toby has a bone he will snarl at us but we make a loud ARRH sound and he stops. Then we pat him and praise him, but we have done this since he was 8 weeks old.The only thing I can suggest is to try this make him know that this is bad. I was told to do this from a trainer. Again you must be consistant and firm. Another sugestion is to ask your vet who might some other suggestions. Good Luck

[Ann]

Oh by the way great to have you on board.

[Ann]

Here is a quote from a trainer that I found all though it doesn't actually talk about what you dog does I thought you might be able to get an idea about what to do to help your situation.

Did you know that there's a right and wrong
way to teach your dog to play tug of war?

And that if you do it wrong, you'll actually
train your dog to bite you?

Here's the deal... Whatever your dog gets
pleasure out of doing, he will do more often,
and whenever he does something that gets
a negative reaction, he'll stop doing that
reaction.

Now, I'm not saying to beat your dog when
he does something wrong, that's also harmful
to your relationship with him.

But here's what I mean...

Let's say you are playing a game of tug-of-war
with your dog, and he keeps biting up higher
and higher on the rope, until actually getting
at your hands. 

This is potentially dangerous and if you
continue to reward the dog, by just continuing
to play tug of war, even if he's not hurting
you.

Instead, here's what you should do.

It's fine to play tug of war with your dog,
but if he starts to bite up on the rope, and
get too close to your hands...

Stop playing and ignore your dog!

That's it!  Then just wait a few minutes and
try to play again, trying to play longer, until
your dog starts to bite up on the rope again.

It is important to stop playing the second
the dog bites up the rope, so he can start to
pair in his mind his behavior of biting up on
the rope with your behavior of stopping play-time.

As long as you continue to be consistent your dog,
will start to understand that biting up on the rope
stops his play time, and not biting up on the rope
increases his play time.

Just make sure you're CONSISTANT!

For more tips on how to stop nipping, please
visit us at http://www.playfulpups.com

Until Next Time,

Chet Womach

P.S. If you're dog has serious nipping problems,
make sure you pick up a copy of my course, for
dozens of extra tips to help you 'nip' this problem
in the bud, before it gets serious.

Womach Brother Productions

[eepuni]

you could also try isolating him (time-out-style).  if he has not been provoked and he lashes out, you could pick him up and put him in a room/crate/etc alone.  i know this sounds mean, but puppies/dog are a lot like children and need to learn.  once he has calmed down you could let him out, when you let him out don't make a big deal, just let him out.  if he lets you touch his tail or play with him toy with him, you could give him a treat and praise him. 

i'm not sure how old your dog is, but if he under 6 months old, he could be teething, however that would not describe his growling and aggressive behavior.

[stacy15]

do you exercise your dog? a lot of times those are signs of pent up energy

[Mai Tai]

May I ask where you got your dog?  I had an aggressive biter from a rescue organization and we discovered she was a puppy mill rescue.  Most pet shop pups unfortunately, are from puppy mills whether the pet shop wants to admit it or not.  The abuse pups receive there can lead to fear and aggression as can the inbreeding they practice.

[Ann]

That's very interesting I didn't know that was so. I have heard about pup mills, I think it is terrible but that's humans for you. They say animals are dumb animals (which I do agree) but only humans do cruel and inhuman things to living things.

[kcbutsch]

He does go for a walk every day and we play with him every night.  We got him from a family breeder.  Just one female and one male.

[Ann]

Are you still having problems. If you are is there anyway you can take your dog to a trainer maybe they can check out what happens when your dog become aggressive and make some more qualified suggsetions. I'm sincerly sorry that you are having this problem I do hope you can resolve it. Please don't blame yourself if you can't change it, sometimes this happens in nature whether in dogs or in humans, Nature goes wrong.