14 month old mouthing/biting....

[johann]

We did bite inhibition (thanks to a link on this board) with Johann when he was a puppy. He has been great until a few weeks ago. He was a year old in March.

He's started biting my feet/shoes/shirt sleeves/pants/etc lately. Last night he snapped at the ball I had (we were playing fetch) and drew blood on my hand. Today he took he took a chomp at my sweatshirt and got my arm as well. He's not being aggressive about it, it just seems like he has lost his mind completely. I felt horrible today because I smacked him :( and pushed him off the couch. But, now he's acting like he's terrified of me and keeps cowering if I look at him. He's never been smacked/etc before, so I think I scared him pretty badly. Saying "ouch" doesn't work anymore, and he's too big to push away easily without him thinking its a game (usually happens on the couch or when we're playing).

Would NILIF help in this situation? I feel myself getting more and more frustrated with him and the crazy behavior. I know me being upset isn't helping at all, so I'm somewhat ignoring him and not letting him sit near me on the couch. I've also increased the obedience training with him lately, we had been slacking off a little. He's done 3 training classes and is very good in public, just not at our house.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[kayboxer]

I would definately do NILF. He needs to know you don't do that with the boss, and this is a nice reminder who is in charge and alfa. Also, when he does this, I would walk away. Make sure he knows when he acts like this playtime ends and this will NOT be tolerated. Good luck!

 

[TwoDogs]

I like to play Doggie Zen (somebody else's concept, not my own) with my dogs to increase impulse control. Basically, the way to get the ball/treat/toy/etc. is to ignore the ball/treat/toy/etc. I start with food and hold it in a closed fist. If the dog mouths my hand, I remove my hand. I keep offering the hand/removing the hand until the dog stops mouthing and gives eye contact, then I reward by saying "take" and giving the food. I move on to toy items, starting very calm and stationary, and gradually adding motion and excitement to the game. If the dog tries to mouth or jump, the toy gets withdrawn and I start again at a lower excitement level. I have dogs that I can wave a toy in front of their face and even brush it alongside their muzzle and head and they don't grab until I give the cue to "take".

 

[Bunny]

having trouble with biting and jumping

our boxer bunny blue, likes to bite and jump on me, not my husband but me. she's 4 months old and just started obedience training. have tried everything but still she bites my clothes and my feet. any help out there?



thanks

bunny blue's mom

 

[OurFirstPup]

Bunny,

I am a new boxer owner, and I found Jan Fennell's book very informative on this matter. Basically, it seems the dog accepts your husband as its leader, but not you. Dogs don't jump or bite leaders. I've looked into obidience training, and I would much rather have the dog respect me because it wants to than to force him into it through "obidience training".

 

[larrygs]

Bunny,
At her age, my guess is this is more about "bite inhibition", teaching acceptable play and manners than dominance. There is much on this forum that should help. There are various approaches, but they are all based on withdrawing the thing she wants most, your attention. Even pushing her away will be seen as an award since she made you react.

Our pup did the same thing, and is fine now. I think it is very common. Just will take some at home training on bite inhibition and acceptable manners.

BTW, obedience training has changed greatly over recent years. Stay away from old school obedience training. Current techniques for obedience training are all about positive rewards and will do wonders. Dogs learn to do things because they feel good about it.

 

[kayboxer]

When my pup does this, I turn my back and cross my arms. She knows the sit command so when she comes around to face me again I tell her to sit, if she doesn't and starts jumping again, I turn my back again. When she comes around, I tell her to sit, when she does. I then pet her and praise her. She will learn she gets ignored when she jumps, but when she sits and is good she gets treats and praises. That is what works for me.

 

[johann]

Update on Johann:
He ended up at the vet's a few days later with a raging skin infection and very sore/inflammed ears. Since then, he's been sweet as ever with no mouthing, etc.

His skin infections usually make his jowl/face area very sore (big inflammed bumbs on his jowls).......so I think me trying to get the ball from him must have hurt him. The other brattiness was just him not feeling well.

Thank goodness I have my sweet dog back. The bite inhibition does work very well. Even when he drew blood, it wasn't a hard bite.....just happened to get right under my cuticle. He really just closed his mouth around my hand and I yanked it backwards.

Just to be safe, we're using NILIF and restarted his training. I'm hoping to start him in agility soon so we have an outlet for all the craziness.

 

[bmwgardner]

He's started biting my feet/shoes/shirt sleeves/pants/etc lately. Last night he snapped at the ball I had (we were playing fetch) and drew blood on my hand. Today he took he took a chomp at my sweatshirt and got my arm as well. He's not being aggressive about it, it just seems like he has lost his mind completely. I felt horrible today because I smacked him :( and pushed him off the couch. But, now he's acting like he's terrified of me and keeps cowering if I look at him. He's never been smacked/etc before, so I think I scared him pretty badly. Saying "ouch" doesn't work anymore, and he's too big to push away easily without him thinking its a game (usually happens on the couch or when we're playing).

Not sure that smacking him one time should set off that reaction. Is there maybe something else that he is cowering from? Obviously he thinks of you as Alpha dog and is responding. I also understand that smacking or hitting your dog can set off agression. (Please don't take this as a blame thing as I know that our instincts take over and that is what we do without thinking. We are all guilty of reaction, right?). One thing that my boxer responds to is pushing your fist into his mouth towards the back of his throat. This is something our trainer taught us in order to break that habit and establish dominance. It was really scary for me at first because I didn't want to hurt our guy. However, I learned that it works without any pain but instead "throws him off" and suprises him. It took a few times but has worked wonders.

I wish you the best.