Help!!!!I'm getting bitten!

[menonajit]

Hi,
I'm the proud father of Lyka, a four month olf puppy. Many of you might have already seen her pics I posted. Anyway. Lyka's been driving me nuts with a bit of obidience problems.

a. She's begun pulling on her leash. I've tried all the stuff the vets told me but it dosent seem to work. I'd also like to learn how to train her to walk without a leash.

b. Biting is becoming a problem. Every time I try to stop her she just thinks I am playing, even if I scold her. its becoming increasingly difficult and she'sbegun doing the same to guests and strangers

Shes quite well trained with other stuff. Beautifully house broken. Dosent get on the living room furniture. Plays hide and seek fabulously. But I just cannot get her to stop biting.

Please help
Thanks
Ajit

 

[BEN]

wont bite me....

I had the same issue with my first boy.... around 3mo. he started chewing on my fingers and other peoples also.... When I brought him to the vet well.... same story... <edited by moderator. Please read the Boxerworld Rules concerning coercive training methods. http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8936 >

<again, edited by moderator. Please see rules above.>

My boy was really stubborn on the leash, so we tried this, allong with carring a treat bag on walks and rewarding him when he was not pulling. If he started to pull I stopped in my tracks he did too. He would then look up at me as if saying whats up.... then he got a treat for waiting and looking up at me.

Just some ideas hope you have success....

Remember...boxers learn best in short exciting traning sessions. They get board if you ask the same thing over and over and over for long periods of time.....

P.S. I have heard the yelping when bitten will work too. You will have to stop playing after for a few minutes also.

 

[Caroplourde]

My dog is now almost 6 months and he still bites, I do the ouch thing but he likes it better than toys. I've heard they usually stop around 8 months. Is that true?

 

[Hope1970]

recommendations on pulling or tugging on leash and biting

I have had the same problem with both of my boxers, with my 10 mo. we have resolved the problems, with my 3 mo. old we are learning. .......for the tugging or pulling on leash we just simply would walk on the leash and when she started to pull or tug we would stop walking and stand there and say "NO" and just stand there until she stopped. Then we would resume walking ....we kept this up and I know that it would seem like it would take forever but actually it didn't .....she now knows she gets to walk more is she doesn't pull us!......yippee!
As for the biting we did as the vet did....when they started biting hands and things....we used our thumb on top of their tongue and first and second fingers under jaw and applied gentle but firm pressure so that the tongue was over the teeth and they got the message that .....oww that hurts! My oldest doesn't do that now and my newbie doesn't do it as much...he still forgets when we are playing though.....we also give chew toys to chew on.....no shoes or socks tied in knots!......(my oldest decided any shoe was a good chew shoe and any sock knot or no knot was a good chew sock!).

 

[vaboxer]

And...if you cannot remedy it yourself these are simple things that can be taken care of in obedience class...

 

[KC]

As for biting, I agree that you can't let it continue - these babies get too big and it can be dangerous if they get carried away with a child, etc. What we did with our little troublemaker Bailey was pick a word (easy is what we use) and when she'd play, if she bit, we'd say "easy" and immediately stop playing and walk away. Totally ignored her for a couple of minutes. Then we'd resume play later. Pretty quickly she learned that, in order to keep our attention, she had to not bite. That's what my husband does - and now she just nibbles with him with an occasional "easy" reminder. I have a different approach for myself and children, though. I don't like ANY biting for me (or kids, it's just too dangerous for small children), so I insist that I only play with the girls with a toy in hand. Bailey or Lexy can bite the toy and play tug, but can't bite me at all. If they lose sight of the toy and go after me, I say "no" and, again, stop playing immediately and walk away. Now, if either girl wants to play with me, they go get a toy first! It's so cute to see them coming at you with a big stuffed animal and that silly grin on their faces! The thing is, as with any training, consistency. Make the boundaries very clear and never let them waiver. They can learn, even learn to treat different people differently, it just takes some work.

What I did for pulling was make the girls walk right beside me. If they got away from my side, I'd stop and say "no" then "come here" with the hand signal. Once they returned to my side, we'd resume the walk. Now, I don't require that they stay right by my side, but they stay close and don't pull at all. It took about a week each for them to get it right - I had to do it one at a time, because they got too distracted with each other to listen to me. Now they walk together quite well.

Sorry so long - hope you can get some useful information from all my ramblings!! :rolleyes:

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

These are very common problems and can easily be corrected with proper training techniques.

Please utilize the search button at the top of each page here at Boxerworld. Use search words such as "biting," "soft bite," "bite inhibition" for biting problems. Use search words such as "leash pulling" and "pulling" for leash pulling problems.

There is a host of information on how to SAFELY and HUMANELY train your dog and correct these very common puppy problems. Please utilize the resources available here and you'll no doubt find all the answers you need.

Good luck.

 

[SouthernArt]

What our trainer said...

Originally posted by KC
...when she'd play, if she bit, we'd say "easy" and immediately stop playing and walk away. Totally ignored her for a couple of minutes. Then we'd resume play later. Pretty quickly she learned that, in order to keep our attention, she had to not bite.

That's what our trainer told us to do. If the dog's teeth EVER touch skin for any reason--accident or not--playtime is OVER. We don't really have a problem with that anymore.

Now, the pulling is a different story...:rolleyes:

 

[popps]

Leash Tugging

I'm sure someone has posted this here, but it seems that a lot of
people still have the tugging problem. One word: "Halti"
(might be spelled wrong

It's a device that looks like a muzzle. (everyone thinks that's what
it is) But it's not a muzzle at all. It goes over the dogs snout, and around
it's neck. It's very hard to explain without visuals, but there is a small loop
under the dogs chin where you attach the leash. Every time the dog pulls..
it pulls it's head down or sideways, which the dog absolutely HATES.
Use this thing for a week, and the tugging issue is over. Now, you may have to pull it out once in a blue moon if it returns, but if you associate words (I use "slow") with the tug when the halti is on, the dog will respond
on its own. (when it's not on) It's not harmful to the dog at all, in fact.. much less than the dog choking itself trying to pull you down the sidewalk for the entire walk! :rolleyes:

Give it a try, most pet stores have them.. or check on-line. You'll be happy you did.

As for biting, when my puppy bites, I scold her, then immediately give her one of her toys... and praise her. It works. Always show your dog the preferred, alternative behavior. They'll get it.

 

[SouthernArt]

Sporn

I got a Sporn halter after reading about it on a thread here. It really works with the pulling, but my only problem is getting Duchess to leave it alone. I can't put it on her before we leave because she ends up getting it all tangled up on the way to wherever we're going.

Also, on our walk/day out, if she puts her head down or lays down, it slides off her shoulders. Have I got this thing tight enough??? It seems to be when she's standing/walking. :confused: