Help Me!

[Wooof Wooof]

I hope someone will help me. As some of you already know I have a 7 month female boxer mix. She was spade at 8 weeks old by the people at the animal shelter. She is cerently in training and our trainer always told us to gently pop here under the chin when she nips or bites. Valkrie nipping stoped when we put her in the classes so we never had to pop her. Well, over the last couple of days whenever I correct her by giving her a stern NO she back talks me and when she is on the lech and I correct here with the lech she tryes bighting at my had. She has alway used her mouth to talk to me but she never bits only a gental nip to get my attention so we never had to pop her (I realy don't like the idea that is the other reason why I don't do it)

Today she bit at my had when I was correcting her and without thinking I poped her it wasn't very hard and I told her "NO". This in tern caused her to bit harder at me and grawl and snarl at me. Her ears was back but her tale was wagging back and forth. I know that all of this is signs of aggression and her trainer a coulple of weeks ago stated that we needed to figer out what to do because she will evenuly bit me or worse someone else.

On one had I am thinking of exteding her training but on the other my husband and I don't want to trough money into something that will never change.

I should probly tell you all that her biting isn't braking the skin and she isn't grabing and shaking and twisting but it does make me nervice.

 

[Jan]

Popping your dog under the chin is totally unappropriate. This kind of training when out 20 years ago.

It almost sounds like she is wanting to play with you. When she nips at your hand, I would leave the room. Refuse to play with her and don't pay any attention to her. You need to initiate the play sessions, not her. Your dog needs to see you as leader of the pack, not as a playmate. Make her work ofr everything. She sits to go outside, sits for her food etc. Do not free feed.

Good luck!

 

[laura owner]

popping/aggressive??

i have a 11 month old boxer mix...sounds a bit similar to your situation. mine came at 2.5 months old - found her as a stray. now she is quite reformed BUT when younger (until couple of months ago) I had problems like yours and it is frightening. Mine would misbehave.. if i confronted her (spoke very angrily to her waving finger or tried to pop her) she would jump and bite me ...and yes i think she thought it was a game. Every dog different so I think you need to find what works for you...I did not find answer overnight BUT.... very good advice I got... when she misbehaves you leave the room or you put the dog outside on her own (whatever takes less interaction) because you should do this without getting engaged in 'conversation' with the dog (ie: don't talk to her whilst telling her off..she will not understand you are angry with her also it will provoke her).. just take by the collar and put outside or you leave the room...say nothing..don't look.. don't point figure etc...after 20 mins you/she comes back into room..ask her to sit (don't demand you have to give her a 'way out' so don't be confrontational or you will wind her up again) and give her a biscuit. HOwever if she is aggressive again when she comes back in just repeat putting her outside again.. keep doing this, be consistent until she stops. This worked with my dog... my dog I thought was trying to attack me once but she was just playing..she does not do this any more. My dog simply did not understand 'no' and thought any kind of shouting at her/waving hands/hitting her was a reward.. maybe same for yours these stray/rescues have not learnt that not ALL attention is good attention. Good luck keep updated but don't give up - i was sometimes in tears because of my dog..i kept thinking i would have to put her down...now she is so lovely i am so happy i perservered its like a different dog.

 

[Wooof Wooof]

Thank you

I will try this but anytime I try to repamand her in ways she knows she is in truble she gets nippie with me and when I repamand her again it set off her fightting side. So for that I have no idea what to do.

 

[sgbtab]

I would think that you turn your back on her and when she is calm put her in a sit also go back to basics nilif ( nothing in life is free) so she has to work for everything she gets and if it is just making her sit all the time then do it. dogs are pack animals and they need a leader it is you. don't confuse her and make her be it herself. that is what she thinks good luck.

 

[Upstatestuff]

I have been talking to a trainer for advice from time to time on similar issues. My puppy will be starting obedience in a few weeks but I have been getting preventative advice. Although Kit has never bitten anyone, she does the puppy nipping thing. I personally don't agree with ever "popping" or striking the dog in any way. The dog may get used to you raising your hand to her whether or not it is in a strong/hard way and she may begin to fear you. I never raise my voice to her or let myself feel out of control because the dog will sense that you are angry and may fear you in that way also. I know its hard sometimes to not feel angry, but leaving the room in that case would probably be a good idea. Although your puppy is older (mine is only 9 weeks) than mine, Kit does well with the "puppy sounding cries" that we let out if her nipping gets too hard. She will look at us tilting her head like "what did I do? why are you crying" and then within seconds we replace with a toy.

But again with the "popping," I feel that you shouldn't use any kind of force on your dog, especially not so close to the mouth near the teeth where they could defensively bite harder. We had a dog when I was growing up that got particularly nippy around 6-7 months of age but once he hit around a year and a half it was as if a switch inside him was turned off and he became instant angel dog and began behaving in every way! Maybe your puppy is in her "teen years" or something. One last test of dominance or something... Good luck! You guys will be fine as long as you are consistant and positive!!

Krysta

 

[apollosdad]

i have a few concerns about the thread you posted:

why would you hit your dog?
this is not teaching your dog anything positive. it is only deterring him from wanting to learn from you. it is causing him to have negative associations with your training.

STOP what you've been doing and either reenroll in another obedience class and follow what the instructor tells you to do, or pick up a good book on training, read it, and follow the tips. keep in mind that your dog will not become "magically trained" at the end of an 8-week obedience class. you have to be consistent with the training and conduct POSITIVE training with him frequently. don't burn them out by training for too long at one time. try having a 10-minute session three times a day. it sounds as if you have to work on your training skills before you can successfully train your dog.

 

[Wooof Wooof]

bitting

As I said earlier I have never poped her before the other night and will never do it again. Like I said earlier she does her nipping and bitting when she is being corrected. Normaly just looking at her and saying NO will do it but here lattly it hasn't. I relise that she is more than likely going through her teen years but she is starting to make me nervise. We crate Valkrie at night, and I would normaly just tell her "Crate" and she would go in to it. But she has started running a way when I tell her to go to her crate and she would bark and growl at me. When I would get her and put her in she would turn and bit at my hand.

It the behavior like this that is making me nurvice because i realy don't think she is playing.

 

[laura owner]

my dog was the same

hi again, exactly...my dog as soon as she knew she was in trouble would get aggressive...really i had an identical situation to what you describe so i want to help you because i also was very nervous/scared... please try what i did: 1) don't tell the dog off... instead isolate her for 20 mins or so at a time every time she is at all bitey...either do this by leaving the room yourself or taking the dog out the room..either way do NOT talk to the dog/make eye contact as you do this... if you are taking the dog out the room take her out by the collar and do NOT let go if she turns around to bite you as mine did...you must hang on to the collar to show her you are not going to be challenged by her...even better keep her lead on whilst in the house with you (not on her own incase it gets caught on something) and take her by the lead to isolate her.. for 20 mins... keep on doing this repetitively no matter how small the aggression is she will get it. the people at my kennel taught me this..they are dog trainers, they stress do NOT engage with the dog at all when isolating it. also if you are at your training school with the dog and it does this..then tie the dog by it's lead to something away from the action and leave her there for 20 mins or longer so she can see what she's missing (ie; you are isolating her again) ...this is what trainers at my kennel taught me. The dog will get it.. but do not tell dog off as like my one it would trigger her.. you need to first do the isolation/ignoring.
2) Do as other person suggested and do the 'nothing in life for free'.. also read book 'the dog listener' and put in practice what she says.
Please try the ignoring/isolating.. my dog was so bad.. i had bites all over my legs and arms and it was terrible when she was a puppy..i tried everything. I even called Battersea dogs home in england for advice,,they told me never to hit !!... However I solved this problem by ignoring/isolating..PLEASE give it a go

 

[Wooof Wooof]

Thanks

I will sertanly try this. I already make her sit, stay, or down when I give her her food, toys, pettings, to go out side. So she is already doing #2 but I will try to issolate her when she gets introuble. We have a small house so it should be quite intresting. Thank a lot!