NEW Boxer Owner

[samnkelli]

Hi everyone...My husband and I are the proud new owners of an 8 week old fawn male boxer named Jackson. We are first time boxer owners and he is a real handful! We have had him for 5 days now, and sleep is something I have not had! The question I want to ask is Jackson can get really aggressive. He growls and bites at us when we tell him "NO" when he bites our clothes, furniture, you name it. He has lots of chew toys, but he seems to like our body parts instead! I have done so much research on proper ways to train your dog not to bite but nothing seems to be working! Any suggestions for a first time boxer owner? We love him, he is so smart and picked up crate training already but any advice would be great!

Thanks!

 

[Elsa]

Hi! Welcome to the board! I have a 2 1/2 year old fawn female and we didn't get her until she was 4 mos. old so we missed the real young puppy stage. Just keep telling him no. Another trick I know of is to tell him no and put him in his crate and ignore him. Keep doing this until he catches on that this behavor is not acceptable.
For lots more responses, I would also post this question on the Boxer Ring. You'll get lots of feedback there.
Good luck!

------------------
-Elsa

Ruby- Flashy Fawn, Black Mask,Cropped, 5/1998

 

[Sam & Oscar]

Hello!
We had some problems with our pup with nipping and biting and found that if we sprayed him with water each time he did it and said no he eventually caught on. Make sure he gets heaps of praise as soon as he stops so he knows what the right thing to do is.
Good luck and I hope you find as much joy with your new Boxer as we do with ours!

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Hi, and welcome!

That biting thing was the hardest behavior to get my puppy to stop. It took longer than most any other issue. Must be a Boxer trait.

What I ended up doing is when she'd bite me, I would have to say very sternly "NO!" and get up and walk away from my puppy and ignore her until she calmed down. Sometimes she'd start up again immediately, and I would have to get up and do it all again. It took several weeks for her to "get it," but now she's wonderful and even though we play and I let her tug on my sleeves at times, she does not bite me.

The time out suggestion will probably work too. They have to understand that it is not acceptable behavior. Unfortunately, it is such an ingrained trait and they would be learning how to "soft bite" with their mother and litter mates were they still with them, you have to teach them. It just seems to take more time and patience than teaching other things. Look up soft biting on some training/behavior sites on the internet and you'll find several suggestions.

Consistency among family members is important too. If you decide on a method, everyone must follow that method, no exceptions; or it becomes too confusing for the puppy.

As in all training, consistency and persistence and lots of love and praise for correct behavior are the keys to success.

Good luck and keep us posted.


------------------
Dan from Brooklyn
Proud Pappa to Maggie Mae
Born 6/16/00
Flashy Fawn, docked tail, natural ears.
Pictures: http://www.d-batt.com/Maggie.html

 

[samnkelli]

Thanks for all the sound advice...in just a couple of days Jackson has improved so much from just being consistent with our "NO" and walking away when he persists with his biting. He is such a good boy and we cant wait to watch him grow!

 

[mysticalblues]

Congratulation on the new addition to your family!! I have a 16 month old male brindle boxer names Brody. I have heard of spraying there boxers with water to stop bad habits, but the one we used was putting about 15 pennies in an empty soda can and when he would chew and something or us, we would shake the can or through it over by him and give a stern no. He hated the sound of the can and it helped deter bad habits. Enjoy your new baby!!!!!