Problem Dog

[juliehainsworth]

I have a german shep cross which is 8mths old, I've had him since he was nine weeks old (he had been passed around a bit and had 4 homes previously)

My problem is that we can't get him to stop jumping up when people come in, and he keeps biting us to get our attention and carries on getting harder if we ignore him! We have tried various things like ignoring him, putting him in a room on his own etc but to no avail. I know the bitting will eventually stop as he isn't doing it as much as he used to but my dad says that if he doesnt stop jumping up at people soon then he will have to go! I don't think I could bear to let him go as he has become a nice dog apart from being the biting, jumping up and of course destroying things like teddies or anything he can get his mouth on.

He has plenty of chews, toys, treat ball, kong, bones, you name it he has it!

 

[*Lucifer*]

I have a german shep cross which is 8mths old, I've had him since he was nine weeks old (he had been passed around a bit and had 4 homes previously)

My problem is that we can't get him to stop jumping up when people come in, and he keeps biting us to get our attention and carries on getting harder if we ignore him! We have tried various things like ignoring him, putting him in a room on his own etc but to no avail. I know the bitting will eventually stop as he isn't doing it as much as he used to but my dad says that if he doesnt stop jumping up at people soon then he will have to go! I don't think I could bear to let him go as he has become a nice dog apart from being the biting, jumping up and of course destroying things like teddies or anything he can get his mouth on.

He has plenty of chews, toys, treat ball, kong, bones, you name it he has it!

ahh, i have an english bull terrier, who is 15 months old, and hes now satring nippin to get attentio, hes only jus living his puppy life as he spent the first 12 months of his life in a cadge and walked for only ten mins a day!!! the key i think is to be firm and give him him a slap on the bum and walk away from him, he'll cower away as uve slapped him but it does work trust me, be firm and make sure he knows ur the boss, we know salem should have grown up a bit know but being trapped for the best part of his life hasnt helped, but he has the freedom of the house and garden at ours!!!! which he loves!!! good luck keep me posted and any ideas u have would be appreciated!!

 

[catxx]

i found this for you...

http/www.perfectpaws.com/bite.html

 

[Cobe27]

As the above article says, pups learn bite inhibition from their littermates. A good way to get a pup to stop biting is to let out a loud yelp, or yow (rather than a yell) and stop the play or walk away. This worked really well with our pup Cody and she learnt pretty quickly that biting meant play stopped.

Jumping up can be a problem - our Cody was a real jumper. When we come into the house we just ignore her until she stops. Once she is calm then she gets a calm greeting. This has helped a whole lot and she now just tends to run and get a toy instead.

 

[juliehainsworth]

Thanks for that it has been a bit of a help! It is very much appreciated!

As the above article says, pups learn bite inhibition from their littermates. A good way to get a pup to stop biting is to let out a loud yelp, or yow (rather than a yell) and stop the play or walk away. This worked really well with our pup Cody and she learnt pretty quickly that biting meant play stopped.

We tried the yelp or yow trick it just made him bite even more unfortunately! I think its just going to have to be a case of walking away alot until he learns, I've even tried a muzzle which works temporarily until he gets giddy again!

 

[MAM]

You have a number of options for the biting. First, you need to figure out WHEN he bites and gets mouthy. Is it when he wants to play or is excited? When he wants your attention? I have a cattle dog mix that is VERY mouthy. What our trainer suggested is to first remove the body part he's going for. If he's biting your hand or arm (or in our case, my feet and ankles), pull away from him, walk away, remove yourself. Then give him something that is okay to bite and chew on, replace your body part with a toy or rawhide or something along those lines. When he bites, firmly tell him "No" or make a certain noise that serves as a "no" (as some dogs hear "no" so much that it doesn't work, for my min pin we make an "eh-eh" sound when she's doing somethign she's not suppposed to), then replace and praise. Teach him what is okay and what is not okay to chew on. If he gets mouthy mostly when he's playing or excited, you need to calm him down. No wrestling, no tug-of war. These sorts of games can sometimes make it all worse. Dogs don't often understand the difference between it being okay to bite and growl and be aggressive when you're playing, and then not be allowed to do that at other times. You have to be consistent.

For jumping, again, you have to evaluate WHEN he does it. When you or guests first come in the house? When he comes up to someone outside? When you're holding food? We were taught to turn your back on him when he jumps, bump him with your hip to push him off (don't use your hands and arms, use your body, the same way an alpha dog would to tell off a lesser dog). Don't give him that attention when he jumps, letting him jump and reacting is reinforcing that jumping gets your attention. To stop him from bombarding us as we came in the door, we were instructed to actually wait outside the door a few minutes. Give him a minute to calm down after the excitement of hearing you come home. Then come inside, but don't be all excited. Just come inside, put your stuff down, whatever. Then after you're settled, give him the attention in a calm way.

Also, squirt bottles full of water work wonders. Adding just a touch of lemon juice, just a touch, will make the water not taste so good. We did this in the beginning with our cattle dog. When he'd bite, he'd get a quick spray in the mouth. Worked well. He's at the point now where we just grab a regular squirt bottle of water, point it in his direction, and whatever bad behavior he his currently exhibiting, stops.

If you're up for a bit of reading, see if you can get your hands on a book titled "The Other End of the Leash". This book is great for people with dogs that have some behavior issues (its a bible for those of us that work with shelter dogs who have questionable histories), it helps you to see the world from a dog's perspective so you can better understand HOW to teach them what they should and should not do.

 

[Wanda hornsey]

I have the same problem with Willow our German Shepherd Akita Cross....tho she tends to pick on my husband to bite more than me but she is so bad a jumping up when you some in the house...its a big problem as she now weighs 50Kg and is a big year old dog..and yes we have been trying and trying...I am interested in this book can you tell me who it is by?...oh and my avitar was her at 4 months

 

[MAM]

I am interested in this book can you tell me who it is by?

The author is Patricia McConnell:

http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/034544678...glance&n=283155

 

[SRC]

I've always broke mine from jumping up..by simply putting my knee out and saying a firm "no jump" at the same time. I don't hit them with my knee, I let them hit themselves on my knee. It doesn't take long for them to realize..that it doesn't feel so great, and they stop doing it.

I do this to other people's dogs as well. If their dog starts to jump up I simply turn my body and stick my knee out and say "no". The dog doesn't get hurt, the dog doesn't get yelled at, and my clothes stay clean.

As far as biting is concerned, I simply thump them on the end of the nose. I don't do it super hard, as the nose is very sensitive..but that's the point...that it gets their attention You do it at the same time as saying "no bite" in a firm voice...but don't scream it, just say it like you mean it, just enough to let them know you are not happy (animals can tell more from your tone then loudness). Soon realize..it's not the best thing to do...cas getting thumped on the nose...doesn't feel so great.

 

[juliehainsworth]

Hi thanks for your advice I certainly will try some of the things you said. Unfortunately mine quite likes lemons (think he's mad personally) and when he was younger I tried the spraying of water (he hated it on his paws) unfortunately now he turns it into a game.

He jumps and bites for different things, alot is to get my attention but somedays he'll bite me when I'm putting my coat or gloves on to go to work and he will start attacking me to try and stop me from going so I've learnt to distract him from that now and give him something to chew on and keep his mind occupied.

Alot of his jumping up and biting is to get my attention to play like when I stand outside talking to my neighbour if I have my back to him he will jump up and grab my clothes and pull at me. I've done the walking away and ignoring him and leaving him outside, I've even tried to get his attention on to other things but if its not what he wants he carries on. He loves playing fetch with muddy sticks in the garden but I'll be honest I'm not one for always getting muddy even though I don't mind on a weekend when I take him for a nice two hour walk to the local park/lake and let him have a nice play. I'm hoping that come spring and summer he will have calmed down alot and he won't be as frustrated as I will be able to take him out further than round the block or a quick walk through the woods (I don't like going places like that when its dark) Its not exactly safe.

Last night I think he was sulking with me as he didnt really want to be with me on the bed instead he skulked off downstairs to be on his own which isnt like him. He also started to take a disliking to my fish and started to growl at them and then bark which he has never done before.

 

[JackDemp528]

What I use for the jumping dogs at work is putting my arm out palm down above the dog's head, and staring him/her right in the eye. It normally stops them right in their tracks. As soon as I walk in at work there's normally about 10 dogs jumping all over me so that helps. It's an assertive thing, and tells the dog that I'm in charge and don't like what they're doing.

 

[juliehainsworth]

What I use for the jumping dogs at work is putting my arm out palm down above the dog's head, and staring him/her right in the eye. It normally stops them right in their tracks. As soon as I walk in at work there's normally about 10 dogs jumping all over me so that helps. It's an assertive thing, and tells the dog that I'm in charge and don't like what they're doing.

I'll give it a go tonight thank you for that!

I've never had a puppy before, my last dog was a stray, he landed on our doorstep when I was nearly 7 and we had him for sixteen years..... He used to jump up but he was only a jack russell and well he was allowed to do what ever he liked! I always said I didnt want a pup or a large dog, ended up with this big lump who I have now (wouldnt be without him really), Wasnt meant to have another dog but twisted my dad's arm (as still live at home) to let us keep him, he'd been passed around a fair bit and my sister said she'd have him, but she didnt realise what a commitment he would be so we argued alot about his care and I've got him now! Do you have any other good tips for me? We did go to puppy class for six weeks but the last two weeks he stopped paying attention and wanted to play up instead!

He does do the basics of sit and down and wait, he's not too good at stay even though I'm still working on that! Also he gives paw unfortunately he's got it into his head that we want it all the time now even when we discourage him he tries it on!

Also could do with tips on getting him to not chew on a tooth brush? Have started to try and brush his teeth (with only water at the moment) but he's more interested in chomping on the brush! But on the plus side he does sit still for me to do it!

 

[juliehainsworth]

Ok so my dog has started to calm down a fair bit when I'm around and isn't jumping up or biting me half as much as what he used to!

But all I had yesterday from my family is that I should get rid of the dog as he was jumping up at my family when they came round (I was still at work)! It turns out that he had been left alone all day which is probably why he got really over excited as when I returned he settled down a lot quicker! Is there any way that I can try to get him to stop being like this when my family come round and I'm not there? I've told my dad that when he goes out for the day that he should get my neighbour to let him out (It's what she did when we first got him) I've also told them just to get on with what their doing and ignore the dog and shut him out of the room until he calms down!

I really dont want to get rid of him! I took him with me to the local dog pound as me and a friend went to volunteer to be dog walkers! I had plenty of people asking me about my dog (they thought we were walking him for the pound)! Told them he was mine! But looking round the pound at all the dogs in the kennels has just made me even more determined to work harder on him! But I can't be with the dog all the time so I need to find ways of getting him to listen to other people! He totally ignores my dad and carries on with him really bad! But when he's with me he'll try it on and then settle down when he cant have his own way!

 

[catxx]

get your dad to train with him, with you not in the room/house

 

[juliehainsworth]

Unfortunately I've tried that, but to put it politely my dad is a very lazy man (that is extremely polite)! His excuse is that its not his dog its mine so I should do all the training which most of the time the dog obeys his comands he's only 8 1/2 months old (I personally thought he'd be worse)!

I've even tried to get my dad to take him for a quick walk round the block so that they can bond a bit better but he wont even try that!