PLEASE HELP... with my aggressive puppy!

Lemony

tandraig wrote: »

... and if you can teach him even one command in the short time youve had him - I would say you are doing well!

Ahem ... one command indeed! Today he did 'sit', 'down', 'come', 'give' and 'do wee wee'. The only one he's not very good at is 'leave' which I've been using to try and get him to let go of my skin when he bites! The nipping and biting is still quite bad but I feel as if I'm getting to know him now since I've started training him in other areas. I altered his harness this afternoon so now it fits him and I let him wear it around the house to get used to it. I put him on the lead indoors a few times but he only wanted to chew it! I tried taking him in the garden on the lead but he spent the whole time trying to get it. I'll keep practicing so he can have his first walk in the next few days.

Raksha

If he was hiding from the other puppies at puppy party, I wonder if he was actually the runt and got picked on/bullied by the other puppies in his litter - meaning that instead of learning bite inhibition, he actually learnt you have to bite hard to stop people and puppies doing things you don't want them to do?

Raksha

fran2491 wrote: »

forgive me if anyones said this allready i havnt read the whole thread,but with out boxer to get her not to bite we were told to hold her jaw basicly your thumb goes in there mouth on the bottom of the jaw and fingers on the outside and hold them as tight as you can for a good 5 seconds,because they dont like the feel it instictivly teaches them no biting,

Yes, and it also teaches them not to let humans hold their jaws/come near their faces - really useful at the vets - NOT!

Why don't people think these things through?

foreign_correspondent

Raksha wrote: »

Yes, and it also teaches them not to let humans hold their jaws/come near their faces - really useful at the vets - NOT!

Why don't people think these things through?

yeah, I expect this sort of 'training' (which as raksha says actually trains them that someone's hand going near their mouth is followed by an unpleasant experience) is one of the reasons why some dogs panic when it comes to anyone handling their muzzle, examining teeth, getting foreign bodies out of mouths etc..

I think one of the most sensible things I ever read is that 'everything you do with your dog is training' - whether you mean it to be or not...eg. if you give the dog attention every time it barks, they soon learn to bark when they want attention, if you hit them, they soon learn that human hands inflict pain...

tandraig

I get what you all mean about being careful with their mouths - but to be honest if it came down to me being painfully nipped and clamping my pups mouth shut as gently as i could! then i went with the clamping!! only until i could put her down - jeez it ruddy hurt! and she drew blood! its either no cuddles or defend yourself isnt it?

foreign_correspondent

tandraig wrote: »

I get what you all mean about being careful with their mouths - but to be honest if it came down to me being painfully nipped and clamping my pups mouth shut as gently as i could! then i went with the clamping!!

They are not the only two options though are they ? (i.e. - be bitten or clamp pups mouth shut) other people have used techniques such as ending play or distracting biting behaviour onto a suitable toy, just as a couple of examples.... much less likely to have a negative learning element to them.

Lemony

Hello everyone. Thank you all so much for your advice.

Raksha - I also wondered if he could be the runt but I have seen a brief video of all the puppies together and there is no evidence of that (although it really was a brief video). I think if the RSPCA had him when he was 6 weeks old he may have been taken from his mother a little bit too soon which can't have helped, and we have to remember that he was abandoned and left in a box in the cold and wet and surely that will have affected him in some way.

Today I took the dog for his first ever walk. He was quite brave and really enjoyed having a good sniff. He kept wanting to walk next to the road and I was trying to have him on the other side of the pavement, but apart from that he was brilliant. I decided today that we would just walk to my local Tesco and then walk home again. As we approached the store, a woman with 2 kids and a huge black labrador appeared. The kids wanted to stroke my puppy so I stopped to chat with them, and the lady sat her dog down nicely so mine could approach without being scared. It was lovely - the big dog leaned down and sniffed my dog who was a bit nervous at first, and then mine got bolder and started sniffing the big dog's mouth! He was very good with the children too and wanted to play with them and was trying to climb into their arms. Even better, they were wearing roller skates so that's another thing he's ok with - phew! I also just remembered that the lady's husband rode up on a bike too so that's another thing he's experienced in a good way.

So that was the good bit... then DISASTER! While I was on my hands and knees trying to make sure my puppy's first experiences were good with the dog and the children, I allowed him a looser lead so he could approach the dog in his own way... and sod's law he found a chocolate coated raisin on the pavement that I hadn't noticed and he ate it quicker than I could get it off him. Well that got me panicking because my last dog got chocolate poisoning and almost died! I spent half the day on the internet getting advice from friends etc and googling chocolate poisoning in dogs. I think one chocolate raisin should be ok but I'm staying up all night to watch him just in case. Honestly, it's one thing after another...

I've been training him again today. He is really good at 'sit' and 'down', he's ok at 'give' as long as he's not having a funny 5 minutes, he's getting better at 'leave' which is the word I'm now using when he bites my legs or clothes, and the biting is getting slightly better, although he does have good and bad days so it's hard to say.

He's got a new trick where he tries to stick his head up my sleeve and then if he finds a tissue he pinches it and runs away. He also waits until I'm out of the room and then he looks for any folded up jumpers on the back of the sofa and he searches those for tissues too. It's funny how they get their ideas, lol.

All in all I'm really proud of the little fella and I love him to bits.

elsien

I'm sure he'll be fine, and it sounds like (raisin aside!) the walk went really well. Glad you're getting somewhere with the nipping - it can really hurt.

What is it with dogs and tissues? - mine is dreadful - used to do the Andrex puppy routine with the loo rolls and even now she's old and decrepit still can't be in the same room as a tissue without wanting to eat it. (In fact the other day she ate through mum's coat pocket to reach the tissues inside, so I now have to buy mum a new coat.)

Raggs_2

Not wanting to scare you, and I'm sure everything will be fine, but raisins are also very bad for dogs. Though again, because of the small quantity I'm sure it'll be fine, but thought I'd best mention that for future instances.

foreign_correspondent

In cases where there is any worry about toxicity, I would ring the vet rather than relying on advice given on the internet... often time is of the essence if there is a risk.