Dog Biting

seven-day-weekend · 2 June 2019 at 8:22PM

My friend had a new dog a few months ago. She bought it from a private sale from a family who said they had to rehome him. I'm not sure how old he is, but he is a young dog, although not a puppy.

When we went to see her today, she told us the dog bites and has bitten her son, his partner and the builder.

As we were walking in (just walking, not talking to or looking at the dog), he nipped my husband's trousers several times.

When I got up to go to the toilet, he jumped off the sofa and bit my leg. It hurt a bit, but I did not think he had punctured the skin. Then when we got up to go, he bit me again. He approached from the rear each time.

I have got puncture holes in my leg, and bruising, and one of the bites has drawn blood. I am seeing the Doc tomorrow about a tetanus jab.

My friend does try to discipline the dog, and he is not aggressive with her, in fact I think it is over-protection of her that is causing the trouble.

She was very upset and although I have not suggested this, she is thinking of having the dog put down.

TBH, I think if the behaviour can't be brought under control, then this is the best thing, it could be a child's face next time.

He is this breed, if it is relevant: https://www.smalldogplace.com/chinese-crested-powderpuff.html

Any ideas how she can train him to stop biting or is it terminal?

MovingForwards · 2 June 2019 at 8:46PM

Get a behaviourist to come to the house and do one2one training with her and the dog, as your friend will learn the most appropriate way of training.

seven-day-weekend · 2 June 2019 at 8:54PM

MovingForwards wrote: »

Get a behaviourist to come to the house and do one2one training with her and the dog, as your friend will learn the most appropriate way of training.

She has tried that, it was £50 an hour and she said it has made no difference. She has stopped now.

MovingForwards · 2 June 2019 at 8:56PM

Then she needs a better behaviourist or it will escalate as you have seen!

seven-day-weekend · 2 June 2019 at 9:03PM

I think you are right, it is the only thing now that she can try. She is going to ask the vet's advice about what to do next.

elsien · 2 June 2019 at 9:08PM

Your friend has to bear some responsibility for this - what's she doing giving the dog the opportunity to bite visitors if she knows it's aggressive?
Mine would be on a houseline or crated if I couldnt trust him round guests.
She needs to try another behaviourist, one that uses positive methods. It's not about disciplining it, it's about teaching alternative more acceptable ways to behave.

seven-day-weekend · 2 June 2019 at 9:19PM

elsien wrote: »

Your friend has to bear some responsibility for this - what's she doing giving the dog the opportunity to bite visitors if she knows it's aggressive?
Mine would be on a houseline or crated if I coujdnt trust him round guests.
She needs to try another behaviourist, one that uses positive methods. It's not about disciplining it, it's about teaching alternative more acceptable ways to behave.

I must admit I thought this myself.

I am particularly bothered that he jumped off the sofa when I got to leave the room and ran after me and bit the back of my leg. There is no way the dog felt cornered or fearful, I didn't even speak to him or attempt to react to him in any way, thinking it was best to let him come to me in his own time if he wished. I'd gone past him by the time he decided to bite me. I don't have a dog of my own, through choice, but I do know how to behave around them.

My friend is 80, she lost her husband nine months ago, and I think this little dog is something to cuddle and comfort. She also has an aged labrador, who is perfectly well behaved.

onwards&upwards · 2 June 2019 at 9:38PM

Sounds like this is too much for her and she isn’t the right person to take it on.

I’d advise her to get in touch with reputable local rescues, in the right hands the dog could be sorted in a matter of weeks if it’s only young.

elsien · 2 June 2019 at 9:40PM

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I must admit I thought this myself.

I am particularly bothered that he jumped off the sofa when I got to leave the room and ran after me and bit the back of my leg. There is no way the dog felt cornered or fearful, I didn't even speak to him or attempt to react to him in any way, thinking it was best to let him come to me in his own time if he wished. I'd gone past him by the time he decided to bite me. I don't have a dog of my own, through choice, but I do know how to behave around them.

My friend is 80, she lost her husband nine months ago, and I think this little dog is something to cuddle and comfort. She also has an aged labrador, who is perfectly well behaved.

Poor dog. I suspect your friend is treating it inconsistently and inadvertently making any pre-existing issues worse. Then the dog gets put down because the owner can't manage.

How committed is she to putting the work in? A starting point would be not letting it have the opportunity to bite people, but if she's not willing to even do that despite saying she can't manage him, there's not a lot of hope to put things right.

Do you know her well enough to gently point this out to her, and suggest letting him have a go 3 times in one visit isn't great, and what would she do differently next time? It's not fair on the dog.

Mojisola · 2 June 2019 at 9:45PM

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

My friend is 80, she lost her husband nine months ago, and I think this little dog is something to cuddle and comfort. She also has an aged labrador, who is perfectly well behaved.

Sounds as if she is treating the dog like a cuddly toy instead of a young animal which needs teaching good behaviour.

This won't end well unless she is able to change.

seven-day-weekend · 2 June 2019 at 9:49PM

elsien wrote: »

Poor dog. I suspect your friend is treating it inconsistently and inadvertently making any pre-existing issues worse. Then the dog gets put down because the owner can't manage.

How committed is she to putting the work in? A starting point would be not letting it have the opportunity to bite people, but if she's not willing to even do that despite saying she can't manage him, there's not a lot of hope to put things right.

Do you know her well enough to gently point this out to her, and suggest letting him have a go 3 times in one visit isn't great, and what would she do differently next time? It's not fair on the dog.

She is willing to do that, by putting him in the other room, but as she says herself that is not addressing the problem. Although she is 80 she is not a frail old lady, she has all her wits about her. I did notice that if he growled or raised his lip, she pulled him to her and stroked him - I know this was to stop him jumping off and biting, but I think to the dog that is reinforcing the bad behaviour. He is getting positive attention for growling.

She is mortified, she seems more upset about him biting me than anyone else, she was in tears on the phone.

Dog Biting

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