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10-24-2014, 04:47 PM | #1 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Chalfont, PA USA
Posts: 80
| bites other dog's ears and nose He's 9 months old. Anytime he's around any dog, he leaps at them and goes after their ears and tries to bite them. He isn't being mean, he's trying to get the other dog to play. He has a rat terrier he pays with that way. They play for hours nonstop. He'll grab her leg and pull her across the kitchen floor. But all other dogs hate him and want nothing to do with him. Will he outgrow this? My parents have an old lab and he tries with her and she hates him. He's relentless and never stops. We all constantly yell no at him and to leave her alone. He'll listen and stop, then start again. The lab is so docile, she won't fight back and tell him to stop. He's just never calm and doesn't smell butts or anything either. Just a straight leap to the face. He's great with people though! Any advice? I'd love to be able to take him to the dog park! |
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10-24-2014, 06:11 PM | #2 |
♥ Love My Tibbe! ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: D/FW, Texas
Posts: 22,140
| Here are some thoughts to think about, consider and use if you think they might work for you and your dog. But it won't work unless you are more determined than your dog and willing to try a two-step program, first obedience training him and then re-directing and re-training how he approaches other dogs. Leaping at and biting for play or not, those actions are still dominant/aggressive behavior and other dogs usually don't like it one bit, especially if a dog keeps it up. He could get attacked and really hurt if he tries that with a large, powerful dog one day. Yelling at a dog doesn't really get through unless you actually show and teach him what you expect of him. You need to gain control of him by giving him fun, highly-rewarding obedience lessons of come, sit, down, stay, stop, leave it, drop it, shake-hands, play-dead, rollover, crate-up, etc., at home, 5 mins. x3 daily to get him focusing on you, listening to you, bonding to you, used to respecting and responding to you during the fun and upbeat training you provide him that net him a treat and praise for every time he gets his commands right. Lots of positive reinforcement. He'll begin to learn that you are his leader and want to obey you for the fun and wonderful rewards of treats and praise he gets and he'll love working and learning the things you teach him. He'll adore the training if it makes him happy to do it. Once you have him more under control and he begins to jump on another dog, re-train him how to react around another dog by immediately stopping him from the biting before he gets to it. Watch his body language as he approaches other dogs. He'll start to look at another dog with a sudden, focused look, ears up, eyes intent - that's your moment. The very instant he alerts to and begins to think about launching at another dog, immediately tell him "No!", while pulling sharply on his harness to stop him in his tracks, reach down and distract him with a sudden touch to his flank to get him to look away from the other dog and place him in a down/stay with you standing before him staring down at him with your stern eyes until he relaxes. You must stay relaxed and non-angry acting during this time. Breathe deeply, don't tense up or act mad at him but stare him down. Don't look away for a moment until he has submitted to your wishes. The moment he does, you back off and walk away, letting him walk along beside you, relaxed, content and easy as ever. He'll learn that relaxing and submitting gets him going again, makes you happy and he'll go into that mode more quickly once he learns that fact. Should he get right back up after you back off, here is where your determination to fix this behavior kicks in - you immediately ALWAYS put him back down in a down/stay and wait him out until he submits and acts disinterested in the other dog. This waiting for him to relax and submit can take up to 15+ minutes per session until he "gets it" - that he's not allowed that aggressive type behavior that leads to him biting other dogs. So don't keep training him over and over if it takes him a long time to give in - he'll get bored and stop learning. More frequent sessions are more effective than repetitive long, arduous sessions for a sweet little dog whose just presently off track. Be careful to stay in "teacher" mode, matter-of-fact, never scaring or hurting him during this training - just distracting/redirecting him to the behavior you want from him and staying confident and relaxed yourself as you direct his movements or stand him down. Staring at a dog is a disciplinary behavior used by pack leaders in the wild so dogs know that their leader staring them down means they must stop the behavior they were doing and submit. With a well-trained dog, a look is often all it takes to stop any unwanted behavior. So remember, just because you are acting firmly with him you don't want him to think you are angry with him so if you actually scare him or yell loudly at him during re-training, he could become very intimidated and all learning stops. You want a well-behaved, happy dog, not a dog who is wary and frightened of you. So stay in "teacher" mode, firm but matter-of-fact, relaxed and confident. The moment that re-training session is over, take him out for a fun play session and some easy obedience training so he will end on a positive, very rewarding note between the two of you. Then lots of love, cuddling and kisses. If you distract him, give him a command to lie down/stay and show him you will stand him down until he stops his leaping/biting EVERY solitary, single time he tries it, that he must stop and submit to you each and every time he offends this way, in time he will get that message and together with your fun and upbeat training - having learned that obeying gets him far more positive reinforcement than disobeying or making you unhappy - he will begin to police himself and restrain himself from the constant tendency to bite other dogs. Just as much a part of his training is to frequently expose him to other dogs in very short sessions, first from a far distance and closer and closer only as his demeanor allows. If he begins to fixate and focus in as if to launch and bite, remove him but keep having many exposure sessions weekly so that he won't be so crazy around other dogs - so that he's desensitized to them and will eventually learn what real dog play is, which is really what he wants to do, he's just unsure around other dogs and bites out of anxiety. Good luck to you both!
__________________ Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis |
10-24-2014, 08:32 PM | #3 |
♥ Maximo and Teddy Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 25,041
| Sounds like he never outgrew puppy play, the things they do with their littermates. Teddy is a wrestler, but he only wrestles his brother Max. He does the play biting too. I agree with Jeanie that general obedience and trick training is a great place to start. Daily walks to burn off some energy. Walking with other dogs, practicing basic obedience, may help desensitize him. With my boys, directing them toward constructive activity like playing fetch together, performing tricks, and walks help cut down on the wrestling.
__________________ Kristin, Max and Teddy |
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