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Originally Posted by Bhikku  This does not sound like a "mouthing" problem to me. "Mouthing" puppies, in my experience, do not typically "leave huge gashes" or draw blood whatsoever. If you have a biting dog that draws blood, that's a major issue. My puppy mouths me in play, I yip, and he lets go. That's mouthing as I would define it. This dog doesn't sound like it's playing to me. And no puppy should be putting its teeth on humans after 3 months of age. Ever. |
She isn't suggesting that the problem is only mouthing. You said that the dog is biting because it wasn't taught not to mouth when it was a puppy. She is just saying that mouthing as a puppy isn't an "aggressive" behavior and has nothing to do with this problem. Obviously the biting is a problem.
We didn't get Sammy until she was 10 months old and she was never taught not to "mouth" as a puppy. She is in no way aggressive toward us nor has she ever even tried to bite us. But when she is playing she has her mouth open and will put her mouth on us but never ever bite. It's annoying and we discourage it by telling her no, turning our backs and stopping play. Anyway, it's my anecdotal evidence vs. yours.
An alpha roll might have no negative consequences in 90% of dogs but it can cause serious issues (adding to fear, increased aggression) in other dogs and how are you to know which dog you have?? It's so much easier to just use positive methods.
Did you know that leash pops are also effective correction? They are, HOWEVER you must know EXACTLY how and when to do it - your timing must be spot on so the dog knows what it is being corrected for. AND, you should never need to do it more than once because if you HURT the dog properly he will never repeat the act. But if you have a fearful dog or a dog that lacks confidence you run the risk of that dog associating very negative things with that correction forever. For example - Dog barks at Bird=>leash pop=> PAIN=>Dog is now afraid of birds. In this case if they frighten him for attacking the child, of which he is probably already afraid (!), they could escalate the problem. There are MUCH better ways which is why I don't ever recommend aversive methods. The saddest thing ever is to see people walking down the sidewalk with their dog yanking at it's neck every 2 seconds. Anyway, the stuff we're talking about has science behind it. Cesar Milan voodoo does not.