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Originally Posted by Nancy1999  His biting concerns me, did you get him from a breeder at an age under 12 weeks? The YTCA says that if they stay with the mother and littermates until 12 weeks they are less likely to bite and more importantly less likely to bite hard, the mother teaches inhibition of the biting reflex.
I agree with lots of your training methods, but I’m not fond of the holding them down for 18 minutes method. Just because he didn’t act afraid 5 minutes later, it doesn’t mean this had no negative effect on him. Punishment is tricky, it sometimes gets fast results, but it usually always has a bad side effect, but that isn't always apparent. I’m not talking about opinions here, the science definitely shows aversive punishment doesn’t work long term. How long ago has it been since he bit you? Puppies do nibble the hands, they are teething, and fingers are irresistible, so next time he bites, you could say, “no bite” in a firm voice set him down, and give him a chewing type of toy. If he bites you aggressively again, I hope you seek out a trainer, if he does this to the vet or a groomer, they may have the legal right to have him put down, this is very serious. Anyway, it sounds like things are going good, I just don't agree with the holding down, and while some trainers do this as a last resort, they always say the layman shouldn't do it without proper training. I know everbody is looking for easy answers, but there is no "One time do this and everything will be good" answer. |
The 'holding down' is a form of the 'Alpha Roll' and should never be done to puppies or young dogs. It was developed by professional trainers to be used by professional trainers on severely aggressive dogs, after all alternative methods of training have been tried and failed. The 'Alpha Roll' would then be tried, only as a last attempt to save the dog from being PTS.
When it is used on younger dogs and puppies, it can have adverse effects and actually make them worse aggressors, or the opposite can occur and their spirits can be broken, and they end up being fearful, cowering, hiding under the bed messes, which then need to be retrained to begin trusting humans again.
I will say some members have gotten 'lucky' using this method, and I just want to say here that it was intended to be used only once. Repeated use will not improve matters and may cause the adverse reactions mentioned above, or worse.
From:
Alpha roll - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monks of New Skete, The (2002).
How To Be Your Dog's Best Friend. Little, Brown & Company.
ISBN 0-316-61000-3. "In the original edition of this book, we recommended a technique we termed "the alpha-wolf rollover"...
We no longer recommend this technique and strongly discourage its use to our clients.... The conditions in which it might be used effectively are simply too risky and demanding for the average dog owner; there are other ways of dealing with problem behavior that are much safer and, in the long run, just as effective."