Biting Puppy

I have an Austrilian Cattle Dog mixed...she is a puppy, she is 6 months old this month....I have posted here before and got some good advise...I am in need of some more.....
Hope(puppy) is a normal puppy by all means, but she likes to bite us all the time, and we have tried everything....
I keep her rawhide bones, toys, (she has demolished all of those) Kong toy and you name it she has it...but my husband and I can set in the same room and boy she just goes beserk....she will jump up in our head or right in our face and want to bite ....she has bit my husband so many times on hand that it looks like he has been in a fight....
She had a running fit the other day and knocked me down, right in kitchen floor....is the the behavior of one of these dogs.....do they make good house dogs...I play ball with her twice a day, and let her run till her little tongue hangs out...and she quits...but she just wants to bite....
We have no kennel....so someone suggested to get her lease and put it to a heavy piece of furniture....we started doing that....so will see how that works...but so far, when she gets loose she just wants to bite more....
I wish the lady at the pound would have told us this kind of dog was so active...but she didn't...
She will be spayed at the end of this month....you think that will calm her down....
Please help with some advise if you can.....thanks.....

 

i am no expert (i have enough problems with my puppy, lol) but from what you are saying it sounds like you have a very dominant puppy on your hands. She is trying to 'rule' or become the alpha of your household. You need to make it clear that these types of behavior are not acceptable, but DO NOT act scared or intimidated by the dog or she will rule the house. Go and get a behaviorist to come in for $35/hr and they will show you the NILIF method and some other things.

 

Samsintentions should jump in here when she sees this, because she has this kind of dog.

It was VERY irresponsible of the shelter for not warning you how ACD's can behave. It never hurts to do your own research before adopting a dog as well. That being said, we did the same thing, LOL.

Our pup (border collie mix) acted much the same way yours does, and she still does sometimes at 1 year old. She is VERY active and gets overstimulated very easily, and then she goes berserk and is very hard to calm down. She used to rip our clothing when she was a pup by leaping up and hanging off of it. Not fun. It's even less fun when her currently 45-pound body is hurled at the heads of visitors.

I don't think it's a matter of an aggressive dog as much as it a herding dog - they are very independent dogs and use their mouths to get what they want. They also have boundless energy. A behaviorist is not a bad idea, but it can be tricky to find one that uses positive methods. I'm definitely not into bullying dogs and with herding dogs it usually doesn't work anyway. If you do find one, try to find one familiar with working with ACD's in particular.

I tried many things to get our pup to stop nipping, with varied success. The "yelp like a puppy" technique did nothing. Ignoring her was not an option as we would have been bloody ribbons by the time she decided to quit on her own.

I had some success with holding her muzzle shut and firmly telling her "No!" (in a calm, low voice) while looking directly in her eyes with a menacing look on my face. I would hold her muzzle until she relaxed and sighed, and then let go. I sometimes would have to do this over and over. Also, don't "bark" your commands - use a low voice and draw the word out a bit - "Noooo" - and try to keep the anger out of your voice.

The very first thing I had to do was to NOT be afraid of her. I used to think she was being aggressive and she scared me, even though she was little! Once I realized it was herding behavior and began to think of her as a spoiled toddler trying to get her own way, my attitude changed and I could be more effective in stopping the problem. Dogs know when you are afraid and they WILL take advantage of it!

We also tried "time outs" where we would put her in a crate or outside for a minute or two in hopes she would settle down. I didn't find that it worked very well, although sometimes it gave ME a needed break so I could deal with her more calmly when she was let out. You do NOT want to get angry to the point of yelling at the dog (or worse) - this doesn't help at all.

We have also tried tethering her to a heavy chair - we have trouble with this because she will chew the leash off in a matter of seconds. It seemed to be helping somewhat in our cat-chasing problems, but it takes a long time. The method I was using was totally ignoring her until she decided to lie down, and then I untied her. If she went right back to being wild, I immediately tied her again. We stopped too soon to tell if it was truly going to be effective or not.

If she won't chew it off, have her drag a leash at all times (but make sure you ALWAYS are with her supervising - take the leash off if you can't watch her). With the leash dragging, you can grab her more easily when she gets out of control. Stepping on the leash is a good way to keep "four on the floor" and stop her from jumping around like a demented bunny rabbit. Just stand on the leash and look at the sky. When she finally settles down, pretend to notice her all of a sudden and praise her and treat her. Make sure you do it in a controlled way, however, or you will rile her up again.

Try working on some long downs, if you can. I was told by another poster to put the dog in a down and step on the leash so she CAN'T get up. Work up to 15-30 minutes per day.

Spaying is not going to help. Don't even hope for it. It won't make a bit of difference.

As for tiring her out, it sounds like you have the right idea. Play ball, get her to run around, etc. Teach her obedience and tricks - mental exercise is supposed to tire dogs out more than physical exercise. Play games like hide-n-seek. You might look into some dog sports such as agility, but be aware that your pup should NOT be jumping over agility obstacles until she is older. Cattle dogs will GO GO GO all day long. They are VERY hard to tire out for any length of time. We have had the most success with this by getting a second dog so that they can play together - of course, this opens up brand new cans of worms that we are now dealing with.


Jamiya

 

I raise cattle dogs. ACD's. She's biting due to her VERY strong instinct to nip and herd.

ITs very important to start training your cattle dogs at a very early age! Mine start at 4 weeks.
Basic obediance is the key. Also the NILIF training.

Since the problem is already setting a pattern, start this little trick. NEVER allow her to walk behind you! That only aggrivates the situation and encourages her to bite! Cattle dogs go for heels. HInce the name Heelers!
Make her heel to your side, Her shoulders at your legs.
IF your playing with her and she bites, Yell loudly, and step away from her. Isolate her in a secluded room with no toys or friends and where she cant see you or anyone else. ONly punish for a maximum of 10 minutes. You need to do this Imediately after every bite. SHe should get the hint.

Holding the roof of the mouth, pinching the ear, all those tactics are good for other breeds, but for the ACD's it only encourages them to do it more.

When playing with her, stop before she gets rough or acts as if she's going to nip. Make her sit, and do a trick before you proceed. She's trying to take the alpha position, and use her instincts of biting to guide you where she wants to go, and have the control over you.

 

I don't have an ACD but I found both Jamiyas and sams posts so interesting. We have been doing the holding the muzzle thing with Sarge and the ignoring thing and they have both been working, but it has been really important for us to verbalize whatever we are teaching him, like holding his muzzle and saying no biting (in the long drawn out calm tone Jamiya posted about). Now, if he starts biting, I only hold my hand away from him and turn my back on hm and say no biting and he stops immediately. Until the next time :lol: I love ACDs and I really wanted them, but i knew about their energy level, personality type and knew it would not work for me at this stage of my life. But, someday!

 

he biter is usually an animal who is aggressive. Some of these dogs are quite neurotic ansd anything that moves in front of them - they will go after. It's almost like a game to them- like attacking an enemy. As The dog usually has his reasons for biting, we should attempt to get to the root of the problem and try to correct it. In most communities a dog is allowed three bites and aftwer the third one is condemned to death. '
The bad habit is sometimes brought about by excessive roughness when playing as a puppy. Some people do play too roughly with their puppies.- teasing them with their hands and feet. As the dog gets older-his teeth larger and his jaws stronger- this playbecomes more dangerious.
Biting should be corrected in the early stages before it's deeply ingained in the dog's mind. Obedience training is helpfulin that the dog will learn to follow your commands. The punishmment for biting should be a sharp slap across the muzzle to show him that his mouth and the biting are what you are displeased with. Use a newspaper to slap him. Biting is a reprehensible habit and should be delt with promply and sternly.
Castration will slow down extremely aggressive male dogs.
although their motives foir biting may not entirely bew sexual, the operation takes away some of the male aggressiveness and they clam dsown to a walk. But castration will not help the neurotic dog who bites because he panicked.
It is sometimes necessary to resort to a muzzle.

 

Ok. I don't know whre you got your information from, but to put it as kindly as I can, ITS CRAP! For one, biting does not always mean the dog is agressive. Some dogs are much mouthier than others.
ACD's are herding dogs. ITs bred into them to nip to manuver thier "herds" ITs not meant in an agressive or a negative behavioralistic way. ITs what they are BRED FOR>

That being said, my next problem:

You said, "they should be slapped in the muzzle."
If the dog bites, you slap at it, whats it going to do? Get pissed off and bite you back. DUH> And cause a severe case of head shyness. Thats also called ABUSE.

Slapping or hitting will do nothing but provoke the matter further.

Holding the muzzle, firm "NO!"'s and ignoring them is the best alternative.

Your method only confirms the ignorance of knowledge that (sadly) most unexperianced owners have.

I agree that obediance training, by a LICENCED trainer, with the owner present and being trained as well.

 

I totally agree with Sam on this one. Never use negative tactics when trying to correct an unacceptable behavior from a pup such as muzzeling and hitting them with any object. Any good trainer will tell you to praise for a good deed, not punish for a bad deed.

I have two Pit Bulls and the first thing I trained in them was not to use their teeth to "hurt" us and each other. Whenever they start playing too hard I would tell firmly, NO BITE, KISSES! And then I would reward them with lots of praise and a belly rub. Now I can put my fingers in their mouths and they would never bite down. They take food out of my hand and are very gentle.

I also monitor their playing and don't allow play biting, either. Also when I spayed and neutered my dogs it didn't change their personalities one bit. So One can't expect this to change a dog that has a bad habit. Only working and training the dog with possitivity will result in possitive behavior.

 

:lol: Thanks for all the input....I made an copy of these to keep and let my husband read....now another topic.....got to learn somewhere...
Sam...what is good to stop her from jumping up on the counters when I am cooking.....and washing dishes.....she is constanley after my dishtowel....going to try the time out room, somewhere....will have to fix one...maybe bathroom...or on back porch....where she can't get into her lot, shut that off, and shut her door off to come back inside...just leave her on porch for 10 min at a time....she will be out there all day..she is like a angel at night time...she sleeps all night....except when she has to go pee, and she will not go outside herself...she will wake up my husband..no matter what time...I go with her and she will not go...and in the mornings after she has gotten both of us up, she will go get in my chair and go back to sleep, or whine till I come sit in it and drank my second cup of coffee and hold her...she will sleep again, she gets going after lunch...and if my husband or myself is gone, you don't know she is in the house...she only acts like this when we are both home......but we love her, and are spoiling her rotten....lol..lol...

 

/Sam, sorry It came from a a book Your Dog His health and Happiness by: Louis L. Vines D.V.M. and i've never owned a herding dog . So there for maybe i should of not said anything. was just trying to help. I've also never owned a dog that would bite. Please forgive me for making a mistake.

 

There is a difference between NIPPING and BITING. A herding dog NIPS. It's not aggression, but a behavior that they are bred to do. Granted, those "nips" can hurt a LOT, but it's not like a real bite.

There are all sorts of good articles on bite inhibiton. My favorite is here: http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm

However, these techniques might not work as well on an ACD as they would on a non-herding dog. Then again, they might so it's worth a try.

As far as slapping the dog on the muzzle - someone told me to do that once. Not hard, they said, but just a little "wake up call". LOL!!! Never do this to a herding dog! Guess what a good herding dog does when a sheep (or whatever they are herding) kicks at them? They go even harder at that sheep trying to make it behave!! I did this ONCE - and never again. Nala went nuts lunging at me and nipping at me - it took me forever to calm her down!

So, no. Don't smack a herding dog on the muzzle.

Mypuppy, for the jumping up on the counter thing, I would put a leash on her. If she starts to jump up, stand on the leash and tell her no - or I make the typical Mommy (EH EH) noise and that seems to work better. (I save "no" for the really dangerous things.) Then she can't jump up, but she is still with you. When she stops trying to jump up, move off the leash. Repeat as necessary.

This would also be an EXCELLENT time to practice sits, downs, and stays. If you haven't taught her these things yet, you should!! Gradually increase the amount of time you have her hold each command. Have some treats handy at all times to reinforce - but don't give them every time.

Good luck to you, and keep posting! You're in for a rough journey with this little critter, but it's definitely worth it.


Jamiya