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Rooney

How do you stop your puppy from biting?

My australian shepherd puppy is 9 months old and has grown a lot! At first he was sweet and very shy. Now he's bolder and is biting, more like nipping especially when he gets excited. There are 7 year old triplets across the street and he bit one on the face yesterday. I felt terrible. It wasn't a serious bite and they have a lab who jumps on everyone so it could just as easily been my little guy getting knocked over (not that I'm excusing my dog's loutish behaviour). I (horrors) had him off leash and when the boys see him they yell his name and he starts jumping crazily. He also has started jumping and biting (not hard, just playing) people in the house and I admit it's annoying. How do you stop the biting without making them frightened of you? He's become so willful, not listening anymore like he did earlier. I feel like I failed puppy school!


Asked by Rooney on Jun 15th 2009 Tagged biting, training, commands, kids, children in Behavior & Training
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Guest

Well, if you feel you failed puppy school, then hire a tutor--a trainer. You're dog is a puppy that has no boundries or sense of you being his pack leader. Sounds like your puppy shouldn't be off leash until he understands that there is no jumping on anyone. Your puppy is just doing what puppies do when they don't have rules. You need to be consistent and if you're not, they will take every advantage of your lack of consistency. You need to take time, every single day and work w/the dog on basics. Sit, stay, come, leave it, wait, etc. Pick one command for a walk and while you're walking him, work on it. When I walk my dog, I work on everything, but the thing that I really need when he gets excited is "down". I worked on that for about 3 days and he nails it every time now. Now we're working on "wait". You need to find a good trainer who uses positive methods and take the training seriously. Every day, twice a day take the dog out and work w/him on your walks and be consistent.


Guest 404377 answered on 6/15/09. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Dieta

You didn't fail just need to get back in there and start the training back up again.
Every week make one command at a time the goal. Repeat the exercises over and over throughout the week for 15-20 min at a time. Then put your dog into a crate with water to cool off and think about his lesson. Then after say 45 min. get him out to go outside and relax some.
When it is just fun time then find him a toy to play with. Play with him and then put the toy away up high. Make the play time and the work time totally seperate and keep him on leash to teach him not to jump and do other naughty behaviors. When you get a reaction that is good then that always get a reward. Dogs love to earn pay just like us in a sense, maybe a small handful of chicken for a great goal, and as pay in the beginning tid bits of chicken or ham ect. Keep a record of your goals and accomplishments during the week. I have a note book of routines ect and goals to reach.:) Use food and set goals.


Dieta answered on 6/15/09. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


Guest

We have a 5 month old Aussie dog who bites on the leash on walks, jumps up and bites towards the chest and arms, bites during play or not, and refuses to get any exercise by doing frisbee or catching the ball. He has ripped the clothing of both my husband and myself. This guy was bred for conformation and is a good looking dog but he will be going back to his breeder because although we have tried every trick in the book, even the behaviorist and trainer have said that he's among the worst dogs that they have had ever experienced.

I have three different wounds on my arms which are in various stages of healing, not to mention black and blue marks galore. This is not my first Aussie, but it will be my last. I am done with these guys. This guy is a lawsuit waiting to happen and we aren't waiting for it.

Not all dogs can be fixed and owners shouldn't feel guilty. Sometimes, things just don't work out the way we want them too.


Guest 434347 answered on 6/22/09. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer


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