Puppy Agression

[spunkadelic]

My mom's friend (he's like a Grandfather to me) just bought a Parson Russell/Rat terrier mix from my mom's boss. He's had the puppy ("Rascal") for about two weeks and I puppy sit for him on Tuesday's. The guy say's I'm Rascal's Aunt. LOL.

Anyway, today Mom and Charlie (Her friend) went out, so I got to puppysit Rascal. What a little terror. He's only 9 or 10 weeks old now, but he bites, jumps. He's so overconfident it's funny. I've been told that when you have a P.R.T. and play tug of war to never let them win. And when you let him win, he literally 'gloats'. He does this little yip and bites your finger as if to say "hah, I beat you". He will not sit still when you are sitting and if you wear glasses you better be aware and take them off.

He bit my lip today trying to get to my glasses. He's a good walker on the leash - except for he grabs the leash and basically walks himself.

Does anyone know how to get him to stop biting? I've tried several methods that I've been told about. Like, when he has your finger in his mouth to take that finger and the next and squeeze the mouth. The second being to wrap your hand around the mouth. Third flick him in the nose and shout "no!" and none of these work. Charlie and I have both been trying to teach him "release!" with his toys but I swear he must be part pit cause you can't pry his mouth open!

Any ideas?

[cloverfdx]

it is a good age to start on obedience work , simple commands like sit, drop/down, stay, and come are good ones to start off with.

as rascal is a puppy and puppys love to chew you could give rascal some puppy chew toys to play with, and as the tugOwar game you should NEVER let a dog win, by letting a dog win you are pretty much telling them "you are boss" and "you can boss me around" keep working on the "release" command, and help it along by offering rascal a tasty treat and he should give the toy up.

as for the glasses and jumping up at them that is where obedience commands come in handy, like "rascal only gets petted if he sits on command and acts calm (calm enough as a young pup can be ;) )

well i hope that was some help to you and good luck with being and aunty and if you need anymore help just ask :)

[carrie]

You are right to be concerned - what appears to be puppy high spirits can quickly become very unfunny as the dog matures. I always feel the best way to deal with this kind of behaviour is exactly the same way as the rest of a pack of wild canids would deal with it. To forge the strong bonds needed a pup needs to learn the social rules and language of the pack. When a young pup steps over the comfort mark when playing with an adult the adult simply gets up and walks away ignoring all atempts by the pup to re-engage it. The pup quickly learns the accepted way to play and as the pup wants social interaction and play to continue will modify its behaviour in order to prolong periods of play. Play with other pups also teaches self control in a similar way. If a pup bites a play mate too hard or becomes too boistrous the puppy on the receiving end squeals loudly and moves away from the offending puppy, thus stopping the play and interaction that the first puppy wants. In order to keep playmates interested in playing with him the pup must learn to control his play behaviour and his bite. These are vital lessons for any pup to learn when young, if he fails to learn them his future is bleak - other pack members will become less tolerant of his behaviour as he matures and will physically admonish him, eventually causing injury and almost certainly excluding him from the pack altogether. His status within the pack will always be low and he faces an early demise on his own.
When pups are brought up in a human pack it is just as important for them to learn the boundaries of acceptable behaviour - many millions have been abandonded or euthanised because these important stages of development have been missed. Many more owners, especially those with smaller breeds, live an uncomfortable life with an unpredictable animal that they fear.
Your friend and yourself should agree the limits that are acceptable (for myself, biting is unnaceptable as is jumping up, especially when directed at the face) and each and every time, without fail, the limits are broken you get up and walk away from the pup. Use a clock and time at least three minutes AFTER the pup has stopped trying to gain your attention before calling him back to you and praising him calmly for good behaviour. I would not engage in ANY tug of war game with him - you could concentrate on fetching games instead which will also help with recall and "give". Using treats to encourage the pup to give up his toy is a great way to start, if he still refuses to relinquish the toy then get up and walk away, timing as above. If biting occurs squeal really loud as though he has hurt you, get up and walk away - following the timing rule above. It is important to time only after the pup has stopped trying to gain your attention and also to totally ignore the pup until the three minutes are up - ignoring includes no speaking to, looking at or touching the pup. This is easiest done while standing up - go into the kitchen and have a book or magazine ready on the work top to read so that you can keep your back to the pup. This is hard work at first and takes practice but I PROMISE it will work as long as you are rigid in sticking to it - you will be, after all, talking the same language as the dog! Try and find puppy playmates as well as older dogs to help the socialisation.
Good luck

[spunkadelic]

Wow. Those were really good suggestions. I really liked your explanation Carrie. I will have to tell Charlie about that. Mom, Charlie and I have been working on 'sit' with him. He did it twice for me the other day, and once for mom this morning. Charlie came in and told me that he's learning it. I told Charlie about the 'agressive chewer' thing and we agreed that 'Aunty' is going to spoil him rotten and buy him all sorts of neat chew toys to get his mind off the leash and the face!

I really appreciate your advice guys. Thanks!