Advice Please - Dog Dominance

[Scotty77]

Hello all,

New to the forum but having read some of the advice given here i thought i would post my puppy woes to try and find a solution.

I have a 8 1/2 month old x-bread (part Staffie) dog who is becoming a nightmare to live with. The problem is that he constantly wants to be biting hands. The more i try to get him to stop the more excitable and out of controll he gets! He is not biting to draw blood but its certainly more than just mouthing. When trying to stroke the dog he instatly tries to put his mouth around the hands to chew on. He Will bring his bones/toys and sit on my lap but soon tires of the chew to again try and get my hands.

He has always done it since a 6wk old pup and we have tried all we can think off to cure it. We began by High pitched "yippin" to try and signal that it was no longer fun/play. He has been ignored/small timeouts, have tried correcting it by offering other things to chew on, Tapped and water pistoled but nothing will stop him. The waterpistol worked for about a week but after that he just tried to catch the water in his mouth lol.

As i think i mentioned, when he's not getting his own way he does begin to start getting a bit more aggresive and barking and snapping Then its very hard to get him calm again.

He has been to training classes and is a very smart dog but also very head strong. I was advised to Pin him to the floor when this behavour strts to "show who was boss" by the instructor but althogh this calms him down while held to floor he jumps straight back up and carries on like its a game :(

Is this a dominance thing? I try to be pack leader by eating first etc and he dosent gaurd toys, food or bones etc and is generally doing well other than this. Can anyone please suggest anything that may help me to rectify this problem.

Ps. he is still a FuLL male as i did not want to castrate him untill he is a little older as advised by vets/ trainers but would this help to calm him down?

pps. sorry for such a long first time post lol

Thanks,
Scotty

Kato 4months
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w24/s3ventyseven/Kato.jpg

[luvofallhorses]

I think neutering would help A LOT. how old do you plan him to get neutered? we do ours at the shelter where I volunteer as young as 12 weeks depending how healthy they are. btw he's cute! and it sounds like you need to use NILIF (nothing in life is free) with him http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

[Scotty77]

Thanks for your reply Loveofallhorses,

I've been advise to wait untill he was approx 18month before getting him neutered as the hormones apparently play a large part in the growth of the bones and muscles in the dog. Obviously i want the very best for the little guy and his health so id prefere to have an unruly dog for 18months so he can be a healthy dog for the rest of his life. Again this is just what ive been advised by present vet and trainer. In past i have had dogs neutered around the 12 month mark.

I have never heard of NILF but i actually do alot if not all of that already. He is not fed from my plate ( ive made that mistake in past and had a dog that used to whine and beg for food all time we ate), I make sure im the one who enters a room first (to show alpha), he is told to sit while his food is being made and put to floor and then given the command "take" to begin eating. He will sit, down and stay very well and has done from an early age. He knows the word "basket" Or "bed" and will get in but im still working on keeping him in it lol
Also since using a halti with him he has become very good at walks. He is actually better off the lead than on and comes to a recall 99/100 (sometimes playing with other dogs is just too much fun for any dog to come back straight away i guess lol)

He still does try and demand attention and this is one of the places im failing badly with him. He will sit and paw my arm then gets harder and harder the more ignored. As it can become quite painfull i have tried just getting up and walking away from him while still ignoring him but the behaviour continues and he works himself into a frenzy of barking,snapping and jumping up ( same as when he cant have my hand to chew) and he is eventually put on a time out in another room as it is somtimes impossible to any peace with him
Its this routine that i am unable to break. As i mentioned before i have tried all diversions etc i can think off but am not experiened in dog training and am at a complete loss.

...and he looks so cute in his picture dont he lol

[Giselle]

I have a neurotic puppy myself and this all sounds pretty normal. He's a puppy!! Cut him some slack :p He's definitely not trying to gain dominance over you. A puppy this young and well trained (from what you've told us) should know its place in the pack. Every time that he paws or mouths at you, you said he gets more excitable every time you try to stop him. I'm going to assume you probably push him away or give him a "No!". Even though it doesn't seem like it, you're giving him attention/rewarding him for his behavior. In our eyes, it may not be positive or good attention, but it's attention nonetheless.

First thing is first, a tired puppy is a good puppy! I know he's young, so don't take him for a marathon or anything. A simple game of fetch can tire a pup out for a good 3-4 hours. Intermittent games will keep your pup healthy and tired and our of your way. Second, are you absolutely consistent with training? I was going to suggest getting up and walking away from the pup every time he mouths you. Walk into an entirely different room and don't allow him to follow you. He's doing all these behaviors for your attention. So if you ignore him 10 times and give attention even once, his bad behavior will continue. You have to stay absolutely consistent and firm. Be warned, though, your pup may go through an extinction burst, so things might get worse before they get better. Hope that helps!

(Also, don't alpha roll your pup. It's completely outdated and has no positive effect on the dog whatsoever.)

[KittyGurl]

First of all, welcome to Pet Talk. Second, I would get him nuetered around the age of one. He would calm down a lot after getting nuetered. I agree with what Giselle says. When you tire a puppy out they don't bother you. They just sleep. I also heard that when puppies chew and bite, that means they are bored. Play with him more. He would enjoy it and you will be a lot happier without all the biting. Good luck :)

[Seravieve]

Both our Bunny and Eli do this. I used to play with B this way.. not really realizing that this was influencing her aggressive behavior. And then when we got E, he wanted to play that way as well (he's 8 mo old now too).

Since we don't want to encourage that behavior... When either of them does it, I pull my hands up to my chest and give a firm No. A few 'No's will usually stop them.. but if thats not enough, I'll push them down to the floor and onto their back... in a submissive position. Thats usually a good way for them to realize that Im in control and I dont like what they are doing.

About the neutering... We just had Eli done last month.. He hasnt really changed his behavior too much. It has changed the competition between him and Zeke, which is what we were hoping for. Ive always heard that 6 months was a good ago to have that done... Because if they get too old and are still intact, it will be virtually impossible to get them to stop marking and chasing females... We have a friend with a 2 yr old dog that wasnt fixed until recently and thats ALL he does. Has to mark every BLADE of grass at the dog park...