Hank's Behavior, can it be changed with a lot of work?

So, Hank is a wonderful dog, but he has one problem. I don't trust him around new people, kids, or dogs. He is very territorial. He has his 'spot' in the house, but he doesn't give any of us attitude about it. One big, big, big issue. He bites people, WITH no warning. We can't figure out what provokes him to bite/nip someone. So far, he's done it 5 times. It's only to our family friends or family. He's NEVER did it to me. He did it to my mom, my brother's girlfriend, my cousin's ex-girlfriend, my mom's friend's daughter, and my brother's friend who is also a girl. So I'm seeing some kind of a trend here - they're all women. What's up with that? As I do remember, each incident, there was absolutely none of the "IN your face" by Hank. Just about a week ago, he bit my mom's friend's daughter for no reason. She was sitting by him and she was leaning over to get her purse, then that's when it happened. He nipped her on the cheek! I got a text message about what happened and it just has been bothering me.

We've NEVER had a dog like him before. He is certainly quite a handful. We love him, but he frustrates us to no ends to where we am at the point that we know if he doesn't get any better, we may have to re-home him. We don't even want to think about it. Like I said, we never had to deal with this stuff with our first three dogs - Benny, Anna, and Rosie. I'll tell you one thing though, HE knows not to do it with four/five people - Me, Mike, my dad, and my two brothers.

By the way, he's going to the vet this week to get a physical checkup, etc. He's due for one. He's been gaining WEIGHT and we walk him, play with him, and he only eats half a cup a day. He doesn't even eat a lot at all. It's strange, so we want to see why he's gaining quite a bit for a dog his size. He shouldn't be chubby at two, almost three ( in August ) years old. He's a Beagle/Boston Terrier if anyone asks about what kind he is. Is it the terrier trait or something?

So, any advice, ideas, would be great. We're open to it. We want to make it work with Hank. He isn't going anywhere, obviously. We know that no one wants a snippy dog.

Yes, it can be changed with work. Absolutely. You might consult a behaviorist, if you can find one nearby, and check his or her references, okay?

Have your vet check his thyroid, sometimes when the thyroid is off it can affect temperament. This kind of dog requires a lot of management, it is not easy to live with and my hat is off to you for giving it a go. I had a young JRT that was human aggressive, he would give no warning, just lunge and grab and saw children as prey and would scream when ever he saw a small child. The breeder told me to put the dog down, so I did, it was a tough decision but once he was gone I realized how stressful he made life for not just me but my 2 other dogs. He offered me another dog but I decided to get another breed, that was when I got Huck. Some dogs are just wired tight and no amount of training is going to change that and no amount of training is going to make them trust worthy either. Good luck to you.

Has he left a mark or made them bleed with any of the bites? When grooming dogs some will nip but its a lot different when they are just nipping or they are intending to make you bleed. It's one thing to nip (which isn't okay either of course) but its another thing when they are really trying to injure you.

Amy, thankfully no. Never bit enough to break the skin, but left a mark. I don't think he's doing it intentionally to injure someone. It's just the reason of WHY he is doing that. WHY he does it without any warning. He is a good dog, but we need to get this issue fixed as soon as possible. I just do not trust him 100%, even though he's never tried anything with me. He knows better not to. I will have the vet to check his thyroid as well.

What breed is Hank? Could this be a case of herding dog energy? If he has not broken skin and he is doing it randomly, could he just need more exercise and mental stimulation?

He's a Beagle/Boston Terrier mix. He gets plenty of exercises. I walk him everyday, including my mom walking him 3 miles a day with her workout routines. He has enough toys to play with, he has a bone or two lying around. He'll chew when he wants to, he'll play when he wants to. He has balls that he'll play with, he has a kong that he likes to play with. He's a smart boy, I know that. He knows the kong is used for peanut butter and it's only for good behavior, though!

When he is nips at these people are they running, moving fast, are they afraid of him? When he does this I would take him, by the collar and put him in a time out in his crate. After 5 minutes take him back out and if he gets excited to see them and he starts mouthing them again, back in the crate for time out again. Do not give any emotion, or words to him, have his crate in the room and as soon as you see the signs he is over his threshhold, in the crate he goes for a time out.Without seeing him in action tt does not sound like aggression to me, just over stimulated and he gets mouthy but you are right in addressing it because it could lead to a bite. Also you may find helpful the book called Control Unleashed, you can get it at Amazon.com or Cleanrun.com. It is ideal for a dog like him that needs to learn some self control. There are some games they teach in it that would be very helpful.

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Originally Posted by CountryWolf07

Amy, thankfully no. Never bit enough to break the skin, but left a mark. I don't think he's doing it intentionally to injure someone. It's just the reason of WHY he is doing that. WHY he does it without any warning.

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This is VERY important. He KNOWS bite inhibition. If you decide to find a trainer to help w/ this, be SURE to include this in the initial presentation (which you did not do in the OP of this thread). It is CRITICAL, as some won't work w/ a dog that does bite.

Dogs don't have hands. If a human does something the dog doesn't like, they can't reach up and push the human away. Dogs use the mouth for this purpose.

It "could" be as easy as, these people are invading "his" space. We all have an area around us we don"t want folks to enter. This is why if you are talking to a person face to face and get too close, they take a step back, or to the side. Every person has a different idea of how close is too close; and every dog does, as well.

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She was sitting by him and she was leaning over to get her purse, . . . .

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She leaned over HIM? Or across or in front of HIM?

With what you DO know about each incident, does this apply?

Just standing there or sitting, actually. No motion here. That's what we have been doing for a while, put him in crate as punishment/time out. After that, we let him out, and he is fine. He actually becomes a good dog from on after whatever incident. He is a mouthy dog. Always been. Since he was 8 weeks old, my dad would allow him to play/chew on his hands, I often told him not to let him and just train him not to bite/mouth whenever he wants. Unfortunately, he still does that. And he's two years old, hasn't grown out of it, so I think it's a bad habit of his.. Great advice for the book, I will look it up later. Appreciate it!

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Originally Posted by menmy3dogs

When he is nips at these people are they running, moving fast, are they afraid of him? When he does this I would take him, by the collar and put him in a time out in his crate. After 5 minutes take him back out and if he gets excited to see them and he starts mouthing them again, back in the crate for time out again. Do not give any emotion, or words to him, have his crate in the room and as soon as you see the signs he is over his threshhold, in the crate he goes for a time out.Without seeing him in action tt does not sound like aggression to me, just over stimulated and he gets mouthy but you are right in addressing it because it could lead to a bite. Also you may find helpful the book called Control Unleashed, you can get it at Amazon.com or Cleanrun.com. It is ideal for a dog like him that needs to learn some self control. There are some games they teach in it that would be very helpful.

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It sounds like that's the problem. He does try to control things his way. Food. Play. Sleep. Go outside. Come inside. HIS way. We've been working on him with that.

I am starting to think, it has to do something with personal space. I found out that with the daughter, she was sitting and Hank was on top of the couch, just sitting, and she shifted to her side to reach over to get her purse on the floor, and for some reason, he just nipped her on the cheek. Everyone was just, "What just happened?" and we put him in the crate for rest of the time while she and her mom was here.

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Originally Posted by Freedom

This is VERY important. He KNOWS bite inhibition. If you decide to find a trainer to help w/ this, be SURE to include this in the initial presentation (which you did not do in the OP of this thread). It is CRITICAL, as some won't work w/ a dog that does bite.

Dogs don't have hands. If a human does something the dog doesn't like, they can't reach up and push the human away. Dogs use the mouth for this purpose.

It "could" be as easy as, these people are invading "his" space. We all have an area around us we don"t want folks to enter. This is why if you are talking to a person face to face and get too close, they take a step back, or to the side. Every person has a different idea of how close is too close; and every dog does, as well.



She leaned over HIM? Or across or in front of HIM?

With what you DO know about each incident, does this apply?

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