Crate training. UPDATE: Biting and growling in nonplayful way. pg 4

[sgtmom52]

It is very important to teach her what is Ok to chew on (her toys) and what is not (wires, shoes etc) as dogs can be electrocuted chewing on wires. You can use Bitter Apple on items you don't want her to chew on ~ does not work for all dogs (a select few even like it). You could also try using hot sauce.

Please consider microchipping her ~ the newer chips are very safe and is the best way to safeguard her if she is lost or stolen. Most microchips have a one time registration fee, some such as Home Alone (which I have) offer a yearly upgrade but it is not required. I have all my dogs microchipped ~ it only takes seconds to do and in PA you can purchase a lifetime dog license if they are chipped. Tattooing is also an option however I have German Shepherds and I know that if they were lost Animal control would sweep them for a chip but doubt they would turn them over and look at the inside of their back leg for a tattoo and ear tattoos tend to fade with time.

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
and how exactly do you do that?

Bite inhibition is normally taught by the siblings of the puppy in the litter. It's one of the most important things a dog learns before 8 weeks of age and is one of the main reasons you shouldn't ever buy or adopt a puppy prior to 7 or 8 weeks old. The siblings teach the puppy how hard it can bite. If the pup bites too hard the other pup will scream and the play ends. The puppy eventually lears how hard it can bite and still have the fun times roll.

You can do the same thing with your puppy. Scream loudly and sharply and end a play session if your pup bites you. The issue here is allowing bites and how hard. I am in the middle of this. I think some mouthing during play is ok **at first** to allow YOU to learn how to do the scream and end the play session immediately. I also think that this lesson needs to be within the first four to five days after the puppy shows you his/her true personality and then there after it is NOT appropriate for the puppy to put his/her teeth on you at any time.

So the first few times the puppy mouths you is to teach you timing of your scream and disengagement of your play time. After a few of these the pup will start getting the message and you can, with in a couple days, be completely intolerant of any mouthing behavior.

Probably a little late at my pups age since she is kinda past the biting to hard stage and knows now what I mean by saying that?

 

[reveriereptile]

I'll ask the vet about microchipping when I take her in. When I go to the store I'll look for the apple bitter. I want to use something on her crate cause the other day she got her mouth stuck on it. I'm going to get a can with pennies to use for a noise maker for when she is chewing on something she shouldn't to add to the "No!" to get her attention faster for items I don't spray. She did really good yesterday evening and during the night. She fell asleep out in her outside pen with the sun shining and a slight wind blowing. Then during the night she didn't hardly whine at all even with someone walking up the stairs which usually gets her going. I think since I'm not babying her as much she is getting a little more independant and isn't relying on me to be around her 24/7 for her to fall asleep. I started wearing her out and then put her either in her crate or if it isn't to hot then in her outside pen for a nap. I've frozen a water bottle for her also to lean against incase it gets hotter. I know they can't tolerate 80+ degrees. She is starting to go up to more people than just sticking beside me since my husband has been playing with her at night. I wish my MILs pekingese would get along with her instead of trying to bite her face. She would love to play with her. My SIL brought her dogs over and she loved playing with one of them.

 

[SillyChicken]

sounds like your on the right track! Good job!

 

[reveriereptile]

My puppy was being bad today. I took her out in the morning to her pen since it was sunny but was just the perfect temp. I brought her back in later and she wanted to be on my lap but at that point it was hotter and the living room doesn't have a/c. So I get her playing with her toys and then she gets doing laps and stops in mid lap to start peeing on foot from me cause I was trying to pick her up. My FIL says "NO!" and claps while I grab her to take her out. I wait a while and she pees and poops and wait longer just incase. I bring her back in and she starts being bad. She keeps chewing on stuff she shouldn't and then she bit ahold of my shoe lace and wouldn't let go. While trying to get that out of her mouth she bites my finger and doesn't let go but luckily my finger was near her little teeth. That is a very bad habit for her to start. I get the can with coins out and use it whenever she got chewing on stuff she shouldn't. She then goes on another run and stops to pee again. She did it only 7 minutes after the first time. Hopefully I find some apple bitter at the store later and maybe order some spray that can be sprayed in areas of the house you don't want the dog to go. Suppose to stink to a dog. I'd like to spray that around under the desks that have cords and other areas if it works. Also during the night she tried whining again right at bedtime but luckily she had a reason that she pooped in her crate. She usually holds the poop till taken out. Saying "Ouch!" and stop play hasn't been working to good since yesterday. She just ignores you saying it.

 

[reveriereptile]

I'm having a hard time with getting my puppy to stop biting. My husband was holding her last night and she bit him during play. Then my SIL was over and she was sitting in a desk chair and was reaching down over the side to pet the puppy and the puppy jumped up and bit her elbow as hard as she could. Today she found where one of the dogs got sick on the carpet that we didn't know about and ran over to eat it. We picked her up and she kept trying to get back to the spot and was trying to turn and bite our hands and arms. I cleaned the spot up and sprayed some no-bite spray on the spot and she kept licking the carpet like it wasn't there. I had her out later in the yard to walk her around to wear her out and for potty. She kept running up even if I was standing still and biteing my ankles. She even tries to bite my hands if I have them tucked under my leg by digging for them. This behavior needs to be controlled before someone or child gets hurt. We have not hit her since I know that can sometimes cause more problems.

Here is a list of what I've tried so far to control this habit. We've told everyone who has handled her to do these things which they have.

1. Say "Ouch!" or "No!" real loud when she bites to hard and discontinue play.

2. Say "Ouch!" or "No!" real loud and clap my hands at the same time and discontinue play.

3. Did the above two steps but put her in her crate for a few minutes.

4. Did the second step but instead of clapping I shook a can of coins. Worked for a bit but not to well anymore.

5. Bought some Fooey no-bite spray. She didn't mind the spray however my husband and cousin-in-law said it tasted awful and spent a half hour trying to rid their mouthes of the taste. They had to try it.

I may try another type of spray method that might taste different.

6. Tried offering one of her favorite toys to bite or chew after attempting to tell her no. She has plenty of toys of different kinds also to choose from.

7. No playing tug of war or wrestling to avoid incouraging her to bite.

I haven't tried spraying her with water when she bites since I didn't think it would work cause she doesn't mind water at all. So I'm running out of stuff to try. She gets excerise and we have a large 12'X12' outdoor pen with shade for her when it is nice out for her to be in when we have to leave for a while. My FIL is around to check on her during that time. I'd rather have her in it than in the crate when we are gone just cause there is room for her to run and play. She also goes on short walks and likes to play chase around the yard. I'd really appericate any tips.

 

[reveriereptile]

The puppy has gotten another new bad habit today. She kept going under a desk and pulling out stuff. So I get down and start cleaning up some stuff under it and find a large dog bone biskit under some papers. Must of been there from one of the other dogs hiding it. Well she sees it as I'm pulling it out and I hand her to my husband to hold while I finish up cleaning under the desk. While he is holding her she is wanting down real bad and then she starts to growl but not in a playful way and starts to try to bite. My husband yells at her to get her attention and to get her to stop but she kept doing it. He held her and made her sit there till she fell asleep cause he wasn't going to let her have her way of putting her on the floor when she was acting like that. Yesterday night my MIL gently pushed her from a spot with her foot cause she thought she was eating something and my MIL can't bend down to good. She wanted to check before yelling for me to come in to get it out and she growled at her over a piece of paper. I know the breed can have some food aggression problems. When I feed her I put my hands in her bowl and pet her all over even on her face with no problem. However if she finds a small piece of candy wrapper up under something that we didn't see and take it from her she tries to bite. I may email the people we bought her from and ask about the biteing and growling to see what they say cause all three of their dogs are very friendly and around small children. They did have a couple relatives buy a puppy from them and maybe I can find out if they had any of those problems with the one they picked. I'm worried that I'm going to end up with an aggressive dog. I've never had the problem before with any puppies I've been around, that relatives have owned, or the ones I helped my SIL raise when her dog had litters.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
OT (sorry) Ah gee, why not? Our animal control officer (I call him dog boy) won't even approach our fence if Jax is in the yard. Dog Boy hasn't met Kane the monster dog yet.

Jax and Kane are both microchipped, for all the reasons sgtmom stated. My Charlie Girl was tattoed. She came from a shelter in Buncombe County, NC and it's common practice there for all the cats and dogs going through the spay/neuter clinic to be tattoed. When I took her to be spayed after adopting her they found the tatt from her spay surgery, saving her another trip under anesthesia.
So I like both, the microchipping and the tattoing.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

I have read your posts with interest. I have a few suggestions for you.

First thing is her breed. You have a bulldog!! She acts like a bulldog, strong willed, thinking, and self assured in everything she does. You can consider her temperament an asset or a fault depending on how you choose to look at it. I hope you will take it as an asset, decide to trainer her accordingly and do right by her. Did you know that bulldogs were so strong willed? Did you do research on temperament before you got her? She is going to be a challenge and you are just seeing it now.

Second is you said she has an exercise pen, 12 x 12. That isn't enough by a long shot. Just because you put her in the pen and she goes potty and wants out doesn't mean, by any means, that she is tired and has had her fill of exercise. Dogs usually do NOT exercise themselves without motivation. Sticking her out in a pen is no motivation. You need to start walking her and working on OBEDIENCE right now with her. Work her mind and body. Think she is too young? No way!! Start teaching her to sit, down, come, stay, wait, shake paws, turn in a circle, wait for her food, catch a ball --- anything that works her mind, just get to it and quickly. Walk her a couple times a day, don't allow her to pull you around and make walks just another obedience lesson, make it fun but also don't let her get away with anything. Show her now what you expect of her. Take her to obedience class as soon as she is old enough (sometimes between 12-16 weeks old).

Have you spoken with her breeder since you got her? I read that your breeder seems to be a good one. Call them. Talk to them about your concerns and ask for training advice. They should be a wealth of information for you. Your breeder should have known how strong her temperament was and should have been able to tell you what to expect out of her temperament. Ask them about what they saw and what you should be doing or changing with her up-bringing.

How do you control her when she is inside? Sounds like she has too much freedom. Put a collar on her and leave a short leash on her so you can control where she goes and what she does. Leash-drag does a lot of good for a nosey bratty puppy LOL. Instead of having to physically touch her to remove her from a situation, just pick up the leash and move her. It is less direct confict and teaches her to respect the leash and voice commands. It keeps you from her teeth if she so chooses to "correct" you. (she corrected you when you removed her from her dog vomit snack, that is why she started biting. she was telling you to let her do what she wanted.)

I hope these suggestions help you. Remember a tired puppy is less stress for you than a bored puppy. Teach her things and exercise her brain and body. Teach her to look to you for direction now or have a struggle with it later.

 

[Brindlebtch]

I agree with everything Jaime said.

I would only add that, because of the breed I have, which is a cousin to your breed, I do not tolerate any teeth on me ever. Period. When a puppy bites I immediately correct it by rolling its upper lips over its upper teeth and squeezing to pinch the lips against the teeth. Sometimes this can become very confrontational, but I will persist with the corrections until the dog stops the behavior. Sometimes I actually use this correction to take their mouth off me. Sometimes I have to squeeze pretty darn hard. You have to be quick, persistent, consistent, and hard headed, but it really works.

Then get a toy and play with the toy. Don't play hand games, only use toys. Hands and other bits of human anatomy are NOT toys, ever. And dogs CAN tell when they have hold of a toy or a hand. If you are playing with a toy and the dog grabs your hand, correct it IMMEDIATELY with the lip roll. It is a dominance maneuver on the dog's part - it is trying to make you let go and take possession of the toy.
The pup might pout a little but it will get over it. It needs to learn it's place in the pack - low man ton the totem pole!

This puppy sounds like it would like to be dominant. Now is the time to get the little darling firmly under control. Obedience obedience obedience. Start now!

I have found the best way with my dogs is to train them like crazy the first year and have them firmly under your thumb and don't let them get away with much of anything undesirable. That is good groundwork. After that you can loosen up a little, but the first year is the most important as far as civilising and establishing a life long-relationsip with your dog.

I realize this sounds harsh and people are probably going to freak, but I have raised, trained and loved several hard headed dominant dogs - one of which would have almost certainly have been put down, like
the rest of her litter, had she been owned by someone else. She went on to get several titles and her championship.