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Just adopted my first dog last month, he is now 7 months old. He is a shepherd mix. When I get home from work we might play fetch for a little while. A couple hours later he will be inside with me playing with a toy or bone and will come over to me with it to play. If I play with him for a few minutes he will start to snap his jaws at my arm or stomach area. Now he doesnt bite but snaps 5 or 6 times in a row like he is going to bite me even right on my skin. If I push him away he will run back and forth with teeth showing snapping and barking at me. I can grab his face or head without being bit. If I turn around he will do the biting action at my back or feet sometimes pinching me but I spend more time laughing from the pinches then ignoring him. 10 min could go by with this scary looking dog trying to bite me until I calm him down. He has done this outside if I hide his toy and make a chasing action toward him. He will run in circles around me barking and trying to bite me. Im pretty sure he is playing with me but I just want to know if this is normal or is this something im encouraging by playing with him when he wants to or did I bother him with his toy. Now when were inside he is constantly trying to give me his toy so he can tug on it, and outside I hide it behind my back then he starts to be mean. He does not bite me he purposely misses with the occasional pinch because im moving and I can touch him, push him and even grab his face and mouth without no worries about beiing bit. He just looks like a viscous dog when he does it. I think he just wants attention to go outside to play but what do you think?
Both your dog's behavior and the type of play you describe are inappropriate and you should address the situation before the play biting escalates into something more serious. I think by playing with him the way you describe, you are reinforcing behavior that may lead to aggression. It doesn't take much to wind a dog up to a high level of excitement and take it over the line from play biting to real biting, and once that line is crossed it will be harder to extinguish the behavior next time. Too many dogs end up in shelters or in rescue because they started out behaving like your dog does, and soon got out of control to the point where the owners couldn't handle them.
Both of you would benefit from some training. Get him into an obedience class and ensure he learns the basics and the "leave it" command.
You would also benefit from learning appropriate ways to interact with your new dog.
Pups of his age have a high activity level and a need for hard sustained exercise. Fetch is good, but if he snaps, stop immediately and ignore him. Distract him from the nipping behavior by asserting your leadership in a kind and positive way. Teach him to sit, and ask him to do so when he gets too excited, for example. He needs to respect you and that respect is best gained by leading your dog in the direction you want him to go.
Your dog needs to learn the boundaries of appropriate behavior. Pushing him, grabbing his head and teasing him with a toy is not okay in my opinion. Physical aggression breeds aggression.
Please keep in mind that although dogs are highly intelligent, it may be difficult for them to understand why it's okay to snap and bite at you but not okay to do the same thing to the neighbor's 5 year old.
Please check with your local shelter/SPCA or ask your vet to recommend a training class in your area.
I agree w/ what they say but I thin your explanation paints a harsher pic then it is.
Your puppy sounds like it's getting major zoomies!
After playing fetch walk w/ pup to get the rest of his energy out. You are gone all day so when you get home he needs some major attention. He needs to be exercised more he's trying to get his energy out!!! .....play fetch until he stops bringing the ball back and while he's content take him for a walk so when the zoomie time comes he's to tired to be a wild man(or dog). Zoomies are also major excitement releases. Cody gets them at night sometimes ...we don't mind them and encourage them BUT the minute he gets wild he's put in a down and the game is changed. Ohhhh and you putting the dog in a down or changing the game makes you the boss. play calm games when he's to excited ....if your playing tug up and down motion is more relaxed then side to side. Hide n seek is better then tag(also teaches good downs) and with that dog I would never chase him but let him chase you.
Oh how much we learned in our first obedience class many years ago. Things we thought we were doing right...but we were doing wrong for our dog (and actually causing more confusion for our dog...sending mixed messages, etc.). If you love your dog (as I am sure you do)...you will invest the money and the time in obedience training. I guarantee you, your family/friends and your dog will be so thankful for doing this!
As what others have said, something that is cute as a puppy becomes a nuisance as an adult. I think it's normal play for a pup, but if it continues, you may have problems later. One thing I've done with pups is to feint serious injury when it happens. Give a loud "OWW!", while holding the injured hand, followed by a "no bite" command. Stop the activity and ignore the dog for a period. Most dogs will realize they crossed the line and will seek your forgiveness. Go ahead and praise him once he's calmed down, but keep it low key so he doesn't get overly excited again.
There are a few ways you can deal with this behavior. Our dogs are very sensitive to being scolded, so if we let out a certain sound, they know that what they've done is wrong. After that, you need to walk away from the dog. Continuing to play with the dog is likely telling them that what they are doing is okay. You must stop playing with them when they perform a negative behavior. Tiring them out beforehand will diminish negative behavior as well!
hi mwebster! i love puppies, even if they can be wicked little beasts sometimes...i know mine was!
my first question is: have you had your puppy neutered yet?
my shih tzu demonstrated behaviors very similar to what you are describing with your shepherd mix when he was a puppy. i had read many puppy and dog training books, but nothing prepared me for the fact that i got a dominant, alpha male who was a bite-y little boy.
he would approach and nip in play, and nothing i tried to do (including ignoring him, yelling at him, re-directing him to other activity, or putting him in the doggy equivalent of "time out") worked. if i even sat on the floor near him, he would leap on me in play because i was his pack playmate, not the alpha female. this puppy shredded my arms with his naughty little white needle-teeth.
i did a lot of things wrong (like playing tug-of-war, hiding toys behind my back, and getting physical with him in return like trying to hold his mouth closed...turns out these are things you NEVER do with a dominant personality dog) before i finally realized the solution:
1. you must neuter these dogs who show at a young age a tendency toward dominance.
2. you have to exercise these dogs (and by exercise i mean walk/run them) until they are too tired to argue.
3. personalized obedience classes will work wonders because you need a trainer who can focus on the main problem, which is that your dog thinks he's the alpha.
i would normally agree with the other posters' advice, but i don't think it will work with a puppy who is dominant personality and thinks he is the alpha. if he does think he's the alpha, he will continue to try to bite you if you ignore him, he won't care about a scolding sound or a sound of injury, and he won't go into or stay in the down position. (the exception would be leorah; i think she (he?) was right on the money.)
(i do think the others' advice is great advice if it turns out your puppy is just being a regular puppy and isn't showing signs of a dominant personality!)
really, the very best thing i did to stop the biteys was to get my dog neutered. the vet explained the resulting drop in testerone would change my dog's personality and it did! he mellowed right out.
and, then, of course i worked with a trainer to learn how to manage a dominant-personality dog so he no longer ran my house.
It truly frightens me that you say in your post that your dog "looks vicious" when he's playing with you. That statement shows that you have no experience at all with dogs and don't have the first clue about how to care for a dog. Are you afraid of dogs?
Training a puppy is similar to working with a 2 year old child. You have to be the boss of a two year old who is screaming "no", don't you??? The same is true with your dog - who is screaming "no" when he's behaving like that.
I've been in training classes with other first time dog owners who didn't understand that all dogs have to be trained. Dogs are not "plug and play". You don't just bring them home and expect them to be perfect companions. It takes time and committment. Almost all Humane Societies offer training classes for lower rates. You will be in a group with other dogs and dog owners. You can ask questions. It's fun for both you and your dog!
All puppies are "mouthy". That is normal play behavior. But, being sassy is disobedience. Please get training NOW. You have to be the boss - always. And, you can teach him the right way to behave through proper play and humane training methods.
If you allow this behavior to continue, and someone is bitten... or even scratched... even if your dog is "just playing", your puppy could lose his life because that is what the dog laws are in many places.
If you love your dog, you have to protect him. Training is part of that.
one more thing - Neutering a dog is not a magic pill. There is no substitute for training and exercise!
Last edited by World Citizen; 05-24-2008 at 10:37 AM..
i thought you had an insightful post in general (although i didn't get the feeling that the op was afraid of the dog since he/she mentioned laughing at the nipping)...however i do want to respond to one of your comments.
i am the poster who suggested neutering, and at no time did i say neutering was a "magic pill." nor did i suggest that it was a "sustitute for training and exercise."
if you had read my whole post, you would have seen that neutering was one of three suggestions (the other two being exercise and OBEDIENCE TRAINING).
nevertheless, i stand by what i said, you DO need to get a dog inclined toward an alpha, dominant personality neutered. the resulting drop in testerone will help greatly with the dominance issues.
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