Dog Community

Help for my Mom's pup (biting)

Posted : 6/27/2011 9:19:55 PM

I am asking this for my mom. She has a 7 month old cockapoo. She purchased the dog at 7 weeks. Please understand I spent a lot of time talking to her about purchasing a dog that young, from a “backyard breeder”, but in the end it was her decision. She has worked very hard with her pup, doing clicker training, socializing, obedience classes etc. She was very excited to learn how to train a dog in a way that did not involve hitting with newpapers or asserting your dominance over the dog. She and my Dad do NILIF, lots of exercise and feed the dog dinner piece by piece, to do training and bonding. Yes

They just drove cross country (from WA to AZ) to their new, retirement home. Dog did great on the drive. The issue is, she has shown aggression 2x now. The first time (pre-move), my mom was holding her; the dog grabbed a piece of foam packing material, my mom reached to get it from her, and the dog growled. Then, just this weekend (post-move), the dog went for a piece of foam packing material again, my mom went to get it, the dog growled and bit her (all within the same 2 seconds). The dog did not break the skin. My mom yelled, put her in the hallway, and walked away. The dog does have a good command of “leave it”, “drop it”, but the commands were not used in these situations. My mom is going to step up the NILIF, and work very hard to get the routine going in the house again. The dog will get back into obedience in the next month or so. What else can she do? What else should she do? I understand the answer don’t reach for things in the dogs mouth, but that isn’t a long term solution, with a dog that is always trying to mouth everything on the ground. With a dog this young, I would like to hope there is something that can be done to break this habit. Thank you!

Sorry for the lack of paragraphs, I can't figure out how to make them appear! Embarrassed

spiritdogs

Posted : 6/27/2011 9:27:00 PM

This behavior sounds like "resource guarding" and there is a very good protocol for dealing with it. Jean Donaldson wrote a book on it called, "Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs" They should get a copy. At age 7 months, the pup's behavior can probably be modified, but they shouldn't wait. If they have trouble doing the training, they should call an experienced positive trainer or behaviorist. But, the book is great if you go step by step.

mio23

Posted : 6/27/2011 9:46:34 PM

Thank you! I really appreciate your response. I just ordered the book and it will be at their house in a couple of days!

Cita

Posted : 6/28/2011 10:41:42 AM

The fact that the dog didn't break the skin is very important, and a very good sign!! It means the dog wasn't trying to do damage, or be really aggressive-aggressive, but was rather trying to make a "back off" display. Don't despair - it's workable!

I have to say, while I agree with Anne that Donaldson's book "Mine!" is very good, it is also pretty dense. It's more written for professional-type trainers than your average dog owner. Kind of like a textbook. It might be a little intimidating for your mom to read - if that's so, she can look for a trainer that's familiar with the protocol and they can work through it together.

Sometimes a trainer is also really helpful for moral support, even if the owner more or less knows what they are doing already (sounds like your mom is doing a pretty good job with basic training things). I'd definitely recommend trying to find someone in the area who will come to the house.

Best of luck, and keep us posted :)

spiritdogs

Posted : 6/28/2011 9:54:31 PM

Cita
The fact that the dog didn't break the skin is very important, and a very good sign!! It means the dog wasn't trying to do damage, or be really aggressive-aggressive, but was rather trying to make a "back off" display. Don't despair - it's workable!

Absolutely that's a good sign. What you are really after is to do some training now, so that the dog doesn't get the idea that the display works well to get people to back off. Until the book comes (yeah, it is a bit heavy reading) or until you get hooked up with a positive trainer who uses that protocol, it's best to avoid situations that encourage the dog to guard.