Biting!

Hello Roxanne

Let me make this clear: you must break this habit now. As the dog is still rather young, I would do a few things. First off, read a book on leadership (Patricia McConnell's 'Leader of the pack' comes to mind) Your dog very likely sees himself as the leader - how could he not be? He gets to nip you, he gets to say when you guys do what - at least that is how it looks from his perspective.

From now on, the dog will have to work for every little thing it gets from now on. If he wants a cookie, he needs to sit first. If he wants to go out, he needs to down and stay a bit, and so forth. One the other hand, the only things the dog should get for nipping you is first a no-reward-mark (ignoring biting or nipping is not a good idea!), then there are several possibilities depending on what school of thought you adhere to. My personal first choice is to put the dog in an immediate time-out (as for instance in a puppy safe room or tethered to a hook somewhere). The dog stays there for a minute, then is released. Every single time he nips, he goes back into timeout (prepare for many repeats :>. When he gets released and does not nip for a moment, reward him with some attention, a short game, some treat, etc.

The essential point is to teach two basic ideas: 1. nipping you is NEVER tolerated 2. you are the leader (and thues the only one who will initiate game or fun of any kind - at least for right now - is you).

Good luck and make sure you get going on this right away. A fully grown dog with these tendencies can become quickly a nightmare. Let us know how it is going and if you need any further advise. []

Oh, wow, thank you for your advice!! I will get to work right away. I guess I should always have treats in my pocket. I will start doing that. To get my attention, she will first have to do a command (down). When I walk her, we'll have to stop every few steps (eventually block), and do commands to go further, or stop and go back. I think this will establish who is boss here. Also, the time out idea is great. She definitely hates to be in another room. This will work, I'm sure. After all, what would her "pack" do? I took her to the dog park yesterday and everyone told me she is so well mannered with dogs. Why not with me? I would hate it if she started doing this with our company.

Any other daily tips that you can give me will be greatly appreciated!

I am glad I could help. You really should get yourself a little bit of literature about how 'dogs work'. If you can or want to get and read only one book, I would suggest something like Jean Donaldson's "The Culture Clash". It treats some basics about how a dog learns, how a pack works, and how to react to all sorts of things - for instance, when the dogs teeth make contact with your skin. The other little booklet I already recommended (Leader of the pack) shows you how to be just that - in the lead.

Dogs have all sorts of ways to deal with one another, and mostly will simply get along via visual signals. If your dog would act towards dogs as she acts towards you, she would quickly meet a dog that puts her in a place - with a warning bite for instance, while her mother would simply nip her in the muzzle, nothing I would recommend you trying []. From this comes the technique often used (so for instance by Cesar Milan on National Geographic) by some trainers to take one or two hands, close it around the dogs mouth, and give an inhibitory signal (for instance a gruff 'no!'). From what I read, I do not think however that you should try such techniques by yourself just now (a hand close to a mouth fits nicely into that mouth!). In general, time-outs/loss of fun and treats/attention paired with proper signals as predictors will do the trick. When the dog comes over to you, completely ignore her. Wait until she gives up (unless of course she nips - never ignore that! leave the room or put her away then for the timeout), then YOU go to her: leaders initiate play, fun, sports, everything. Followers just follow along with whatever the leader wants.

One last tip: your dog might learn to put up a struggle (say, run away or even snap) when it knows it will go into timeout. In that case, always just leave a long enough leash on the dog, then she is very easy to catch and your hands are safe until the inacceptability of that behavior is established.

Oh and one very last thing: It is ok to feel bad when doing these things. I feel bad every time I ignore a dog. But that is because I am human, and not a dog. For a dog this all has nothing to do with love. In fact, a dog will love you more for being a leader, not less. So hang in there and just make up the cuddle time when YOU started it. []

Day one of applying some of the simple rules I got from an article on the internet called "Canine Boot Camp for Alpha Attitude Adjustment". It's really not as strict as it sounds, but here are some of the basics that my DH and I have applied today, and we're already on the road to success, but I feel terrible right now.

1. Start using sign language with the pup. Sit, down, stop, stay, ok, off. Tonight I was able to have her do all of these commands without saying a single word! We are amazed. She definitely picks up on sign language more than our words (sit, stop, no). I am so amazed. I had to modify certain signs because I had to look at my body language and see how I was moving when giving her a command (off is a hand facing her, in a "stop" way, for instance). Well, that is progress.
   
2. Make the dog "sit" (or work) before giving her anything, and I mean it. If she wants to go outside, she first needs to sit. Then when we get by the door, she sits again, then again before coming in. (Did I mention she's exhausted tonight?).
   
3. I had to give her ONE time-out for one minute today, and she didn't bite me after that throughout the rest of the day.
   
4. She has to sit before getting food, and if she doesn't sit after the first time asking, I put the food away, and ignore, and try again two minutes later. Eventually, this will teach her that I mean business when I tell her something.
   
5. My husband needs to start feeding her, because she is dominating him (based on my reading).
   
6. During dinner, she gets her nose up on the table. We used to say "no, off, no, off" she just continued. Tonight I asked that everyone tell her (or signal) OFF, get her off, and ignore her. Eventually she will know that nothing comes out of getting her nose up on the table (no food, no attention, nothing positive). This worked about 10 minutes into our dinner, and she layed down by my feet and didn't beg for the rest of dinner. Great!
   
7. Entering a room first and then releasing her "OK" and letting her enter the room.
   
8. Not giving her attention when she commands it, like you said.
   
9. One of the most interesting things I read today is that the Alpha dog always gets attention (petting, oohing and awwwing from other dogs, grooming). The article suggested cutting back on the petting until I become the alpha. Give her a few pets on the head, say a nice (but not too nice) "Good girl!" and move on. Also, I have to make her sit when she comes up to me before I give her any attention. If she jumps up at me, I say "sit", if she doesn't, I move on and ignore until she will sit, then I am happy to give her attention.

Well, that's a long post. What I've noticed today that is hard is that she seems a little "blue". I keep reading that she will eventually be a happier dog if she is being "led" and knows who the leader is, and that she will "beg for my love". I still feel bad. I wish I could give her attention whenenver she wants, but I've seen these past two weeks what this encourages (biting, acting out, etc...)

When she is doing something nice (resting nicely, playing nicely by herself), I go over and give her a quick treat and say "Good girl!" and walk away. I want her to know what is good behaviour and bad behaviour, and to feel like she knows when she's doing something that makes me happy, and not happy. This is already working. Today, I treated her on a few occasions when she was playing with her stuffed warthog. Later on, I was at the comp, and she came up to me and shook her toy and just had this "look at me, I'M GOOD!" look on her face, and I treated her and said "Good girl!"

So ... we are starting to communicate! Finally. What I've learned today and I do need to learn more, is that my dog always needs to feel like she is doing something that I like. Whether it's resting in her bed, leaving the cat alone (without me telling her "off!") I can already tell that when she does something good, she looks at me for approval. This is great.

Another thing I noticed today that I have mixed feelings about is that she has been laying at my feet looking a little blue. This is different. She usually demands to lay on my lap, but not today. She also comes up to me with her ears and head down (as if she's in trouble!) Is this good or bad? Right now she is sleeping in her bed, but head towards me, opening her eyes now and then and looking at me, I say "Good girl." ... but she looks so blue.

The only thing I am still having a hard time with, and will be a challenge, is coming when called, although I know this will come when she knows I'm the alpha. She has already come twice today but not other times. Apparently this is because she's the alpha, not because she doesn't hear me. Also, whenever I call her over it has to be for a good reason from now on, not just "because". I have a treat hidden and when she comes, she sits and then I treat her. I told DH not to say her name to her unless you're calling her over, because we tend to say her name over and over again, and now I want to focus on training her to come when I say her name.

Also, this week I will continue using the techniques, but will also focus on saying commands only once to get her to do them. If she doesn't, the fun stops and she is ignored. For instance, if she wants to play with her chewy, she needs to sit, if she doesn't, I put it back and try again in a few more minutes. I have also taken her toys away and have given her one at a time. Before now, her toys were scattered everywhere, her chewy's, her bones. Now she needs to work for them. She played more today with her warthog toy when I had her sit and down before giving it to her. I think she likes that she earned the right to play with it, and she played with it for over an hour (usually she gets bored after a minute of her toys). Wow, ok, verbal diarrhea tonight! Hehe...

Thanks for your advice! I hope that I am doing things right, and that because of this crutial step, we'll enjoy a good 18+ years of great companionship.

It's never a mistake to exhibit leadership to your dog!  You've got the right idea now.  And, you have done very well without having to use any severe penalties.  I like that you are catching her doing something right and rewarding that.  A dog should lower its tail when it greets the human leader.  And, while you don't want a depressed dog, you must retain the leadership position to avoid your dog taking advantage of you in a demanding way. 
Culture Clash is a great read - I highly recommend it, too.

Outstanding start in the right direction Roxanne.

Let me give you some feedback, from my perspective, on your blow-by-blow account:

1. sign language: you discovered all by yourself something many dog owners never seem to learn, that dogs have a much easier time learning signs and body language than they do have in learning 'words'. Good going! That is why a good trainer will always first teach the sign for a command, and then introduce the verbal command. A dog should, in the end, always know both ways and react to both when given by themselves.

2. Very good! Yes, right now (once she has all the rules in her little head, one can ease up a bit - its like with kids really :> not too much in life is free for her.

3. Don't expect this to work always as fast. Make sure NOT to use her crate as a place for punishment (that is, time outs). Normally you would use a room, or a hook at some kitchen cabinet or a leash at a door knob and so forth.

4. That is a good idea. However, try not to be too harsh in withholding atm - that can discourage a young dog very fast. Normally a 30 second delay is plenty in my experience.

5. Well, it cannot hurt to even handfeed the dog for a few weeks if there are serious problems. That often helps quite well in establishing who is in charge.

6. Outstanding! Eventually, you can take this a step further. Your goal should be that you order your dog to rest where you want her to rest while you guys eat. If she does that nicely, she often gets a treat afterwards. So, if tomorrow she again lays down nicely after she notices nothing will be handed to her, try to capture this behavior and say a cue (for instance "Princess, settle") right when she lays down. After dinner, she then gets a dog cookie. After doing this routine for quite some time, you will be able to say "Princess (or whatever her name is) settle" before dinner, and she will know what to do in response.

7. Very nice. I think it is important to understand one thing here however: it is nice to go through a door first, because it often times is safer for the dog. As a matter of leadership as which this is often touted, it is complete nonsense. You see, what is important is something the leader decides and is not cut in stone. If the leader cares to be first through a door, then he will go first. If he cares to go last, he goes last. If the leader wants to drink first, he drinks first, if he does not really care, he drinks whenever. And so on.That is, I believe, an important lesson to always keep in mind.

8. Perfect!

9. Giving the dog less attention to become "alpha" is, in my humble opinion and experience, complete hokus-pokus. Given that, so far, I never had a problem establishing the leader position while woefully disregarding that piece of advise, would lend itself to put a chink into this sort of reasoning. Remember what I said in point 7: the leader gets to decide what is done and when it is done. If you decide to call the dog over to pet or massage it, then that is what will happen. So please, give your dog all the love you want to give, just make sure you give it when you want to do so, not when the dog solicits it. If the dog solicits it and you want to give it, wait until the dog gives up. Then, a minute or two later, you initiate it.

Rewarding her randomly for good behavior is an outstanding idea. You should play as much as you can with her, as play is an excellent occassion to establish many rules. For instance, if during play she accidently nips your hand, you yell 'ouch!', get up and move away. Play stops for a minute or two, then you can resume. If you wanted to stop playing anyhow, you just stop it right there with your 'ouch!'. If, so far, she was used to nipping, you should not be too tough on that. Make a difference between hard and soft nips, first marking and getting rid of the hard ones, then later of the soft ones.

If you like your dog sleeping in your lap, call her over and put her in your lap. I think you get the point by now. (and btw it is true: a dog living with clear rules and a benevolent leader will be the happiest of dogs)

Your ideas about coming when called, however, clearly show the misappropriations the "alpha theory" is so infamous for and that you probably read somewhere on the internet. A dog coming or not has absolutely nothing to do with your status - nada, zilch, niente. A dog looks out for number one - herself. [] So a dog will come or not due to a simple calculation: what is better for me... to come or not to come? If every time the dog came to you there would be a good chance of some fleeing squirrels and rabbits right by your side, with a huge steak after the hunt, the dog would come like a rocket every single time, even if you are in her view the runt of the pack - trust me. [] Alternatively, if you use a electric collar, the dog would also come every time - simply to avoid the punishment - and again it would not matter one bit if you are a leader or just a rock at the beach which has proven herself to be a safe place. If a dog is trained properly with positive reinforcement methods, the calculation will almost always tell her to come. However this is a long training process, described in detail for instance in "The Culture Clash".

Commands giving once, as already said, is a good idea. With a young dog you can do a little alteration of this however. If you say the command once, and she does it, she gets praise and often a treat. If she does not sit, for instance, on the first try, you go a step closer and repeat the command a second time, maybe in a bit a sterner tone. If then she does sit, you say 'good girl' but there will be no treat. If still she does not sit, you go over and gently help her to sit. Once she sits, say good girl and release her. A little later you try again. You see, you do NOT want to teach her that she can ignore your commands, which you might be in danger of when simply ignoring her 'ignoring you'. If you say sit, you mean sit.

My congratulations on all your swift progress. I am absolutely certain you, your family, and your dog will all have a great future with one another.

Why not try a "time-out".  Whenever she bites, she gets sent to time-out for a few minutes.  Someplace where she is away from the "action".  Shouldn't be the crate though, cause you don't want to associate that with punishment. 

Oops.  I guess you did that.  I suppose I should read more carefully next time.

in addition to the other advice-- sounds like she gets lots of physical exercise, but what about mental exercise and directed interactions with you? Off-leash walks are great, but don't exactly mentally engage the puppy, nor do they allow you and the puppy to interact directly and intensively. I'd suggest randomly demanding obedience on these walks-- take a handful of treats with you, and a toy, and at random moments ask for something: come here, sit, stay, silly trick, reward at random with toy, praise, or food. I'd also recommend cutting down the walks slightly and using that time to engage in fetching and tugging games instead. Or add them into the walk.You initiate the game, you end the game.
 
Five minutes of free-shaping is exhausting for a puppy. You can never teach too many silly tricks.
 
How do you feed her? If you're feeding out of a bowl, well, stop it. Make the pup earn every bite of food as training rewards or as an effort to get the food out of a food-dispensing toy like a kong or busy buddy.

Polymatheia,
 
Thanks for your feedback! Everything you said made sense. We have made so much progress, and also, as an added BONUS, absolutely no housebreaking accidents since the weekend, she has been holding it like a star at the oscar's (just made that up).
 
Mudpuppy,
 
Yes, plenty of physical exercise, not enough mental exercise!! I spent half an hour with her tonight doing all her tricks. I have to keep teaching her more, just don't know what or how right now. Starting this week, her dog walker will take her to the off-leash fenced-in park 3x a week for an hour in the morning (tues-wed-thurs), and those nights I will focus on the mental exercise.
 
Thanks again for your advice!! I need to start reading up on more things to teach her.

Hello there

You are so much into the wonderful world of dogs, I believe you would hugely benefit from starting some sort of organized dog sport activity, be it rally-obedience or tracking or agility. All of those are tons of fun, and all these things will make sure that you learn so much more about dogs, always have plenty to practice (and thus provide mental training) with your furry friend, and you will meet a lot of people that can help you with all sorts of problems you might encounter.

Check it out! []