Hi All,
I'm a newer member and first time poster. I've been reading through archives trying to find answers, but have finally decided to just "throw my problem out there".... I have a 3.5 to 4 month old vizsla male named tristan. He is a sweet little dog, hates being alone and will follow you everywhere. That's fine with me, as his breed is nicknamed the velcro dog. Here is my issue... he is extremely mouthy/bity -
all the time! He always goes for the hands. And he just doesn't mouth, about half the time, he applies enough pressure to break the skin. He is also bossy and dominant when he wants to be.
I've noticed that during training or play or when he doesn't seem to be getting his way, he tends to snap or lunge. He's not trying to bite or mame, I know the difference. It just seems like he is trying to be dominant, telling me he simply doesn't want to do it. For example, he knows that he is not allowed on the couch. So, when playing or training, he will run and jump on it, then lay there and turn his head away from me. When I walk over to him to remove him, he stands up and snaps at my hands, trying to keep me from moving him off. I've tried alot of different techniques and nothing stops him. It may slow him down for a little bit, but then he seems to work right through it. Last night, while playing on the floor, he ran, jumped on the couch and started urinating. He had just gone to the bathroom 15 mins before that.
Then there are times, where just during normal play, he bites on the hands... if I go to pet him, etc. He is like with with the rest of my family... it's to the point where no one really wants to be around him because they can't pet him or just sit in the same room with him. He jumps all over everyone and mouths/bites hard, regardless if we yip or ignore him. I usually end up having to put him in the crate. I can deal with all of the puppy stuff - potty training, jumping, running, etc... but the mouthy/biting stuff is killing me. I have marks from him breaking the skin on the backs of my hands because of this. He has broken skin so many times I lost count. Here's a list of the techniques I have tried. None of these have made him bite softer either and with each new technique I've tried, I stuck with it for several days minimum:
yelping, yelping and walking way, taught him off (which he almost always only listens to when I have a treat), Bitter apple spray on the hands, read the book the dog whisperer and did/am doing the whole dominant thing (long list), gently pushing my hand deeper into his mouth when he bites, standing completely still, holding his head still, looking him in the eyes and telling him off.... He gets two half hour walks a day, I train him for a half hour, several "short" walks and about an hour of play time.
I'm afraid that this is going to turn into agression or extreme dominance as he gets older. I've set structured rules for him. Also, when I do things like walk down the stairs, he attacks my feet or pants the entire way down. I have a 9 year old neice in the house and I don't want there to be any problems with biting or falling. . If I have to, I will *very sadly* get rid of him. At just about 4 mos, his jaws are going to start getting stronger and he will be getting his adult teeth in. Everything I've read says that once a dog learns that he is hurting you, he will mouth softer and eventually stop. Tristan doesn't, he mouths just the same or harder... I'm getting worried. I'm running out of options, so if anyone can help, I would appreciate it. Sorry for the long post!!
Danielle