Hi folks,
My DH puppy is now 12 weeks old, growing fast and very lively. He has got into a steady routine of feeding sleeping and play. he goes out 2 or 3 times a day for 20-30 mins walkies to his great delight. He has been introduced to other dogs once or twice a week and is doing well at training. He will sit on request generally come here and walk fairly sensibly on a lead.

My question is this: he likes to play wrestling in the evening, on and of the sofa and he gets rough enough for me to have to wear builders gloves.He generally looses the contest by being gently ejected from the sofa several times and will eventually seek his bed or other entertainment. The rest of the family think that this is encouraging him to be aggresive and dominant. I think it is allowing him to let of steam as he is an only dog with no siblings to play fight.
What should I do??

Thanks,

Dave and Skippy

I have to agree with the rest of the family Murphy used to play rough and even at nearly 4, when out on the fields, he gets a bit silly and will lunge and jump at me, often catching me. He gets a smack for it.

When he was a puppy, he was the same as yours, my problem was my sons used to encourage him. He often hurt one of us and marked my arms. Your puppy has to learn that using his outh on your skin is unacceptable, he will grown into a very big strong dog. Playing by all means but not using those teeth. Saying that, they are used to rough and tumbling with their siblings. I dont think it will enourange him to be aggressive, DH's are by nature, but it might be ok to play like that now, but he will grow so quickly, the novelty of the game will wear off, on your part!

When my dog Ben was a puppy we used to play fight with him. He was very keen on biting arms and jumping up and nipping. It was all very gentle by Deerhound standards but has left many scars on my fragile human skin. As he grew I realised that I had to stop the behaviour as I was now getting hurt more than I wanted. It took a lot of work to stop him, the action of rolling up a newspaper and tapping him gently with it worked in the house but having a sense of humour he just jumped up and bit when exercising outdoor, off lead, and then ran away before you could tap him with the rolled up paper, he thought this was very amusing!
We eventually stopped this behaviour with a water pistol, which seemed to deter him.
The moral of the story is that if he gets too much into biting you may have a hard time stopping it when he gets older and stronger. He will of course grow out of this behaviour eventually but I found that at 9 months the behaviour became unacceptable to me.

When Lockie was a young pup ( he still is a pup by DH standards) I trained him to be gentle when he mouthed etc. So from day one if he grabbed to hard I would yelp or stop playing. It has worked well as he is gentle with me. But we are lucky in that we have 2 other hounds to bite and wrestle with.

Thanks for the advice,
I think the rough play will be directed elsewhere and some more dog socialising is in order. Its one of those things that has crept in slowly to distract a restless pup. The short winter evenings and cold dont help.

Thanks again

Dave & Skippy

Hope it helps, the problem is at 12 weeks they are little cute things that want to play, but give it another 12 weeks and he will be a big big boy, whats fun for you, might not be for anyone else!

I like the bit about water guns, sounds good that one. I don't like smacking Murphy, but he needs to know who is boss and it certainly isn't him!!!

Buy Skippy balls and play with those! I have a nasty scar on my arm from an over zealous hound leaping on me!!

I also yelp / shriek when my puppy bites too hard and stop playing . She caught on quickly - it is the same thing they/puppies do when playing with bigger/adult dogs or each other , aloud shriek and withdrawing. What I do though , is redirect the biting to toys , sheepskin is excellent - then she can bite all she wants and we wrestle with the toy , play a gentle tug of war and similar .

Enjoy your young boy !


Verena

Bot my IW and nmy young deer have bitten me trough play, or just chewed my hand. If they can, I can too. I grapped an IW/DH ear/nose/leg/tail and bit back. Twice Ive experienced a funny game. Puppy bites me, i bite back. Puppy bits a little hareder. I bite a little harder. Puppy loosens his jaws a little; i loose my jaws a little. Puppy releases; i relase. Puppy bites again, I bite again. Puppy think it is OK for now, I think it is OK for now. Puppy get a chewing toy that does not bite back.

Use a pet corrector!! No need to bite a puppy - that is no way to teach them A couple of blasts from the pet corrector and I can guarentee that puppy will not bite again

What is a pet corrector ?

Verena

It's basically a can of compressed Air, you just press the button to release a whoosh which the dogs don't like.

If the puppy keeps play biting as he/she knows no better. Try letting them bite themselves, push the cheek into the teeth and the pup will soon learn that it hurts.

wallace wrote:


Bad as biting the puppy!

wallace wrote:


What a lot of faffing about, give the pup a shake by the scruff or a smack it will soon learn what is good behaviour and what isn't acceptable.

You don't teach a child not to bite.....by biting back! Same priciples as teaching a puppy.

I would think , that " biting back " is quite understandable for a dog( I do not think anyone would overdo this ) - is it one way puppies and adults teach each other , also
" shrieking/squealing " and withdrawing is a way puppies interact with each other - works well here. So , they are to me as good than squirting with water and for sure better than smacking and similar .

verenav wrote:


Yes but we are not dogs! I think that teaching a puppy not to play bite by biting them back is appalling! Something to stop the unwanted behaviour in it's tracks is the answer as well as your body language and tone of voice. Works well

You have to show a dog who is boss, right from he beginning and if it means being harsh then so be it. You want a dog that you can't trust with other people. Whilst I don't condone beating an animal with a plank of wood! there is a saying spare the rod, spoil the child. I am sure that can apply to dogs in this instance!
You wouldnt want authorities having a destruction order on your dog down the line, so a good firm voice, a smack or a shake of the scruff should suffice. YOU HAVE TO BE THE PACK LEADER!
I can't see the logic of biting an animal that bites you, the mothers don't do that to their pups, they give them a shake.

Watch The Dog Whisperer, he does give fantastic advice!!! and I have never seen Caesar Milan biting a puppy!

I haven't been a member here for long but I have been involved with my own dogs and rescue dogs of many kinds for a good many years. I have followed this thread with mounting concern at the advice been given. There is no way you can use childcare as an analogy for behaviour management!
Human are humans and dogs are dogs. We cannot expect dogs to understand human behaviour and expectations. The best we can hope to do is learn to understand dog behaviour and thereby encourage appropriate manners to live in our 'human' world.
The pack leader theory is not about being 'the bully'. In any group of dogs the one given respect by the others is the quietly confident one who only needs to stand in a particular manner for any 'pushy' one to falter and change tack.
If your dog is being 'out of order', a look and attitude are the order of the day. For some dogs, actual exclusion from the group is needed.
As for puppy biting, a mother dog will grumble and then up the ante to a loud air snap if the pup is particularly cheeky.She will not scruff the puppy!
So, we should give a loud 'ouch' noise at the moment the teeth apply pressure. Resist the temptation to pull your hand or arm away but rather push it in, gently. This causes the dog to gag a little and open its mouth to avoid the pressure.Pup therefore finds it was not the fun he thought.

My Deerhound certainly scruffs his 'brothers neck, usually wih vocals, to put the terrier in his place.

We all have our ways of controlling our dogs and our opinions. If it works for you, what ever you do, then fair play.

My voice is usually sufficient, my word is his command! (Well sometimes- when he feels like it) Its the tone of voice you use.

Lurch8252 wrote:


I am glad that someone else is a fan of Ceaser Milan His methods make sense and they work. It is all about posture, body language and tone of voice and being an effective pack leader

Suemac - what advice is causing you mounting concern?