Kingdom of Pets

Posted by merico
Aug 13, 2007

I have a 1 1/2 year old male dachsund Kipper who has bitten twice. I have had Kipper since he was 8 weeks old, he was spayed at 4 months. The first time he bit was at a dog sitter's home at the age of 9 months. Her son (12 year old) opened the kennel and he jumped out, growling and bit him. The second time was this weekend. My nephew (5 year old) went to the back yard, bent over to pet Kipper, and he bit him.

I have two childen ages 5 and 6 and Kipper has never shown any aggression towards them. My husband suggests that we find another home for Kipper as we do have children visit. I want to address this behavior but don't know how.

Posted by kaynine
Aug 15, 2007

Hey there.
The main thing I am interested in knowing when a dog bites is
1. What their behavior is right before biting and what the innitiating factor was
2. What is the dog's behavior normally.

When your dog has bitten has it been really when it is cornered or given a fright? Does your dog scare easily? Does your dog jump up, nip, pull on the lead? Are there times where you are afraid of the dog? Does your dog challenge you if you do something it does not aggree with ie go to move it, put it out, walk over it? Does the dog ever growl at people as warnings?

When the 5 year old bent over the dog where you aware if the dog cowered away and bit or did it really just come at the 5 year old.

The reason why I am asking all of this is to determine if this is a fear aggression or a dominance aggression. They are treated quite differently and it is important to determine which one before giving advice.
I hope this is not too much of a hassle.

Biting