Kingdom of Pets

Posted by Wong101
Dec 16, 2010

Hi,
This is my fisrt time to view the forum, hopefully someone can help me for the dog probems that I currently facing.
I have a 6 months old GSD, we got him when he was 2 months old, when he was little, he had a mouthing problem, everytime we patted or cleaning his paws, he would bite our hands. (when he is growing big, his bites will getting harder and sometime create bruise or cuts on our hands). When he was 4 months old, after he was fully vacine, we started to walk him, he would jump up to bite the leash and grabbed it. We had a trainer came for the obedience training and tried to correct his bitting, the behavious improved but was not totally corrected. He would be very obedience when the trainer around, and will go back to the same old behavious when the trainer not around. Now, the situation is getting a little worse, he is bitting our hands when we put the leash on him, after that he will grab the leash using his both front legs, and bite the leash, I try to correct him by jerking the leash, and pulling him up, he will turn around his head and starting biting my hand, it looks like he wants to play tuck of war. Another problem is that he will run and jump up to my kids (and me), grap the hand and bite, we use "off" command, no obedience, I instructed them to turn around ignore him, no use, he will continue jump up and bite until I grab him by the collar, get him sit (of course he will continue to bite my hand until he thinks he has enough), sometime he left the bruise on our hands. Any advise/correction method that I can have will be greatly appreciated.

Wong

Posted by KOPCaroline
Dec 16, 2010

Hey Wong,

If you've tried verbal commands and ignoring, it might be time to incorporate some sort of physical stimulant to get him to stop hand biting. I would still remove your hands from his reach when he does it.

Have you tried taking your hands away and giving him something appropriate for his mouth instead, like a toy or chewie?

You can also keep noisemakers around, like a can with rocks in it, and grab it and shake it loudly anytime he starts to bite. Keep it handy when you go to put his lead on. The object of these is to startle the dog so that they stop the behaviour and focus on thinking "What was THAT!?". It instills a connection between abrasive stimuli and a bad behaviour, so that the dog should do that behaviour less and less.

You can also keep a spray bottle of water and lemon juice (or any citrus juice) handy to spray him in the face/muzzle with when he starts to bite. Dogs aren't big fans of citrus and this works the same way to deter him from biting by giving him something unpleasant everytime he does.

You should try to have your family work on their dominant statuses to him as well, even the kids. He should know he's bottom of the ladder compared to the people in the house. Be sure you command him assertively and sternly, and don't let him get away with bad behaviour because you're timid or can't be bothered to correct him every once in a while. Be diligent with your training and be sure to let him know you are boss!

Hope this helps, let us know how it goes!

Posted by Wong101
Dec 17, 2010

Thank you so much for your advices, Caroline.
I will try to see if these method will work. One more question, how can we start the dominant status? to be a pack leader?

Thanks,

Posted by KOPCaroline
Dec 20, 2010

Hey wong,

To work on dominance, its just about being assertive. Eat before you feed your dog, and make sure he sees it. Go through doors first. When you give your dog a command, say it sternly, and don't let up until he does what you want. If you let him off the hook, he'll learn he can get away with not listening. You have to demand responsiveness, but do it without physically striking your dog. Just don't let him walk all over you, set your goals and get him to respond

Help with dog leash biting and jump biting