Jaspa – biting and nipping
We have 2, female, medium sized, mixed breed, dogs, Banff and Jaspa. We got them both from a rescue centre, Banff in January 2008 and Jaspa in March 2008.
We previously had 2 rescue dogs together that lived to 16 and 18 years old and did not encounter any of the problems that we are seeing with Jaspa.
We live in a farmhouse in Italy and let out apartments as holiday accommodation. We take the dogs for a good walk each morning, normally for about an hour (usually longer in the summer). This tends to be in the woods (in the summer when it is safe from hunters), where they are free to run and explore or alongside the river (in the winter), where they are also off lead but we keep a closer eye on them as there are usually people and other dogs around.
We spend a lot of time at home tending to the grounds and taking care of the cleaning and laundry for the guests. Whilst they are not always getting attention the dogs are free to run around and follow us if they choose. They are put inside when we go shopping or out to dinner. Inside they have free reign of the house with the exception of the lounge. They are not allowed on our bed but that is their only restriction. At night they both sleep in our bedroom, Jaspa on her dogbed and Banff under our bed.
Banff is maybe 4 or 6 years old we do not know. When she came to live with us in January, we took her everywhere and she was as good as gold. The only problem we had with Banff was separation anxiety and she ruined a couple of doors and would leave puddles when we went out. This is no longer a problem now that we have Jaspa and it is not the reason that we have Jaspa, we just could not find 2 dogs that we liked a the same time.
Jaspa is about 2 years old. We believe she was never homed and had always lived in a rescue centre, not the one where we found her, she had only been transferred there a few weeks before.
When Jaspa is good she is very very good but when she is bad she is horrid. She is an extremely affectionate dog and just adores being cuddled, she also thinks she is a lap dog and likes to climb up on your lap even when you are on a kitchen chair.
The 2 dogs have not had a fight at all. We think Jaspa is probably the alpha dog but if she drops a bone and Banff takes it she will not challenge her. Banff will only play with Jaspa on her terms and when it suits her which is not often. They do run together and sniff together and sometimes appear to be friends.
Both dogs run up the terraces out of sight but Jaspa is almost always the first to come back and will respond to a whistle. She does not seem to want to go far from home which we are pleased about.
Jaspa is very jealous and always runs up and butts in if Banff is getting cuddles and attention.
Jaspa is very lively with loads of energy.
To begin with she ran frantically in short bursts backwards and forwards and jumped using just her front legs often crashing into a slope rather than jumping up it. We assume this was due to a restricted exercise area and lots of jumping up in cages. Now she runs and jumps up terraces easily.
She is learning to play some games but often loses concentration, is easily distracted and if she becomes too excited she forgets what she is doing and starts jumping up and biting.
She likes to grab clothing, especially scarves but really anything and pull. If you pull back it becomes a game for her, if you let go she loses interest quickly but the clothing still may be ruined.
On the whole she is a lot calmer inside than outside.
Inside, she has 2 times a day when she goes a bit crazy, the first is in the morning just before we go for a walk and the second is after her meal in the evening when she seems to want to find more food, jumping up at counters, pulling things out of the bin (now relocated inside a cupboard) etc.
Outside, it can be difficult to get anything done with Jaspa around. It can even be difficult to get from A to B. She rushes at us and jumps up biting us. She will sit, however if we pet her, she rolls over has lots of cuddles then immediately begins jumping and biting again when we move away. If we ignore her and stand still she will run and jump around us barking in a ‘we think’ frustrated way and will eventually stop and sit or lie down, again if we move away she starts jumping and biting. If we ignore her and carry on rather than stand still, she bites the backs of our legs as well as jumping up and biting. She is much worse with me Judy than she is with Nick.
If we are talking on the phone or standing talking to guests she starts to try to bite our hands. If we sit down at a table and talk to someone she is fine, she will sit down nearby and be calm and quiet.
To begin with we tried ignoring her and turning our back on her when she started biting, this worked for a week or so, she seemed confused and cried but after that she jumped up at our backs and nipped the back of our legs.
We then tried isolating her, buy shutting her in the toilet for 5 to 10 minutes. This did calm her down and snap her out of being over excited but it became too difficult to get her there as we were often a way off in the grounds.
I began carrying a lead and would put her on the lead when she started jumping up. This does eventually calm her although she tries to turn it into a game by biting and pulling at the lead. Also now when she sees the lead she starts to run and jump around me out of reach. This has not effected putting her on a lead whilst on a walk, she is no trouble then.
Last summer she was fine with the guests, friendly when she met them and only displayed her bad behaviours with us. We are concerned that she may not be safe to have around the guests.
We do not want to keep her tied up and want to make the most of this time of year when we do not have guests to do some training and stop the biting.
