Kingdom of Pets

Posted by Aylisi
Nov 9, 2007

Hi there

I have a Jack Russell puppy called Odie, he is a great and very cuddly little chap but we have one or two areas that I am having problems controlling.

He is almost 4 months old and no matter what i try he simply wont stop biting when playing!

Snapping and barking when we are trying to discipline him for unacceptable behaviour such as chewing my cats or trying to jump onto our plates to steal our food. From day one I have tried various ways to stop this behaviour and now i find myself more and more frustrated by it.

When out on walks he is great on the leash and when off it he comes to me 99% of the time when called, the only variants are people and dogs, he just has to go say hi and i am completely ignored during this, he is uber friendly but sadly not all dogs he rushed to visit are of the same mind.

Can anybody give me some advice on these issues, I know I must be doing something wrong but I dont know how to fix it and I would prefer to fix it now than let it escalate into something worse when older.

Yours hopefully
Aylisi

Posted by MaxHollyNoah
Nov 10, 2007

Hi there,

All puppies are cute but they will grow fast before you realize. I am glad you posted your concern to this bulletin board because I really think you need to hurry and fix Odie's issues still in his puppyhood.

Recently I see and hear more and more small adult dogs being out of control and I assume that is because small dogs don't seem as dangerous as big ones even they are out of control.

Anyway, let me suggest you squirt water at Odie with a squirt bottle when he misbehaves. Some people might think it is mean but I don't think so. Dogs will learn not to do specific behaviors when something unpleasant happens when he does that behavior. You said Odie snaps and barks at you when you scold him. He takes your scolding as an exciting thing, that's why he gets more and more excited. I hope your puppy is not a kind of dog that likes getting wet like labs, etc. When he snaps you can also grab his nose as you say "No" and make him "Down". It is important to be firm and consistent.

Also, about stealing food from your plate - have you ever fed him from the table? If you does that even once it will become very hard to stop begging foods.

Since Odie is less than 4 months I think you will be able to correct his behaviors soon.

Good luck

Posted by Just-Peachy
Nov 29, 2007

I know just what u are going through. i have an almost 6 month old syberian husky. He still bites sometimes but it is alot more gently than what it used to be. i found to work that when he would bite me while playing i would yell out "ow" or whine. soon he was a lot gentler. this is also how dogs distinguish how hard there bite is with each other- by whineing or yelping. hope this helps .

Puppy biting and barking problems, please help!