Q
of the week
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Last updated July 3, 2003 Q of the week: PUPPY
BITING Puppy:
Jake, 7 week old Boxer male, left the litter at 6 weeks.
My first recommendation to this couple would be to get a different vet. Secondly, I would very highly recommend her to wait no longer than she absolutely has to and get him into a class at the beginning of August, not the end of September. Next I would hand feed Jake every single morsel of food that goes into his mouth for the next 2 to 3 weeks, and longer if necessary. This dog is well on his way to ruling the roost in this household and needs to learn that his house already has a confident, safe leader. If he doesn't already sleep in a crate go out and buy one today. This, most probably, will be one of the easier things to teach him. Most dogs adapt to crates very quickly and housebreaking will be a breeze. No more getting up on the furniture (if he does) or the bed. Jake's place is on the floor or in the crate. Although yelping when the dog has been too rough with his teeth is effective for some dogs, it's not for Jake. She says it just makes his escalate. I think being black and white about what is right and what isn't right is called for here. She mentioned that the time outs worked for 15 minutes or so. I would tell her to keep the concept of the time-out, but change how it is carried out. Whenever he escalates with his people, I would tell them to either get up and leave him immediately with a disgusted, "hmmmph", for about 60 seconds (no longer than that) and return to him with a "Let's try again" attitude without grudges, OR....boot him out the door or into another room with the same "little shiester" thought for a short time and then when you let him come back, act as though he put himself out there: "Jake, what were you doing out on the porch?" Having a trailing line on him would be really helpful as you could just escort him to the other side of the door and close it on the line, leaving him with only a couple feet of leash to deal with for a short time. The whole thing happens so fast that the message is abundantly clear: When I bite and lunge and be a mean dog, I end up without anybody. This needs to be done every time he gets out of hand. He needs to realize that his actions have consequences. Whether they are good consequences or bad ones are up to him. The grabbing and holding of his snout is a game that he feels he should win, hence the harder bites, nosing and growling. I wouldn't encourage this kind of play at all. Games need to be controlled and played with a price to pay. If he wants to chase the ball, he needs to sit first. If he wants attention, have him sit. No hands on the dog unless he sits or does a down, or whatever you tell him. For Jake, everything has a price, and he needs to have very clear, black and white, fair direction from you. .......
Well, I have seen labs do a pretty good version of this! As well as terriers, herding breeds, sporting dogs, and basically any other breed. So, no my first question is not what breed is the dog, but what VET is he going to??????? (PLEASE dont say Wandermere!!!) If the family really does not want to come to class, which they should, have Cathy do an in home with them. Leadership, early neuter, classes all come to mind. I do like time outs. If it starts up after 15 minutes do another time out. STOP muzzle wrapping him. Peanut butter for "good kisses"???? Sorry but this does not really make sense to me. If it were El, he would lick all the PB off and then bite convinced "I know there is more there, I can still smell it!!" Okay, you know me, this is the first of many........... To be continued, Kim It's used to teach the puppy to lick instead of bite. Works quite well actually! One of my students discovered that sunflower seeds also worked well - the dog is consumed with getting the next tiny thing - gives you the opportunity to reward appropriate interaction. *S* My gut, he will out grow this. He was taken from his littermates when he should have stayed with them to to learn bite inhibition. Okay,
so the game goes: I say "reward" to all of mom and dad's stuff because all of these actions seem to continue the behavior or escalate it. They continue the game by continuing contact/interaction with puppy. The only thing that has seemed to work, thus far, is the time out. Tho it only lasts for a few minutes, it is working to a degree. So what about trying the "Mary Ingals" thing when the pup bites/nips? interaction stops and family is turned away. They can even holler "OUCH!!" and then turn away/end the "game". But don't "yelp" and stay in the pups face giving him the opportunity to bite their face, and inviting the behavior to continue. I have seen puppies to this amongst themselves. Puppy one growl/pounce/bite...puppy two "yelp"/lunge back/bite muzzle....puppy one and two continue back and forth, rolling around on the floor, chasing each other oblivious to anything else in the room. Is he seeing mom and dad as puppy too in this case? If PB is causing diarrhea, maybe switch substance used or just ad some white rice to his regular diet to compensate and deal with a bit of soft stools to help teach?? Get him into class so he can play with other pups!!! ASAP-Please!! The main thing to remember is how young he is - at 7 weeks we are seeing his basic hereditary temperament in it's raw form (hence a very real future need for clear leadership - he's going to be a real jerk at adolescence at this rate) but at this age, it's less about status, and all about action and reaction - response to stimuli. Being "attacked" physically pisses him off. Push - he pushes back. This is likely as much a fault of the corrective technique as the strong personality of the pup. "Grabbing his snout and holding it shut" might have been done in anger and could have been painful, if not scary. At any rate, the puppy was having a MARvelous time playing like normal puppies play and all of a sudden his "playmate" grabbed him by his face and he didn't like it. We must encourage the pet owners to work proactively to NOT trigger that attitude and stress the importance of shaping a more compliant relaxed attitude through non-confrontational means. Desensitize. Set him up for success. And
what is this NO CLASSES TIL HE'S COMPLETELY DONE WITH ALL HIS SHOTS?
*sigh* This pet owner may have a chance to educate her vet, so we
have to send her armed with good information from reliable sources,
and an alternate plan should her vet still advise her to wait.
My reply : I think this is something that you should get a handle on right away, but not through confrontational or physically corrective means. You want to avoid escalation of aggression at all costs and quietly and gently desensitize him to handling. Think trust and respect, not fear and domination. It sounds like he is pretty easily overstimulated already. Pick times when he is relaxed and tired, not revved up. Slow, gentle massage while he is sleeping in your lap. Massage his toes, ears and neck. You want to condition him to look forward to and enjoy, not fear or become resentful of human touch. At first concentrate on places he enjoys and gradually work until you can easily handle all his body parts, even ones that he doesn't like having touched. You are working on relaxation and willing compliance. The oil in the peanut butter is probably having a little laxative effect - you might try something a little more bland - cream cheese, baby food, rice - his stomach will get used to variety as he gets older and you won't see such a big reaction to new things. Like any baby, introduce new things in small amounts. The goal is to have the opportunity to praise him for licking, withdraw the food if he bites, wait for him to settle, deliver the messy fingers again for licking. High pitched yelps apparently excite him. Experiment with the tone of voice that works - you are looking for a mild startle/withdraw response: "oops, sorry" - it's information not correction. Whatever sound you make predicts the withholding of reward, the abrupt end of playtime or attention. Be aware of his point of overstimulation and give him consistent information: he needs to know your cut-off point. *That* level of behavior makes me totally insulted and I get up in a huff and leave you dumped on the floor alone. Don't attack your puppy, just growl and leave dramatically. 'Alone' at this age is not what he wants. A time-out can be you leaving or him being put away for a nap. Avoid any games that elicit growling or biting. Don't let visitors play roughly with him EVER. Quit while you are ahead. If a time-out gets you 15 minutes of gentle interaction, stop at 12 minutes - end on a good note! Short positive sessions. Think proactive not reactive. This sounds like the type of pup who is really going to require early and rich socialization with people, kids, other animals. There is a very real risk of disease, but he may be at a greater risk of growing into a dog who bites if you don't. I hope perhaps you'll be able to take those books you've been reading about the critical socialization periods with you for your next vet visit . While it's a fact that puppies are at risk of picking up viruses in the world (and it is your vet's job to guard his physical well-being), but "bubble boy" puppies who stay cloistered at home until they are all done with their shots can also be at a greater risk of becoming antisocial dogs who can't cope with life. At a recent seminar that I attended Ian Dunbar (DVM, PhD) noted that the 'most' critical socialization period starts before the pup leaves the litter: 4 wks to 12 wks - so socialization needs to start with the breeder and continue from there. (The books say 7 weeks because that's about the earliest a puppy should leave its litter - yours left the litter about a week too soon.) Ian's quote is "100 new people by the age of 3 months." That's a lot of people! Beyond 16 wks you've missed laying the groundwork for your puppy's social life. At 5 mo they begin to recognize that there are strangers in the world and are about to head into a second fear imprint period in early adolescence - the hardest time developmentally to socialize. If your vet advises you to wait, you will have to find other creative ways to meet your puppy's social needs over the next few critical months. At the seminar both Ian & Jennifer Messer DVM recommended an accelerated vaccination schedule, 3 vaccinations by 3 months and begin puppy classes in a class with other vaccinated puppies at 12 weeks. Prior to being able to attend class, they advised that puppy owners not walk their pups in public parks or around the neighborhood where stray/unvaccinated dogs travel until after the 4th vaccine, but to meet the need for socialization by inviting lots of kind, gentle people of all ages to their home and carry the puppy everywhere: the video store to rent videos, the grocery store to sit outside with the puppy on your lap and watch people and carts and kids go by. Some suggestions: wherever there are sights and sounds and smells and a wide variety of ages of people who might want to pet him, while he is still small enough to be carried easily. (Places that don't sell food or pets are good choices - Hastings, Home Depot, Garden Centers, yard sales - just don't put him down on the ground where the germs are and don't let him sniff noses with other animals.) You want him to meet lots of gentle kids, especially since you don't have any of your own. There are several vets in town who advise owners of 'high risk for social issues' breeds (pitbulls, chows, shar peis, heelers, filas, etc) to start classes as early as 10 weeks. Of course, the owners fully realize they are weighing health risk over social risk. Suggested reading: The Perfect Puppy by Gwen Bailey; After You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar; Good Owners, Great Dogs by Brian Kilcommons. Great video: Puppy Love - I think it's by Carolyn Clark & Karen Pryor. You can get the above through Dogwise: www.dogwise.com If
you feel you need some one-on-one help and would like to schedule
an in-home consult, please let me know. I'll pencil you in for the
Sept 30 Puppy K, but do talk to your vet and if they will give you
an earlier go-ahead for Puppy Preschool, please let me know. As
you are looking at his vaccination schedule and class starting dates,
note that the puppies don't attend the first week orientation, we
do 'people training' that week. So the date that your puppy would
come in contact with the other puppies would be week two. >Hi
Carol, >
>Thanks also for the suggested reading. I'm going to pick up a couple
of those books. Right now I've read Family Dog by Richard A. Wolters,
Boxer Handbook by Joan Hustace Walker, and Training Your Boxer by
Joan Hustace Walker. >However, they all lack information like how
long does teething last? >What
to do if they don't chew their toys or nylabones? >How
long does it take for your dog to learn good kisses and stop biting?
>How
do you build a loving relationship with your puppy? All the books
I read are so structured. They don't explain what to do when you
aren't training them or provide you "what if" scenarios. >if
they are scared, how long do you ignore them before comforting them
or do you ever comfort them; or if your dog is shaking when it's
scared, what do you do. >Will
the books you recommended help fill in some of those gaps? Also,
I just may be worrying WAAAAAYYY to much. :) >My
husband and I are interested in one-on-one help. If anything just
to learn more about our puppy's temperament and what will work best
to nurture him into a loving dog. [I will be meeting this little man next week! He (and his crate) are off on a family trip - a drive to North Dakota!]
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