He's Biting! Please Help

[Morgan81]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first time posting here, I just found this message board and it seems interesting and helpful!

I have a 6 month old puppy, he has been very good and well behaved since we got him (about 3 months ago) but lately everyone once in a while he will snap at you! He kinda growls and then tries to bite! He has only done it twice now but I want to stop it before he gets used to doing it!

Has anyone else had this problem and know what I should do? We are starting obedience school this Sunday, I figure that that might help too.

Thank you.

Here is a picture of my puppy

[t-time]

Morgan - cute puppy :D

Every time he growls or goes to snap, grab him by that scruffy little beard and shake his head to the floor and say very firmly NO. I'm not advocating violence or a severe shaking here, just be firm. Mama dog would have grabbed him and done exactly this.

It works with my fluffies. :D

Half the problem is that a lot of little dogs are treated like babies, picked up, molly-coddled and just generally spoilt rotten :D They start to think they are above you in the pack order and you have to do what they want and not the other way round :D

If I were you, I would also try to determine when this actually happens - like is it when he's got food? Being picked up (he may have an unknown injury)? Just explore those ideas as well and see if you can identify any triggers.

Training is an absolute must so school is great

[pesh]

Also throw in a deep gutteral growl, Mum also does this with the pushing down............

Things to remember:

Don't let the dog tell you when it wants a pat. A pat is a reward for doing something it has been told to do.

Just because he rolls on his back doesn't mean he needs a pat, he's telling you "Well I'm here, pat me". That's called passive dominence.

You eat first, never the dog. If you have to feed him first, pretend you are eatig out of his bowl so he thinks he's getting the scraps of the meat. Remember you are the dominate dog, and he's getting what you don't want.

You should make him sit when your entering a doorway, then invite him in. Dominate dog always enters a area first.

See if you can get obedience books on the dog pack and how they work, and that will help.

Good luck...............................

[Evie20]

What do you do when all those tips don't work? I've tried it on mine and he still bites.. but he puts his ears back and lays low on the ground when my dad is around though. Maybe he doesn't respect me as much >_<