Bossy puppy with 4 previous homes

[JoanneF]

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we might have broken his trust by handing him over to the vet

I would say don't fret over that, dogs don't really bear grudges in that way.

play biting their hands.

It's more likely he wasn't taught bite inhibition. Puppies use their mouths in play with their siblings so when they come to live with their humans they normally are taught that this is no longer ok. Try keeping a toy handy to put in his mouth so he can't mouth the hand, or as soon as teeth get skin ask the person to firmly turn and walk out of the room. If you are out with him, immediately walk him away. The objective is for him to learn that teeth on skin = end of play.

 

[Violet Turner]

When he bites you say ‘Ouch’ in a calm voice, gently remove your arm/hand/foot/leg etc. from his mouth and take your attention off him for two to five seconds. If he continues to grab you when you take your attention away put yourself on the other side of the pen/gate, when he is calm again you can re-engage. Puppies and adult dogs have to learn through repetition, this will a lot of time take your time with this process time. Your pup wants good stuff to stick around. When he discovers that biting hard makes you (good stuff) go away, he’ll decrease the pressure of his bite and eventually stop biting hard (Hopefully) it’s always a good idea to have toys handy to occupy your dog’s teeth when he’s in a persistent biting mood.

What not to do when he bites:

1. High pitched yelp/squeal (This can make the dog more excited and play bighting can take place.)
   
   
2. Hold the dog’s mouth closed (This will only make the dog get frustrated.)
   
   
3. Put your fist down his throat (This could actually injure the dogs mouth and will not be pleasant to the dog in the situation, it won’t help in any way.)
   
   
4. Bite your dog back. (I have seen this on a few occasions, believe me and I really have seen dogs that have been bitten by their owners to stop biting.)
   

 

[JudyN]

The high-pitched yelp teamed with walking away can work for some dogs, though as Violet says, it can overexcite others, so you may need to work out what works best for your dog.

 

[arealhuman]

If it helps, ours has no interest with toys when out and about, not that we'd let him of the lead in an open field anyway (no recall at all). Good luck with it all, and keep us all updated!

 

[leashedForLife]

...
My concern with the neutering is that we might have broken his trust by handing him over to the vet to hurt him. He was friendly to everyone prior to that.

I wonder if he feels... he has to protect himself now, because he can't trust us to do it. ...

.

I believe U're overthinking this - yes, bad experiences at the vet's can make a dog anxious or fearful IN THAT SETTING, but it doesn't generalize to "every human being" outside that context. Dogs luckily do not generalize well or quickly; humans do, often to our detriment.

Besides which, his actual neuter was under GA - he felt no pain 'til he woke up, & most vets do give pain-meds, these days; the hurt should have been minimal. // Anything scary would be prior to the surgery, or post-surgery, not the RESULT of the surgery.
And if he had a fright, then it would be specific to the setting of the vet's office - or somewhere similar - that he'd feel anxious or defensive, if some event B4 or after his desex was so awful.

Stop beating Urself up - dogs become less-accepting of strangers as they get older; most young puppies, esp'ly under 8-WO, are universally open to new friends, of any species. [That's why LGDs are introduced to the breed they will protect shortly after they leave the nest - so they bond to them "like family".]
Pre-pubertal pups are more suspicious of strangers, a bit cautious or even timid; pubertal pups have their territorial instinct kick in, & will bark at strangers who come to the door, or who approach when U've been sitting on a park-bench or a blanket on the beach for awhile. It doesn't mean they can't make friends at any age; they're just not universally open anymore, & the older pups get, their personal space expands - till they reach adulthood.
It's a normal process, just like human infants transitioning to toddler, then pre-school, school-age, pre-puberty, puberty, adulthood.

- terry

.

 

[Ava]

When he bites you say ‘Ouch’ in a calm voice, gently remove your arm/hand/foot/leg etc. from his mouth and take your attention off him for two to five seconds. If he continues to grab you when you take your attention away put yourself on the other side of the pen/gate, when he is calm again you can re-engage. Puppies and adult dogs have to learn through repetition, this will a lot of time take your time with this process time. Your pup wants good stuff to stick around. When he discovers that biting hard makes you (good stuff) go away, he’ll decrease the pressure of his bite and eventually stop biting hard (Hopefully) it’s always a good idea to have toys handy to occupy your dog’s teeth when he’s in a persistent biting mood.

What not to do when he bites:

1. High pitched yelp/squeal (This can make the dog more excited and play bighting can take place.)
   
   
2. Hold the dog’s mouth closed (This will only make the dog get frustrated.)
   
   
3. Put your fist down his throat (This could actually injure the dogs mouth and will not be pleasant to the dog in the situation, it won’t help in any way.)
   
   
4. Bite your dog back. (I have seen this on a few occasions, believe me and I really have seen dogs that have been bitten by their owners to stop biting.)

He bites my husbands hand harder than he bites mine! It's mainly when one of us has been out & he's excited to see we have returned home safely! He repeatedly jumps and bites. It's not that hard, but I keep my hands out of the way.
My husband says "ouch" but because he doesn't move his hand from his mouth, our doggy probably thinks it's a game. I usually say "gentle" & he understands that & doesn't really bite my hands at all now.....but I'm the boss!

 

[Ava]

The high-pitched yelp teamed with walking away can work for some dogs, though as Violet says, it can overexcite others, so you may need to work out what works best for your dog.

Yep, I think our doggie thinks he must be big and strong if he can my husband yelp! Like I said above, the hand biting is more when he's excited to see us, but in general he bites a bit to hard on my husbands hands. He makes slight teeth marks, but doesn't break the skin.
I've told my husband to say "gentle" because it works for me, but
our doggie is more rough with him.

 

[Ava]

.

I believe U're overthinking this - yes, bad experiences at the vet's can make a dog anxious or fearful IN THAT SETTING, but it doesn't generalize to "every human being" outside that context. Dogs luckily do not generalize well or quickly; humans do, often to our detriment.

Besides which, his actual neuter was under GA - he felt no pain 'til he woke up, & most vets do give pain-meds, these days; the hurt should have been minimal. // Anything scary would be prior to the surgery, or post-surgery, not the RESULT of the surgery.
And if he had a fright, then it would be specific to the setting of the vet's office - or somewhere similar - that he'd feel anxious or defensive, if some event B4 or after his desex was so awful.

Stop beating Urself up - dogs become less-accepting of strangers as they get older; most young puppies, esp'ly under 8-WO, are universally open to new friends, of any species. [That's why LGDs are introduced to the breed they will protect shortly after they leave the nest - so they bond to them "like family".]
Pre-pubertal pups are more suspicious of strangers, a bit cautious or even timid; pubertal pups have their territorial instinct kick in, & will bark at strangers who come to the door, or who approach when U've been sitting on a park-bench or a blanket on the beach for awhile. It doesn't mean they can't make friends at any age; they're just not universally open anymore, & the older pups get, their personal space expands - till they reach adulthood.
It's a normal process, just like human infants transitioning to toddler, then pre-school, school-age, pre-puberty, puberty, adulthood.

- terry

.

This is really good to know. Worrying is something I'm highly skilled in!
Something I wanted to add...
When our doggie wants to lick our face, his tongue makes a licking sound as he approaches. I know that sounds silly, but I mean louder than normal. It's as if he's asking if he can lick.
When he's approaching (or being pushed gently away) he shows his teeth quickly, then sticks his tongue out and makes a loud licking sound, then flashes his teeth again and so on. He doesn't lick his lips, he flicks his tongue out in the direction of our faces. (well, mainly my husband's face as he's obsessed with licking him! ) When he's actually licking, you don't see his teeth at all. We don't know what to think

 

[Ava]

If it helps, ours has no interest with toys when out and about, not that we'd let him of the lead in an open field anyway (no recall at all). Good luck with it all, and keep us all updated!

Awe, it does make me feel better, actually. In the nicest possible way! I feel ur pain!

 

[Ava]

Does so much good to talk and realise you’re not alone with your issues , not many perfect doggies out there easy to tell that you love him and want to do the very best you can. Keep us posted on his progress, love the pictures of him too ....he’s adorable

 

[Ava]

That pic of him was taken a few days after we had him. They previous owners had shaved his fur off.... It's all grown back now. His tail is Fluffy again.

 

[Ava]

I would say don't fret over that, dogs don't really bear grudges in that way.



It's more likely he wasn't taught bite inhibition. Puppies use their mouths in play with their siblings so when they come to live with their humans they normally are taught that this is no longer ok. Try keeping a toy handy to put in his mouth so he can't mouth the hand, or as soon as teeth get skin ask the person to firmly turn and walk out of the room. If you are out with him, immediately walk him away. The objective is for him to learn that teeth on skin = end of play.

 

[Ava]

I don't think a year old is particularly young to castrate a chihuahua as they will mature physically and mentally - though I don't know how it would tie in with fear periods.

In addition to what has been said, he gets quite a lot of walks. This is good, but if he's getting stressed on every walk then his stress levels are going to be constantly at a high level. Once a dog has been stressed, it can take a day or more for his levels to return to normal, but this can only happen if they don't get topped up in the meantime. So your no. 1 aim is to reduce stress and ensure a calm environment.

Avoiding all triggers on walks is vital, as has been said, even if this means fewer walks, walks in other places and at unsociable hours, or whatever. Sniffing games (in our outside the house) or just letting him sniff in th verges and long grass can be very calming as well as giving him a mental workout.

What do you feed him? Some dog foods can be the equivalent of blue Smarties.

He may well have been punished for growling or showing other signs of discomfort/aggression in the past, which would explain why he doesn't give you much warning. Also, he might be conflicted - you represent security to him, part of him may want to be petted, but he's learnt in the past that 'people' can be dangerous. Some dogs also like to be petted, but hate hands going over the head - in which case a neck scratch or chest rub may go down better. I would avoid putting your face anywhere near his for obvious reasons, but also, you might look as if you're looming over him which would be intimidating. I would reduce petting in general unless he clearly wants it. There's a video here about a dog's 'consent to petting' - but bear in mind that he might still clearly elicit petting and then decide very suddenly that he doesn't want it after all:

I wouldn't correct him in any way at all when he shows his teeth, growls or barks at you, or even bites - these are all comunications, including the bite! Instead, simply walk away. If timeouts are used for, e.g., biting in play, they only need to be for 5-10 seconds - this gets the message over, but isn't so long that he'll forget what it was he did and gets frustrated.

Impulse control games are great for any dog as it develops their ability to control their behaviour - there's a great video here:

I've only just watched these videos.

I don't think a year old is particularly young to castrate a chihuahua as they will mature physically and mentally - though I don't know how it would tie in with fear periods.

In addition to what has been said, he gets quite a lot of walks. This is good, but if he's getting stressed on every walk then his stress levels are going to be constantly at a high level. Once a dog has been stressed, it can take a day or more for his levels to return to normal, but this can only happen if they don't get topped up in the meantime. So your no. 1 aim is to reduce stress and ensure a calm environment.

Avoiding all triggers on walks is vital, as has been said, even if this means fewer walks, walks in other places and at unsociable hours, or whatever. Sniffing games (in our outside the house) or just letting him sniff in th verges and long grass can be very calming as well as giving him a mental workout.

What do you feed him? Some dog foods can be the equivalent of blue Smarties.

He may well have been punished for growling or showing other signs of discomfort/aggression in the past, which would explain why he doesn't give you much warning. Also, he might be conflicted - you represent security to him, part of him may want to be petted, but he's learnt in the past that 'people' can be dangerous. Some dogs also like to be petted, but hate hands going over the head - in which case a neck scratch or chest rub may go down better. I would avoid putting your face anywhere near his for obvious reasons, but also, you might look as if you're looming over him which would be intimidating. I would reduce petting in general unless he clearly wants it. There's a video here about a dog's 'consent to petting' - but bear in mind that he might still clearly elicit petting and then decide very suddenly that he doesn't want it after all:

I wouldn't correct him in any way at all when he shows his teeth, growls or barks at you, or even bites - these are all comunications, including the bite! Instead, simply walk away. If timeouts are used for, e.g., biting in play, they only need to be for 5-10 seconds - this gets the message over, but isn't so long that he'll forget what it was he did and gets frustrated.

Impulse control games are great for any dog as it develops their ability to control their behaviour - there's a great video here:

The dogs are so patient. The kibble on their paws was precious.
My dog will always wait for me to give the go ahead before taking food or toys, but I need to extend that self control to outside the house, where he thinks that doesn't apply! :/