Help with my basset hound!

[VeeAppleby]

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Well, where so I start with our beautiful Bella....

Bella is 4 months old now & 80% of the time she brilliant! Really loving and we love having her. However, 20% of the time she is a total nightmare! You can be sat on the sofa having a cuddle (as you do) and the next minute she jumps down, runs up & down the room and then starts to bite you. If your making a cup of tea or doing something which causes the attention not on her she barks/growls/bites... I have tried loads of things to try stop this behaviour but nothing seems to work :/. Sometimes my arm can be black & blue & occasionally drawn blood. As you can imagine it's a bit scary when this happens as nothing we do seems to stop this.

Can anyone recommend what we could do to help Bella? We really want to stop this before it gets out of hand & open to trying anything & everything!

Thanks in advance!

V

 

[gypsysmum2]

You have already spotted "why" Bella is performing the unwanted behaviour. This is half the battle.

She is attention seeking. You say you have tried ignoring her but most people find it hard to be consistent and to carry on long enough when they ignore a behaviour. The dog, therefore, gets an "intermittent" reward for its behaviour which is even more reinforcing to it than regular rewards. It is like playing the gaming machine of attention seeking and can be very addictive.

I would introduce a word such as "ouch" and say it immediately Bella's teeth touch human skin or clothing. There is never an excuse, it is just not allowed. As soon as you say "ouch" or any other word of your choice (do not use "no" as it is heard, by the dog, all the time), withdraw all attention. Wear suitable clothing so that you can withstand the onslaught as she will get frustrated and may bite even harder! Keep this up for a week. If the behaviour gets worse this is a good sign as she is about to give it up but is trying harder, first, to make it work. You must stay strong through this period as it makes it much harder if she achieves her aim by getting you to crack first.

If, after a week of everyone being absolutely consistent in saying ouch and ignoring her for about 30 seconds or a minute or two, she is still persevering then move to stage 2.

Say "ouch" and leave the room so that she is isolated. If the room is crowded then try to leave a trailing lead on her so that you can just pick it up without speaking to her and put her outside of the room so that she is isolated. Any chit chat with her will dilute the training.

Do make sure, through all this training, that no one else in the household is playing rough games and encouraging or even just allowing her to use her teeth during the game. Her teeth must stay on the toy. It is never an "accident" that they catch skin or clothing during play. Dogs can catch a fly with their jaws so they know just what they are doing. If she catches skin of clothing during toy play, say "ouch" stop the game and ignore her. If it is possible to keep the toy then do so but do not delay ignoring her to get the toy as this will dilute the effect of your actions.

If visitors ignore your instructions over the ouch technique then do not let her interact with them. Tell them that dogs that do not learn bite inhibition are the ones that end up being put to sleep under the dangerous dogs act. If every dog ever born learned bite inhibition as a puppy then there would be no need for the dangerous dogs act. I am not saying that your lovely Bella would ever be in that situation but any dog, should it feel the need to bite, will inhibit that bite if it has been taught to do so as a puppy.

 

[InTheDogHouse2017]

I'd really love to talk to you more about your dog. Please email me rebecca.morris1@rdftelevision.com if you'd be interested in seeing our expert dog behaviourists on our new tv pilot.

DOG SHOW FLYER.pdf

 

[JoanneF]

I am always a little concerned about behaviour modification for the purpose of tv. It's a slow process that takes a long time so most of the material is simply not entertaining. I would urge the original poster to carefully check the credentials of the 'experts' and make sure they are using positive training techniques before letting them anywhere near their dog.

 

[InTheDogHouse2017]

Hi there,

If you're still looking for help with your dog then we would love to hear from you. I am working on a new ITV pilot about dogs and their behaviour and we are looking for people and their pets to take part. Our canine behavioural experts could help you. Please email rebecca.morris1@rdftelevision.com for more information.

Hope to hear from you soon,
Rebecca

If you're still looking for help with your dog then we would love to hear from you. I am working on a new ITV pilot about dogs and their behaviour and we are looking for people and their pets to take part. Please email rebecca.morris1@rdftelevision.com for more information.

Hope to hear from you soon,
Rebecca

NO TITLE DOG FLYER WITH DATE.pdf

 

[gypsysmum2]

I agree with JoanneF. Please be careful who you choose to help you with your dog's behaviour problems. Make suriure they belong to the modern school of thought that seeks to understand the emotional state the dog is in before, during and after the bad behaviour occurs. There are no quick fixes!