New Dog Needs Putting In Her Place!

[rensza]

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Bambi, (approx 9 month female lurcher adopted from the animal shelter), and I, would like to introduce ourselves.She was abandoned and tied to a tree. She has been spayed and obviously has been trained to sit/fetch, she waits for her food until she is told, she is house trained, and though she pulls a little on the lead, she's ok on walks, and is sociable to other dogs, if a little boisterous. She has been with us for about a month, and is a lot calmer than she was.She gets two good walks a day and we have a large garden for her to play in. She has a worrying tendency to bark aggressively and show her teeth at my husband or me when she wants to play, or sometimes for no obvious reason at all except that she appears to want attention. She will pester us or nip at hands or sleeves. The only way to stop her seems be to distract her,but I dont want to reward her for her bad behaviour. We are attending obedience classes and hope that we can learn to train her out of this habit.

 

[banana]

Oh dear - I wonder why she does that!

Welcome to Dogforum - can we see some pictures of your doggy?

 

[TTT]

What a fantastic position to be in...for you and your young rescue dog...you want to do your best for her and she wants your attention! Keep going to your classes and ask about agility training......it could be the start of something exciting!

 

[mad basset women]

is Bambi a buitiful black very slender lurcher ?

 

[Hula]

Are you sure the teeth showing thing is her being aggressive ?

My daughters lurcher " smiles " this is in no way aggressive and is her showing happiness .

I also have had a terrier who smiled .

My lurcher nipped at hands and sleeves when we first got her . We would give her a soft toy to distract her and soon she learned to go and get one herself .

 

[lurcherman]

mine was a rescue and for the first few months i just let the dog settle into his new suroundings and watched his movements, rescue dogs need time to adapt, im sure it will settle down,

 

[Lila's Dad]

If the teeth showing is aggression, then it may be in that she was mistreated by a man in the past - this could be a fear reaction.

In this case, the things to do are:

- stop the play as continuing this this will only rienforce the behaviour.

- go to her sideways on (so both facing the same direction). this is because being head to head can be interpretted as aggression.

- tap her on the should and give a clear, but calm, "no". This will help snap her out of the 'aggression mode'.

Only when she is calm and submissive should you play with her again. Totally ignore her until she is - no eye contact or noise and she will learn that she has done wrong.

Dog's 'mouthing' or nibbling you with their teeth is not aggression - it is excitement and can easily be misinterpretted. Repeat the above steps to help train this out.

She sounds like a lovely dog, and remember she doesn't remember being tied to the tree - only you do. So help her move on, and good luck!

 

[lurcherman]

im not to sure it dosnt remember, a m8 of mine 3yrs back rescued a terrier x springer that was tied up by the neck to a tree in a country park near daventry, and when you go anywhere near the place now he just dosnt want to go, it was only young too.

 

[Tinalesley]

I am having the same problem with a seven month rotti I have had three weeks he does the same thing for attention comes and gets hold of my hands or when I fold my arms he will nip legs or back of my arms and god it hurts. So went down to my local pet shop and explained to them about it they advised me on this aerosol can looking thing called a pet corrector it makes a very loud hiss like sound like geese do when they are protecting their young. When I got home rockie started the mouthing thing one short burst of the can over his head soon stopped him twice more after that and then I just picked the can up he stopped. Its bright red so he could see it instantly.

Early days yet but this product is pretty impressive give it a go. I don,t give up easily but this behaviour was really getting me down and this is my third rotti and the other two also done it but you forget very soon when they eventually behave ( ha ha) give it a go. Good luck

 

[gypsysmum]

Although aversives like spray cans can seem to work in the short term they often do not cure a problem just send it somewhere else.

I would treat it in the following way. As soon as teeth touch skin or clothing say "ouch" and stop the game. Stand still and fold your arms. Stay like this for as long as it takes for the dog to calm down and then start to play calmly again.

The behaviour will get worse before it gets better. This is a good sign because the dog is frustrated that the biting is not working. It is called an "extinction burst". This happens before the behaviour stops. If you can last through the extinction burst then the dog will gradually fade out the behaviour. It is very important that every member of the family, and guests (particularly men) follow the same theme. If you think they will not or you do not like to ask then keep the dog away from them Each time the dog "practices" the behaviour the harder it will be to cure. Children can play "statues" after saying the "ouch" word.

It may be that you have to wear tough, old clothing for while!

The dog will link the signal "ouch" with its teeth touching people and learn to inhibit the bite. They learn this in the litter and so do not play bite other dogs too hard.

Consistency is the answer.