Too boisterous biting and charging at me off lead!

[choccybiccy]

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My dog is a 6 month old female goldendoodle, she is responding very well to training and can sit, stay walk to heel well is crate trained and almost house trained and she is mostly excellent at recall to the whistle. but my biggest problem is her over excited boisterous playing which is actually reducing me to tears today!! She is a wonderful dog, so playful and eager to please however on a walk every day we finish off by going down a quiet track where she can run free off lead. She gets hyper during this part and I want her to burn off the energy and she will dig mud and run erratically round bouncing and jumping then she will randomly charge at me at full speed leap at my arms or my back and bite - snarling and barking it's enough to rip my coat and leave me with bruises!!! She REALLY hurts!!! I have tried to stop and stand still - this makes her worse as she then rags my coat and bites more, tried shouting no loudly, tried squealing like a hurt puppy, tried to bark and snarl like a dog tried blasting my whistle at her ALL these things just seem to excite her more!!!! I'm at the end of my tether literally!! What method can I use to stop this - nobody else will walk her because of this and she doesn't do it in the house!! Any advice very gratefully received!!!

 

[goldenbear2013]

Hello choccy biccy!

this was like reading what happened to me with mine when he was exactly the same age. I have a labrador, so trust me, I really do know how you feel! At one point I had so many scratches on my arm I looked like a self harmer!!!! Not good!

Your girl is 6 months old and full of hormones and going through puberty (a teenager if you will) and doesnt know what to do with herself so she will bomb round like a loon. i call it the wall of death, as mine still does it in his agility class when the excitment becomes to much for him lol!

One minute you will have a dog that is switched on, obedient and just wonderful and the next, as you said they have you in tears! She doesn't have empathy towards you yet as she is still a puppy so when you cry she won't care. They seem like they are not listening to you but they even forget the commands you have taught them! A total brain fart basically!

try and play fetch with your dog. This gives her something to focus on and when she comes back to you get her to sit and then reward her for being a good girl. it will take time to build up the retrieving side, so you can start this off by throwing/rolling the ball from one side of a room in your house to another and then slowly extend the distance when you throw it.

You can even practise some training off lead with her, again, to give her something to focus on.

Whilst you are practising this, as it will take time when she goes mental on you, if you can put her straight back on her lead. Give her a sharp tug on the lead (rope leads are best for this as they tighten round the neck and dont hook onto the collar) and say "NO". This will then be the end of play time for her. Ignore her until she is on lead waking to heel then give her praise for being good. After a few minutes let her off again. if she behaves badly again then repeat this. if it continues for a third maybe fourth time (depending on your tolerance level) then end her time off the lead and walk her home. She needs to know that this behaviour results in no play time.

Do this everytime she gets to that point of being naughty.

Now, here's the next part; when you get home.

As she will probably have very limited time off lead whilst she is learning the error of her ways, she will may act out at home. if she does this then I reccomend the following (tried and tested on my part I may add!):

* Keep her lead on her at home. You dont need to hold the lead, just let it drag behind her. if she acts out, do not look at her, touch her, or speak to her, pick up the lead and just lead her into her crate. If she is having a wobbler on the lead, still do or say nothing just lead her into her crate and shut the door until she has calmed down. Then let her out.

* if she starts to get destructive (continuing to have a wobbler in her crate basically) then remove her bed and toys, so she is left with nothing in the crate to wreck.

* if you get to the point, or you dont want to keep her lead on her, then just take her by the collar and lead her in, but I must warn you she could bite/nip you, hence the reason why I suggest the lead as you have no physical contact with her at all.

She will soon learn that the behaviour she is giving you is not at all acceptable and all she gets is ignored and put in her crate.

Now here is the good bit! This is going to take a while. When I first did this with my dog Bear I put him in his crate over 40 times in the space of an hour and half until he got the message that his behaviour was bang out of order. he eventually settled and over time the trips to the crate became less frequent.

He is 20 months old now and he still gets the odd trip to the crate.

Now a lot of the above is on the assumption that she will be or being naughty at home too, so if she isnt ignore it! lol! If she is then follow the above.

I was at my wits end with Bear when he was 6 months old. I dreaded coming home from work as he was a total nightmare and i cried nearly every day until I burst into tears in front of his trainer and this is where the advice came from.

it took a long time but i stuck with it every day and slowly but surely I have managed to mould my dog into an absolute joy to be around!

this could potentially be a long process for you but knowing EXACTLY what you are going on about and having tried and tested my advice I have given you I know it works.

I wish you all the luck in the world, and if you decide to take my advice then good for you

Sophie x

 

[choccybiccy]

Thankyou!!! Thankyou sooooo much!!! I will most certainly follow this advice! She does retrieve well already we play in the garden so I will try it out on the track and hope she focuses on that not me! Your advice is great thankyou - I can't find anything on the net about this type of biting - she's a big dog too for 6 months! She will be spayed soon too so hormones should settle..?

 

[goldenbear2013]

You're most welcome

And yes she should calm down a little once she has been spayed. Mine was done at 6 months old and I still had all these problems so I'm not making any promises that she will calm down over night but it will help.

The biting is literally excitment. If it was vicious (although seems it at the time) she would bite you at other times as well. As Labradors and Golden Retrievers use their mouths a lot during play (you will notice they will bite the other dogs neck or scruff of the neck) it is completely natural for them to do the same thing to.

However, she must learn this behaviour when playing is perfectly acceptable when she is playing with other dogs but not acceptable doing it to you or any other human for that matter, especially when she is around children as she could get so excited and cause a lot of damage through no fault of her own and then you will be in a bit of a pickle!!

Another tip that some people may or may not agree with but has worked for me in the past, is if you do get hold of her when she is going mental, she may nip up when you are trying to grab her collar. if this is the case go for the scruff of her neck and grab hold of it tightly. This will paralise her movement and she wont be able to turn her neck to get to you. You won't hurt her as their mothers held them like this when they were pups.

It sounds cruel but when you have a dog that is biting you, some drastic measures are required.

if she flips out on her lead, hold the lead up right and try and get it so it sits just between her jaw and the top of her neck, this will give you more control and then once you have it in the right place shorten the lead to restrict her movements until she relaxes (this is when you are out walking) then relax the lead back to normal

people may think I'm harsh but Bear was uncontrollable through excitment between the age of 6-10 months. It was horrible.

this is why you find so many young dogs that end up in dog pounds as owners think the dog has "problems" when all it is, is them testing boundaries and needing a firm hand.

Sorry to ramble on again, but on my part it is quite a relief to know that I'm not the only one out there that dealt with a crazy dog, despite putting so much effort into their training!

trust me you are doing great!

Sophie x

 

[choccybiccy]

Hi Sophie! Well today has been an improvement! We had a lovely walk on lead before with no pulling or leash biting because i spent the morning doing some no leash biting training (YouTube video I watched!!) she basically got a treat when she stopped mouthing the lead and looked at me and sat down. So that worked! I was amazed that we got that far after only half an hour traing she got it. Then we got to the dreaded off lead run down the track, I had a rubber squeaky bone that bounces and threw it played fetch most of the way down the track and really wore her out! She twice jumped and nipped me growling but I stopped said no! And put the toy in my pocket for a few yards - she was still bonkers digging like crazy in the mud, eating the mud!! I got covered in it as she bounced her front paws off my legs too but I have to say it was much more emphasis on "play" today and not "biting" so have to say it worked!!! I will continue to do this she is now flaked out on her bed! I have to admit to once or twice getting so frustrated with her biting me over and over (drawing blood!) I have pinned her down (gently I promise not roughly) and held her still for a few seconds to just stop her being so boisterous and its shocked her into stopping .. But it's not a method I want to use a lot nor can I ask my kids to do that to her!!

 

[goldenbear2013]

I never liked pinning Bear down. I just didn't want to use that method of discipline on him so I know what you mean, but needs must every now and then!

he barely plays up now as he knows what happens! He either goes back on lead, or into his crate if we are at home for a time out. It's like a naughty step for dogs! lol!

I'm glad she was a bit better today! I always end up covered in all sorts when Bear has been in the fields! He usually goes in the bog and then proceeds to shake off the excess right next to me, so we both up needing baths by the time we get home!

keep it up! You're on the right track.

it may take some time but sounds like you're already well on your way!

All the best

Sophie x

 

[gypsysmum]

The reward based training is the way to go! As you have seen from the video giving the dog something else to do, and then rewarding it, is the best way forward. A dog that is sitting on its bum cannot jump up and bite. She will forget every now and then. She is not a robot. Just persevere with the rewarding the good behaviour and ignoring the wrong behaviour and you will soon have a much calmer dog.

Keep an eye on her diet. Is she having lots of additives and colouring in her diet? Some dog foods are like rocket fuel! Some good, general, foods are Burns, James Wellbeloved etc. Even better are ones like Eden, Orijen, Natures Menu etc as they are sourced from good quality protein but not too much of it. There is a terrific site called Which Dog Food that gives food stars based on how healthy they are.

Good diet, lots of exercise and reward based training will all pay off if you keep at it!

 

[choccybiccy]

Thankyou! I will look at that site now, she is on Arden Grange mixed with a pouch of pedigree chum (she doesn't really enjoy her food - often leaves it half eaten!! I make her treats myself - liver cake!

It is really working well the new method of playing squeaky ball all along the track when off lead! She is jumping up a lot less - still the odd time but she kind of swerves as if she suddenly remembers she's not allowed lol!!! Thanks again for great advice x

 

[choccybiccy]

Oh dear .. Looks like the Arden grange isn't the best one not is the pedigree chum! I've ordered a sample of the recommended Eden for her try! Thankyou for directing me to this site gypsysmum

 

[gypsysmum]

Dog food is a minefield now, which is why that site was set up.

I am very lucky that my local pet shop sent their employee on a course and they now do not stock any of the poor quality foods. it makes my life so much easier

If you mix dry with wet then take a look at Natures Menu. It is a complete food in a pouch and so will not unbalance the dry complete that you are using.