Help! 4 year old OES biting
I don't know what to do. We have a 4 year old male OES called Cody. He has always had a very strong personality and when he showed signs of aggression towards other dogs we had him neutered at age 15 months. Recently however, he has started biting. He has bitten my husband on several occasions - usually it starts off with Cody being aggressive, my husband tries to make a point of showing dominance and Cody will bite. He has never bitten me and usually he the nicest dog with all the great traits of an OES. Three months ago we had a baby and he doesn't pay much attention to her at all. However, around that time, he was out walking with my father when they met another dog/owner. The other dog was off leash but my father kept him on the leash and held Cody. In is anxiousness to get away, he bit my father. That was the first time. A few weeks ago we had some friends over and the doorbell rang. I was holding the baby so my friend went to get the door and held Cody back as more friends entered. He yelped and then bit her on the arm - it was one tooth that made a very deep cut. Luckily my neighbor is a doctor and was able to clean the wound, apply paper stitches and give her a tetnis shot. (Now when anyone comes over, he is put in a bedroom). The doctor called me today - her and her family watched Cody for ten days while we were on vacation. She said that one night Cody was lying in the hall and her husband went to pet him and he bit him on the hand. Her husband pulled his hand away and the result was a very deep inch long cut on his finger. She had to stitch it for him and it is still not better 10 days later. She said the very next day she watched him bite her 13 year old son as he pet the dog. He knows this family all his life and it's a second home to him. They also have a 16 year old daughter who walks him all the time and he has never bitten her. I don't know what to do with him. It's worrying me now with the baby if he is so unpredictable. I should also mention that he has allergies which bother him quite a bit. He gets shots for them but they don't seem to help much - he is always licking his front legs. I'm wondering if that is why he is getting so aggressive or if maybe he is showing jealousy towards the baby in an odd way. That doesn't make sense though with my neighbors because the baby has never even been in their house. My husband and I have decided to ask the vet for his advice - we can't even bring Cody to the vet without sedation or he tries to bite them. More often than not, we go to the vet without the dog and describe what's wrong with him! They said he is their worst patient. Sorry for such a long post. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. |
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| I am so sorry you are having this problem with Cody.
I think first he needs to be fully checked by a Vet to insure that there is nothing physically wrong with him, causing him to act this way. If your vet doesn't want to handle Cody, perhaps you could try another. Assuming that there is nothing wrong with him physically, I might advise you to think of your child first. The situation you are describing sounds dangerous. If you are still wanting to try to work with Cody, I wouldn't try to dominate the dog as much as let him know who is in charge in the pack, and where his food comes from. Have you read any articles on here about "Nothing in Life is Free"? Use the search box; perhaps a good search phrase is NILF or the full phrase. Here is one that I found: http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?p=185640#185576 I don't know if there are OES rescue programs near you. Some may be able to help with a consultation over the phone, or perhaps you will need to surrender your dog for your family's safety. Around here, some rescue programs have gained lots of experience over the years with biting sheepdogs and may in fact have a family experienced with them who would be willing to adopt your dog into their home. I hope some of this helps, and again I'm sorry you're having these issues and worries. |
| Your dog is protecting himself, probably from from being rough-handled in the past.
Quote: He has bitten my husband on several occasions - usually it starts off with Cody being aggressive, my husband tries to make a point of showing dominance and Cody will bite.
He is now not trusting and constantly on the defense. He is afraid of being hurt and is reacting because of this. It is probably too late to re-home as very few people or rescues will take in a dog with a bite history. I feel bad for your dog who has been put into the situation of having to defend himself from those he loves. If you and your husband get another dog, please do some research and read up on postive ways to interact with your dog. |
Bosley's mom wrote: Your dog is protecting himself, probably from from being rough-handled in the past.
Quote: He has bitten my husband on several occasions - usually it starts off with Cody being aggressive, my husband tries to make a point of showing dominance and Cody will bite. He is now not trusting and constantly on the defense. He is afraid of being hurt and is reacting because of this. It is probably too late to re-home as very few people or rescues will take in a dog with a bite history. I feel bad for your dog who has been put into the situation of having to defend himself from those he loves. If you and your husband get another dog, please do some research and read up on postive ways to interact with your dog. I think that might be a little rash of an observation before understanding what she means by "showing dominance." This post doesn't give any other indication that Cody has been mistreated or is scared because he's fearful of being hurt. I don't think it's fair to point blame until we understand more about what specific methods that they've used to control this behavior. No matter what, it certainly does sound like a grave situation. You can't live in fear of your dog. Have you considered contacting a behaviorist? Not a trainer, but someone who can better access your dog and how you interact with him. It's hard to make a real assessment without meeting the dog and you. I would also definitely have the vet do a complete workup, as Ron suggested. |
| Thank you Ron and Butterscotch for your helpful advice and for defending me! I would like to say to Bosley's Mom that Cody has never been mistreated and has nothing to defend himself from. When I say that my husband shows dominance, the most he would do is hold Cody down for a few seconds to calm him down. It is when he lets go that Cody has bitten.
One thing we may have made a mistake with is giving him the run of the house. He also usually sleeps in our bedroom. I think our spoiling him may have caused some of the problems. Do you think we should try putting him in a closed room to sleep at night and when we are not at home instead of letting him have the run of the house? Also, we live in the country so most of the time he gets to run off leash - would this have any impact on his behavior? He was very well trained as a puppy and I have contacted the trainer to see what she thinks. She knows him very well and I am waiting to hear back from her. I have also made an appointment with the vet to have him checked out. Like I mentioned before, he has to be completely sedated to go to the vet or they can't even take his temperature. He just gets so excited/anxious. I cannot stress enough that Cody has not been mistreated in any way and has no reason to bite us or our friends. I'll let you know if we get any answers. Thanks. |
Quote: When I say that my husband shows dominance, the most he would do is hold Cody down for a few seconds to calm him down. It is when he lets go that Cody has bitten.
This will do it. He is physically restrained. This does not calm him down, but rather make him feel defenseless. He rather "gives up" into a forced submission, then when released he jumps to his own defense.. This is recommended by so many people and and so wrong. Whoever told you to do this has caused the problem. Not you. I am sorry that you are going through this. Good luck. |
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