New oes - 6 yr old female nipping/bitting
I posted in the intro section last week after we got our 2 new adult females from an owner who was no longer able to care for them. Well, after a couple of baths, lots of brushing they are looking great and are a blast to have around! I've missed the goofy personality of the sheepie! And we're very glad and Blessed to have them in our life. But ask my border collie and she's still mad about the whole thing! But my problem came about the other night.... Panda the larger female, I think she's six, snapped while I was playing with her. At first, I thought maybe it was an issue with one of other dogs getting close while we played and she was being protective. However, she's done it a couple time since then. Not out of the clear blue, but when you are playing with her, I think it's when she gets really excited. It's more of a frontal paw attack with a growl and snap/bite. And I just don't trust her. She's fine all of the time accept when she get really excited, guess she doesn't know I'm not a dog and she can't play with me like she does the other dogs. But how do I fix this? I've had lots of dogs, but not ever had this problem. -Is it a learned behavior? -Is it a mental heath issue, problems from the past that might have triggered a need to defend herself? -Is it a dominance issue? All the dogs in the house are still trying to figure out the whole pack thing-so I understand that part. There has been a lot of new excitement since they got here. -Or is it just a behavior we're going to have to "re-train"? How can I fix this? I'm not getting rid of her but I can't be worried about her snapping at anyone, we have to many people in and out of our farm for that. I don't think she knows the difference between dog play and human play.... Does that make sense? You can tell they have not been inside for awhile and have lost some of the indoor dog manners. But learning quickly the rules of the house. No trash, no counters (loosing that battle), don't drink out of the toliet, wipe feet after we come in from potty trips and walks.... Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Love the site, love reading all the post and seeing the cute pictures! She can be the sweetest thing, as she lays quitely at my feet making me feel guilty for saying this about her! |
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| it does sound like how they play with other dogs. I actually read a nice piece about how NOT to play with your dog in Play together, stay together
http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB1028 It stuck in my mind because I a wondering how to get my husband to read it 
I would hold off on the play until I either read that or consulted with a behaviorist. |
| It could be over excitement and just the fact she is settling in as well, probably so happy with play nips because of the extra attention.
Yes it does need to stop too as it will turn to harder bites as she gets worked up with excitement. It could be a dominance issue or even a possessive issue of her wanting you all to herself. Hard to know but at the moment the play with her should be with the others as well till she learns that this behaviour is not on with the nipping. If you are playing with her on her own and she does this, yelp at her, turn your back and walk away, ignoring them they soon learn. No acknowledgement of her till she settles down and also play with her on an individual basis keep it to a calm type of thing. Also start using treats as a training aid for her, if she is playing nicely, reward her and parise her, if not then she gets nothing. Just a few thoughts there, just take it step by step to work through the problem and if at all worried by her nipping then would probably be adviseable to seek out help in the way of a behaviourist or even taking her to a local obedience club for her to learn commands and respond from you. Simple things like DOWN, OFF, DROP, STAY, AWAY to keep her mind working but you being in full controll of her as well with her learning to respond to your commands. It's hard to assertain what is or was in her previous home and what bad habits if any she has picked up, but just take it step by step with her to try and get a happy medium so you can have play and rough house with her with no growling or nipping. The nipping should be a big NO NO, the growling can sometimes be more a play growl when excited, knowing the difference and the body language of a dog is really important too, to determine if the play continues or not till she settles down  |
| Thank you, thank you! It helps hearing the confirmation that it may just need time to adjust. And with some simple training it can be worked on. She's a good dog and I think just really missed the one on one human attention. Their former home was a good one, I feel ust not enough human contact.
As I said before, love this site! Thank you all for taking the time to read and respond. God Bless!  |
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