biting
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| Try Cesar Millans training method, it should do the trtick. |
| Very interested in reading your article on biting.. We had the same problem with our 4 year old male OES (Mouton) , and we were going crazy.. My wife and I bought him in Japan as a pup, and he started biting me recenly, with the last one requiring 4 stiches in my arm. For no apparent reason, as my wife was on the phone, I walked by him, and Bang!! teeth in my arm!! - this was the second time..The time before that, she wasn't there, but he attacked me in exactly the same spot in the house. I personally think that that its a territorial issue, and how to get around that, I don't know..
We then took him to get neutered, and he seems a much calmer dog now.. I would strongly suggest that unless you wish to breed from him, you get advice on Neutering.. training of course is a good idea, but I just didn't have the time to do all that.., and obviously you need to put a stop to biting immediately. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.. Mike |
| Hi Anne,
My heart goes out to you and your family. It's hard to comment on what possibly be happening without knowing more info about your dog. Mike is correct, neutering helps eleviates some aggressive and territorial behaviors and after it's done takes aprox 6 wks for the testarone levels to go down. How old is your dog? How long have you had him? Is he a rescue or have you had it since it was a pup. The more info you provide the more advice we can give. Have you considered consulting a dog behaviorist? It's pricey but worth the money if it means having peace in your household. There are many informed members at this site that will be willing to offer opinions so just provide more info and I'll check back this site, as well. Marianne and the boys |
| Thanks Marianne and Mike for your replies. George has been our since a pup and we did have him neutered. In the beginning we should have taken him to puupy classes for socialization but of course hindsight is 20/20, right? When he was approx 9 months he nipped at my 6 year old but he had a bone at the time so we chalked it up to that. This type of aggressive biting has only started recently. He does provide warnings such as crowching down low and growling. A stranger just happened to stop by the other day and wanted to see the dog and when he started to gowl my husband tried to reassure him by petting him but George ended up biting him. Had I been outside I would have not allowed the stranger to get near him because of the way he's been acting lately. He does not seek out people or run after them, if a person would enter out property and ignore him, George would do the same with that person. He is very timid that way. Anyway, I am not taking any chances, I have a lady trainer coming over for a lesson today (probably one of six) to help me with this. I am hoping we can get it under control. The problem is with sheepies is that everyone thinks they're so cute and lovable and assume they want to be petted, etc. George gets very nervous in crowds and is even afraid of my mother's kittens! He never acts this way when it is just our family around. He is very good with my husband and two children. That's what breaks out heart. I hope that seeing this trainer will provide some help and understanding to what is going on in George's head. It is also comforting to know that I am not the only one in this situation.
Thanks again, Anne |
| Hi Anne,
I haven't forgotten about you...urg!! wrote this really long post and then my computer crashed and I lost it all. It's late so I'll try again tomorrow. Marianne and the boys In the meantime here's a site you may want to have a look at. http://www.dog-behavior.net/aggression.html |
| Hi Anne,
Just to let you know that your not alone. I had a rescue female that would show me her teeth everyday. Not all people like dogs and when company came, I had to put her in the basement and she didn't want to go and so she would show me her teeth and I could see her thinking about what she was going to do next, either bite me or go to the basement. In my opinion, there is always a reason that a dog bites. Getting help with training is the first step. I just wish that it wasn't so expensive. Keep us updated. Karen and Beau |
| Hi Anne,
Good luck with the behaviorist. I truly hope you can break George of this behavior, because we had a bad experience with our second sheepie. Farley came to us at 18 months, and we were already his 3rd home. The rescue lady had no idea of his background, so we were really taking a chance. He turned out to be VERY pack oriented. He recognized my husband as alpha, he fought with me for awhile for second place, he viewed my daughter (who was 8 when we got him, and a very tiny girl) as omega, but he constantly fought my then 12-year-old son for 3rd place. He, too, would reach out and bite for no apparent reason. Visitors were not safe; he would stalk their shoes, then attack them. We finally had to put him outside when company came. We hired a behavior specialist to work with us. She came to the house 3-4 times, gave us all the hints and things to look for, helped us work with him. While she was in the house, he was fine. The minute she left, even with doing all the stuff she gave us, he went back to his old ways. She did tell us, though, that his penchant for attacking shoes and hands was his way of climbing up in the pack with us, and asserting his protection of the home against intruders (company). Dogs view people's hands and feet as paws, and when one dog gains control of another dog's paws, they rise up in the pack. We had him for a little over a year, and in that time he lunged at my daughter's leg in the car (putting 4 horrible bruise marks on her leg - thankfully she had long jeans on), tried to bite me a few times, bit a friend of my son's who was visiting and tried to pet him, bit at numerous visitors shoes, and tried to bite my daughter's hand. To this day (10 years later) she still has a mark on the inside of her hand and the outside of her hand under the knuckles where his teeth let a mark. I shutter to think of what would have happened if he bit down harder - he would have gone straight through her hand. The final straw was when we were decorating the Christmas tree. My son went to put an ornament on the tree and had his other hand just down at his side. Farley got up and bit his hand to the point where he needed 5 stitches between his two middle knuckles. Why is anyone's guess. He was just laying there peacefully, then WHAM! We have no idea what happened in the first 18 months of his life, and if that was why he was the way he was. After he bit, he would immediately be very submissive and apologetic-looking. We only knew that after all we tried with him and still couldn't break him, we couldn't take the chance with our family's safety any more. The kids started to hate him, and who could blame them? They were scared of him. In good conscience, we couldn't try to find him another home. We didn't want to put anyone else's family in jeopardy. We had no choice - he had to be put down. It broke our hearts in one way, because he was only 3 years old and was a beautiful dog. But, our family's safety was first. Even after reading everything on this forum about how to break aggressive dogs, I don't think they would have helped Farley. We tried and tried, giving him chance after chance. Since you've had George since he was a puppy, you have a better chance of breaking him of biting now. You know his background. Our current dog, Drezzie, is just the polar opposite. She's just the sweetest thing and totally non-aggressive. We all just adore her. We also rescued her, at 27 months, but her first owners were not abusive. They just couldn't keep her any more for personal reasons. She was a life-saver, a faith redeemer for us all. I wish you the best of luck with the behaviorist. Please keep us posted. Chris |
| Hi Again,
I really feel for you guys as having a dog that you constantly need to watch is upsetting in any household. Here's some info that perhaps you'll find helpful. Please remember that this is only my opinions and thoughts too as there are many schools of thought out there as to what works. Dogs give numerous signals with their tails and body language that often we humans will miss unless we are familiar with them. Tails up- if a dog meets another dog or human and the tail is sticking straight up, ears erect or tries..body is almost frozen, dog stares, mouth curls and teeth may be exposed he is in a very aggressive mode. He's saying I'm alpha and I will fight you for that position if I have to. Watch out if two dogs meet with tails up and one doesn't put it down- means it's almost a sure thing they will fight. Okay kinda hard with most of our guys that have no tails but watch the body language. Tail down, body curled, no eye contact, dog tries to make him/herself as small as possible, very frightend, - this dog is extremely submissive. Unfortunatly most humans make the mistake in thinking...awww poor dog and will often go over to the dog and raise their hands above him to pet him or her. Big mistake!!! The fear biter which is what they are called has more potential to bite than the aggressive dog whom gives people warning and they back off. Most don't recognize the signs of the fear biter. When I did pet talks for the Humane Society I would often walk into a classroom very loudly, almost stomping my feet, rush over to the children on the floor and immediately bring my hands down fast over their heads, just stopping short of touching them. 100% of the time the children would flinch!! This was to show them how a dog would potentially view them and may possible bite them in fear and was trying to protect itself. I'm not there to view the interactions with George so I'm hoping I can help you in some way. Your description of his crouching down however gives me a clue that George is a submissive frightened dog. He shouldn't be approached by strangers , they should let him approach them. Always be watching him and never allow that situation to occur. Saying that I know with lots of people in the household it's hard to get consistency. The reason most children instead of adults are bitten is for several reasons, they are smaller and often look an animal directly in the eye, face level. Big No no!! Forget the Crockadile Dundee movies where he stares down an animal in the eye. I would do this as well in my pet talks..crouch at their level and stare hard at the children..and ask them how I looked. They always responded I looked mad. That was the point you can look at something but not have that direct staring look - hope I made myself clear as it's difficult to explain. Animals avoid direct eye contact even amongst themselves as this is a clear challenge for a fight. The hug- Most children see our guys as cute stuffed animals and would have no hesitation of looking at a dog in the eye, hold their heads so the dog is unable to move it and proceed to give them a hug. Another big no no! In dog language this is seen as a challenge..almost like humping them to show they are boss. Humping isn't always a sign of sexual intentions but of dominance as well. My profession is as a Special Ed teacher and I often see the relationship with animals and those of children whom can't communicate verbally. I've also worked with hard core teens and use the same methods. I am constantly watching for the body language and facial expressions to give me clues. Many of the children I've worked with have not been abused but because of their fragile medical conditions are a bit frightened by new people. I always let them approach me on their own time, never rush over to them. Mothers unfortnately usually push their child over to me especially when I'm wearing my other hat as a childrens entertainer. The child is scared and pushing them closer doesn't help. Instead I perform my shows and leave the child where they are and on their own time they usually come closer. It's the same way with animals. I have to appear to be non confrontational and safe to them. Let the animal approach you and don't rush over to them as this may scare them and they may bite as a result of that fear. It's difficult for me to quess if George hasn't bitten you because he views you as Alpha or sees you as submissive and his subordinate. He may be viewing the others whom he has bitten as trying to dominate him. With this type of dog punishment of any sort only esculates the behavior. I don't mean his removal I mean yelling at him. It will only make him more fearful. Perhaps positive reinforcement may be the key. It's not enough to say NO but show him an alternative behavior. Most people don't give their child or animal another method to stop the ongoing behavior. When Panda the rescue came into my home, he was said to be a biter, aggressive and a host of other things. None of those things panned out as he's a big sweetheart. It's not that I'm a miracle worker either, but I consistently watch his body signals and facial expressions all the time. I saw that raising my hands above his head showed he was a bit apprehensive so I would bring my hand from below where he can see it. Close my hand into a fist and let him smell me and then proceed to rub the side of his head, then up to the top of his head. Pat him only one time....good boy!!! Lots of praise. Next day might go for two pats...good boy!! and so on... I would arrange for well trusted friends to stop by and stand while he greeted then and not the other way around. It desensitized him and showed him that humans are nice and can be trusted. Some would bring him a cookie. You may try this - have a friend come over and just stand still , hands at their side, talking to him in a friendly manner, but not approaching George. He may come over to investigate and you can praise him for behaving the way you want him too. You'd have to do this several times, and sometimes not always as he would expect them from everyone, give him a treat. You have to establish that you and the humans are in charge. Doggie obedience and the visit of an animal behavioralist may be needed. yes it's expensive but you may have peace in your home for the next 2, 4. or even 10 years so the cost may be worth it. After saying all that, I also realize that each situation is different and for me at this point in my life I no longer have small children in my home which would have made me wary of bring a rescue like this in my home. With just me, I can control the situations more easily. Good luck to you Marianne and the boys |
| Hi Me again,
Long winded as usual... 
Let us know how it goes with the animal behaviouralist! Oh forgot to mention that don't rule out medical conditions as remember our boys/girls will often hide their pain as in their world it's a sign they are weak which all animals will try to avoid showing. A absess on the head for example may be hidden by fur, and a mere touch may be excruitiating to them. Pain anywhere may cause them to react fearful to being touched..anyhow just thought I'd mention this so you cover all bases and perhaps have a check up by the vet. Best of luck to you! |
| You should also check for hypothyroidism. Any odd thyroid levels can lead to behavioral issues as well. |
| Hi Anne,
I posted this site on Chit Chat but just in case you miss it - this one is really helpful and gives advice on medical as well as behavioral issues. http://www.peteducation.com Marianne |
Wow - thanks everyone for your replies! Marianne, your posts were wonderful - I printed them out for my family. Well, we have had a trainer in a couple fo times and it seems to be going well. George is exactly that submissive type dog - he wold never run after someone to hurt them - only feels threatened when people first approach him. Ignore him and he'll love you to death! Funny thing my trainer said - as humans we have such a range of emotions and yet we expect our dogs to be the same way everyday - they have moods too! 
Things are going well - we really adore our dog and can't imagine life without him - he is such a big part of our family. Now I just warn people - he doesn't like to be petted. Let him come to you - don't be overbearing! I wonder if he'll mellow with age? He's still really just a pup at 2 years old. Again, thanks for all of your help out there in oes land. It's always nice to know someone is there to listen and help! 
Warm regards, Anne |
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