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ginnylondon
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Location: London, UK
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18-02-2010, 02:31 PM

How do we stop his barking/biting at us?

Our four month old is so lovely but sometimes goes into what we affectionately call 'psycho' mode, especially if we're eating something or if we don't let him sit on our laps when he wants to. He backs off slightly, lowers his front and barks, then will make little 'attacks', lunging forward and nipping us. He has already been taught how hard he is allowed to bite and will normally be really gentle with us, but if he's being psycho puppy he will nip quite hard. If we ignore him he bites harder/barks louder, but if we put him in time out this usually requires running after him for about 5 minutes before we can catch him and put him in his crate. As soon as he's in his crate he calms down instantly and returns to being a good boy again.

This has been going on for about a month and will happen once or twice a day on average. Anyone have any ideas what I can do? Should I just ignore him and put up with being bitten? Should I walk out of the room?

Thanks!
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peedie
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18-02-2010, 02:45 PM
If he were my puppy, I'd try to keep a toy to hand and as soon as you see this behaviour staring to happening (the backing off...) then I'd try to redirect it onto the toy. You could try giving him a stuffed Kong to work on when you are eating.
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Tessabelle
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18-02-2010, 02:49 PM
Bentley, our JRT, is 4 months old and does this regularly. If he is doing something that is naughty (lately this is chewing the skirting board) and we tell him to stop and push him away. It's then usually follwed by him running at super fast speed around the coffee table etc We turn our back to him and fold our arms ( it's really hard not to laugh), effectively saying that we're not impressed. If he continues chewing etc we put him out of the room, count to 10 and let him back in and he's usually calmed down. We have interpreted it as a challenge and that he is trying to show us that he's the boss and can do what he wants; typical JRT.
I don't know if that helps you? What breed do you have? Bentley is our first dog and we absolutely love him to bits! Welcome to Dogsey too x♥x
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surferchappie
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22-02-2010, 09:05 AM
Originally Posted by Tessabelle View Post
Bentley, our JRT, is 4 months old and does this regularly. If he is doing something that is naughty (lately this is chewing the skirting board) and we tell him to stop and push him away. It's then usually follwed by him running at super fast speed around the coffee table etc We turn our back to him and fold our arms ( it's really hard not to laugh), effectively saying that we're not impressed. If he continues chewing etc we put him out of the room, count to 10 and let him back in and he's usually calmed down. We have interpreted it as a challenge and that he is trying to show us that he's the boss and can do what he wants; typical JRT.
I don't know if that helps you? What breed do you have? Bentley is our first dog and we absolutely love him to bits! Welcome to Dogsey too x♥x
Our puppy does exactly this, some 'NO's she's ok with, others ('ouch' when biting too hard) she seems to challenge by going into schizo mode and doing 10/20 laps of the dinner table then a few ins and outs of the chair legs etc, all the while hunched up like a skunk with her nose nearly on the floor and her back feet nearly kicking at her front legs with every step, and yes it is hilarious!
I manage to keep a straight face, the missus cracks up and can't help laughing.
So...we try do what you do, go stern and disimpressed, and she does seem to calm, although i'm not entirely convinced that this is due to how we (mainly me lol) react and think it may be more to do with her tiring herself out.
I'd appreciate some tips too if anyone has any.
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wallaroo
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22-02-2010, 09:39 AM
Sounds familiar! Toby is 7months but still has loopy time occasionally. We had a house line on him for quite a while, which meant we could catch him much more easily and safely!
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wilbar
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22-02-2010, 09:58 AM
One of my labs has these sort of episodes too & he's over 6 years old. We call them Barney's "mad flids". He often does them after having a dip in a pond or river, or after a towelling down following a shampoo. When I first had him I didn't know what to make of these "psycho" episodes but they made us laugh. They are exactly as described by surferchappie. All the other dogs know to keep out of Barney's way when he does this & my other dog positively hides away to avoid his boisterous behaviour.

I don't think it's anything other than over excitement, possibly with a bit of frustration mixed in if they don't get the reaction they want. Perhaps with some dogs it's a bit of attention-seeking as well, especially if they've learned that we react with laughing & attention!

For ginnylondon ~ I suspect that your puppy is thoroughly enjoying the "Chase me chase me" game as you try to put him in his crate. If you continue to chase him, you may find that this behaviour escalates ~ & what if he uses the "chase me" tactics when you try to put him back on the lead after a walk?! I can always remember a dog trainer telling me that it only takes one "chase me" game for a dog to learn how much slower on 2 legs we are than they are on 4 legs!
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wirenth
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22-02-2010, 02:27 PM
our staffy crss does this too, i have started putting her out of the room for 10 seconds then letting her back in without looking at her, this seems to work on most occasions but if it doesn't then we just put her straight back out again she soon gets the message at first it took 10minutes of repeating this before she got the message but it is slowly getting there.
The only thing i would say is DON'T use the crate as the punishment as this should be a safe refuge for him to retreat into if he is unsure of anything and also should be somewhere he wants to go in case you want to take him anywhere in a car, again this is so that he feels safe in the crate and in the car.
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Tessabelle
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22-02-2010, 03:05 PM
Originally Posted by surferchappie View Post
she seems to challenge by going into schizo mode and doing 10/20 laps of the dinner table then a few ins and outs of the chair legs etc, all the while hunched up like a skunk with her nose nearly on the floor and her back feet nearly kicking at her front legs with every step, and yes it is hilarious!

I just properly LMAO'd at that! That is such a good description!! Bentley's ears go back too, it's hilarious!! he seems to do it a bit after he's eaten too which is random. I really ignore him then as I don't think he should be tanking around just after he's eaten. It is mainly when I try and reprimand him, it's just too funny!
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JoedeeUK
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22-02-2010, 03:17 PM
This is typical puppy behaviour from young puppies that have not been taught "bite inhibition".

IMHO the correct way to teach a puppy to not bite hard is to mimic the way the adult dog teaches a puppy.

In the canine world puppies have"puppy licence"upto the age of 6 months or so & some even later if there is a big difference in size between the dogs. The adult dog will allow what appears to be aggressive behaviour ro a point & when that point is reached, will utter a low grumble(almost swearing under their breath)& get up & walk away & the puppy ignored until the behaviour stops.

This can be repeated many times before the puppy realises that hard biting doesn't get them anywhere.

There is a thread on here somewhere about how people would react if a puppy "aggressively"bit them & my reply was, I wouldn't do anything, no matter how painful,because the odds of a young puppy being truly "aggressive"are exceptionally long & if the puppy gets any reaction at all, it will consider the behaviour rewarding. I do occasionally do the grump & walk away, but to be honest I don't usually have a problem with my puppies during the nipping stage.

People do offer a toy to distract their puppies, but I don't. I do handle my puppies probably more than the average dog owner & I also use T Touch massage on all my dogs & cats on a daily basis, not only does it relax the animal, it also builds the relationship between human & animal.
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surferchappie
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22-02-2010, 11:13 PM
Originally Posted by JoedeeUK View Post
This is typical puppy behaviour from young puppies that have not been taught "bite inhibition".
I'm confused: are you saying that the boisterous running around is attributed to lack of bite inhibition training? I see the discipline connection, but nothing specific...?
I can't speak for others, but in our case, we've had this puppy 4 days, and bite inhibition training is coming along great! She's getting more and more gentle each play.
Her mental moments (almost sounds like a chocolate bar ) are reserved only for the lounge it would seem. If she's given a 'NO' for anything whilst in there, she takes it, but 3 to 4 'NO's' later and she's off being all special again
Having said this, she has not had an outbreak tonight!

Paul
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