bad behaviour

dominance always seems to be coming up... so i have another question about indies behaviour.

The other day i was letting indie have a run of the house.. she rarely gets to do this as its always a mess and its not my house to tidy up, so i can only do so much.

Anyway, after a good couple of hours.... i went to go get her and she growled at me and when i went to pick her up or get her by her collar, she bit me. It wasnt a bad bite... nor was it jus a snap bite.. cos she did it twice and held on for a couple of seconds. She also did the same kinda thing to OH's dad, who we live with. He jus went to get her and she snapped and did a mean 'vicious' sounding growl at him.

The first and obvious problem is.. we dont want her to do it, but also, if her bite gets worse... i might be told shes unwelcome in the house anymore and forced to rehome we have a toddler living with us too, luckily shes never done anything of the sort to him.

We may have subconsciously taught her that when we go and get her, play time is over.. but we have been trying to tackle that by still playing with her when we bring her back upstairs.

Gorden lover might be the best person to ask about this one Jen .........

Hm good luck jenny

Can you tell me a little more about the living situation where you are, and what she is doing just prior to biting you, why are you going to get her? How do you react when she growls at you? How do you aproach her when going to get her? Is it always in the same place/room she does it in? How did you react when she actually made contact with her teeth did you pull your hand away? Do you ever play any games involving hands? How old is she? How long has it been going on for?

shes 5 months old and shes always done it.

Basically, i live with my boyfriend at his parents house, we lodge in a room upstairs, and indie cant have a run off the house, one reason being they never keep it tidy and the other reason being that they just arent careful enough with the front door, shes got out 3 times already because of them.

Anyway, we used to play with her with our hands, til she started biting, and now we dont, we just use toys and things now. usually if she bites we put her on a timeout in the hallway, this usually calms her down.

Anyway, I had to go and get her cfrom downstairs because everyone was coming home soon and she has a thing about jumping up on the toddler and knocking him over and also she tries to run out the front door. She wasnt doing anything particualry exciting, just bouncing around. So i went to pick her up.. walking towards her front and then she went for me. From memory, she has done this alot.. and usually i tell her 'NO!' and try again and i can usually grab her. Or i give her a tap on the bum if needed, but i find that makes her worse, so dont generally do that. I didnt pull my arm back fast, infact i dont think i did as im used to her doing it and it hurts more if i pull back. After saying no she started to let go and then started growling at me. If i try and grab her collar, she rolls on her side and bites me hand... usually anytime i grab her collar.


i think thats answered all those questions

From what i am gathering please correct me if im wrong, but the majority of the time when you are going to pick her up, you are taking her upstairs because everyone is coming home?

Dont put it down automatically as dominance, is sounds like there is a pattern emerging and it is becoming learnt behaviour, rather than her being dominant. you try to catch her....she bites....you back off.....she's won ! Or she gets put in the hall which is still not where YOU want her to be!

Seeing as she is only a young pup i would suggest changing her routine for example, if she is allowed downstairs when everyone is out, try to restrict her to one room one day and one room another (if possible) and several times in the day get her to go back upstairs to your room, try to make it a game, and try avoiding picking her up,when she has got upstairs give her a special treat, and let her back downstairs, keep her there for a few minutes at different times of the day, the theory behind this is she gets used to going upstairs but not only when the family arrive home at any point. Of course she wont want to go as she knows theres something exciting going to happen people to play with....ie the toddler who to her will be another puppy at her level in her 'pack' (i hate the word pack!) How old is the toddler?

You are doing the right thing by not pulling your hand away, because this actually encourages it as she is getting a response. You are right in telling her no when she does it. I am a great believer in the distraction method with a pup that young it should be something fun to take her mind off the thought of nipping.

Its very difficult seeing as i have never met her to suggest the best way of making it into a game, but you will know how best to 'bribe' her.

Oh can i just add if she is on her side and you are tryingto grab her collar she may actually percieve this as a threat, the neck being one of the most sensitive areas on a dog. Just a thought!

shes not on her side when i grab her collar, but she goes on her side in order to twist her head round to bite me...
but i see what u mean.

this is a difficult situtation to be in,do you take her out on regular walks?
im wondering if she is waiting by the door wanting to go out,or greet people as they come in.
she is trying to tell you that she doesn't want to be moved from that spot.as she probably understand it means she will be took upstairs etc.
i wouldn't try and grab her collar as she is learning that its ok for her to nip at you when she doesn't want to do something.plus she could feel threaten by this and reacting to it.
only thing i can think of is each time she lays on this spot is to move her away,so it helps her to learn it isnt a place to lay down.
maybe with a goodie which will help her to recall at the same time on a command.
as you stand it will carry on as no one is really winning you or her but it is a behaviour i would try and nip in the bud before she gets much older.

Hi Jen

When she bites what did you do? what did your OH's Dad do?

KAREN