My poor toes and feet. Aggressive barking and biting

Since I last posted here, Marley our lab has moved in with a neighbour as she had 2 labs which he became very attached to. We now have a 5 month old Cockapoo - he is fantastic except every so often he will go down on his paws, bottom in the air, bark at me and go for my toes/ankles.

I have tried walking away but he won't let go and I end up with trousers that have holes in them. I have tried yelping and saying ouch loudly he just barks at me. He doesn't do this to my husband. He does also do it to the children. He doesn't sit, lay when told during these episodes. He will do it at other times.

It's not all time.

We are starting puppy classes in September and i'm hoping this might help as well.

Is there something i'm doing wrong?
How can I prevent this?

I have been looking for triggers but can't find any. I always make sure I walk through doorway first. He is soooo lovely at other times though.

sounds to me like he is trying to play

i would have suggested you walk out of the room but as you said

id just freeze, dont move a muscle he should get bored and if that doesn't help put him out the room until he has calmed down.

Thanks

That's what I am doing at the moment - mainly because I can't do anything else. If I move he will go for my feet/ankles even more. I've tried reaching down t him to grab him s I can remove him but he'll back away and start barking again.

I was worried if I stood still it would turn into tugowar - but at the moment I dont have any choice.

He is at all other times friendly

....or alternatively you could go look at the posts on your previous thread in 2009 about Marley doing the same thing

Some good advice & websites were given then..

Have already done that thank you

But it's not quite the same and Alfie behaves in a completely different way.

2009 Marley : He has periods in the day where he is fine, playful but not biting, then all of a sudden he will put his paws down as if he is going to pounce (which he does at times) barks/growls then bites.

You can see why I say look at your previous advice. Description is the same. Have you tried doing to this pup what the trainer taught you with the other?

I tend to find my dogs all do this , bums in the air, pouncing, nibbling on my toes...theyre babies so I just move my foot, give them a toy & say "thats yours" dont know if the words make any difference to them but it certainly takes their minds off my feet.

I am no expert, but it sounds like play. You need to stop the behavior though, as he will use it as a way to control you.

Even telling him off, pushing him away or anything that engages with him is a social reward to him. Despite it being negative it's still attention.

The best thing is to ignore him. It sounds like he is becoming very excitable when he's doing it so by ignoring him you are showing that if he does it, it no longer gets no response.

Here are a few suggestions of what to do when he bites your feet:
- Ignore him completley. Wear shoes if you have to. Do not move until he is calm.

- On some dogs you can let out a little yelp to let them know they are hurting you, much the same way dogs play with eachother. Be careful, the yelp may excite some dogs and increase their pray drive. Do not use if this is the case. From what you have said this may not be useful.

- You are a powerful motivator to your dog. When your dog bites you, turn and leave the room. Wait no more than 10-30 secs then re-enter the room. For this to work you MUST be persistent.

- Teach your dog what he can bite. When he is playing with a toy, do not ignore it.. reward and praise him. Otherwise he only gets attention when he does the wrong thing. This is very important... otherwise he learns biting is a sure way to get attention.

- Teach the Leave It command. Once this becomes learned you can start to apply it to your hands.
If you clicker train this would be useful. Click as soon as his mouth leaves your hand. He will learn rewards only come when he is not touching you with his mouth.

Good luck

Yep sounds like he wants to play to me, I would just give him something else to play with rather than your feet. Its just normal puppy attention seeking.

Classic invitation to play from a puppy

How big is this puppy that he can stop an adult walking away ? Must be an exceptionally big strong puppy, never had a GSD be able to do that to me

Yelping/shouting ouch-waste of time & counter productive as it rewarding your dog for barking etc at you



So your puppy will be 8 months old before you start classes-way way too late


Why ? What does this teach your dog ? That you are the "Pack leader" ? Humans can never be "Pack Leaders" for dogs, they are aware that humans are not dogs

Thanks everyone.

I'd have like to do puppy classes much sooner but this is the first class in my area the next one was 30 miles away which started at the beginning of July and there was just no way I could do that one with work etc. SO this was the next available class.

I am going to wear shoes from now on. I do try to walk away and this is when it turns into tugowar etc.

The reason I said about walking through doors etc first is because every book I have read and on another puppy forum this was the advice given. I didn't see that it could do any harm.

Thanks again