Bad behaviour - help please!

Max has found a new and very annoying behaviour

He has started play-bow and growl and snap and jump at our shoes and the bottom of our trouser legs. He'll also grab the bottom of our trousers legs in his mouth and pull.

We've tried stopping walking and ignoring him (turning our backs), and also saying NO in a firm voice. If you carry on walking (and ignoring him) he will still do it, often behind you, and he has pushed me over on several occasions.

I've tried to distract him with food and/or toys when he's doing it, and he takes no notice at all.

None of this makes any difference and he will continue doing it. In fact, saying NO makes him do it even more. If you turn your back on him, he carries on doing it.

It's getting very tiresome and sometimes dangerous, as he will do it in the garden when we have our wellies on, and are carrying stuff, so you end up either kicking him or tripping up.

He doesn't do it inside the house, and isn't bothered about shoes/wellies etc when they're not on feet.

Does anyone have any idea why he's started this, and what we can do to make him stop?

One thing that always worked for me when they started something like this was to stand still, look up at the sky and fold your arms and totally, totally ignore them. Don't move on until they've got bored and stopped doing it! Try it, it worked for me when Cassie became quite a handful at around 6 months old! I know you might feel a bit of a pratt doing it whilst out, but hey, who cares!

We've tried that, and he usually ends up jumping at my back and knocking me to the floor before he gets bored of it!

He never does it on walks though, it's always when we're in the garden.

i know that problem with all my boxers very well but i just percifered with the rattle bottle ,ignoring them and very firm no , it took time isochick but trust me it works , eventually .
but im sure some one will have an ulternative method that could work with max just as effectivly

iv a dominant bitch that does that shes only 14 mths and i do a firm no and turn around so shes facing me then do a helena 54 its working but very slowly at the minute i think shes trying to assert her dominace with me but it wont work il do it till she stops,boxers eh whod have em,

Ollie use to do this quite a lot not so much with feet though but with arms and hands we have taught him get a toy when he gets over excited and I ignore and if he doesn't stop a firm sit then no usually works I think its the stage of pushing their luck our breeder warned us they get very pushy between 6-19 mnths and you have to be very firm,he is nearly 10 months old and it is getting less although we do get it a couple of times a week.
Think the key is to try one thing and stick with it till he gets the message you wil not tolerate it may take a while though.

Hello Isochick, I presume Max is a puppy or young dog. Dogs don't understand NO but they do understand loud squeals, try screaming in a squeally sort of way when he makes any contact with his mouth to your clothes or body then say absolutley nothing else just turn round and ignore him for 20 seconds. Then carry on playing with him and when he does it again scream and ignore him another 20 seconds etc. The scream has to be instant to the mouth contact so he knows exactly why you are screaming.

This is what would happen in a litter of puppies when they get too boisterous - the other pup would squeal and ignore.

It might seem stupid but try it and see. It takes a couple of days.

Hi everyone

Thanks for your ideas.

Max knocked me over again yesterday when I turned away and ignored him when he started doing it.

As soon as I'd turned, he jumped at me with his front paws, smacked me in the back and down I went

As soon as I was on the floor he growled at me a couple of times and then came to lick my face

I'm going to try and persevere with the ignoring thing, but I can't deal with being pushed over much more. He's so big and strong now (14 months and 4.5 stone) that it doesn't take much!

Max bit me this morning

It was more of a graze of teeth than a bite, but still

I'd gone into the garden to open the greenhouse up and he started his jumping and barking and growling at me. I turned my back on him and stood there (didn't fold my arms as I was holding stuff) and he jumped round to the side of me and leapt at my hand.

It's so frustrating! I wanted to smack him, but couldn't. I shouted NO! at him and carried on with sorting the greenhouse out.

The whole time I was in the greenhouse he was barking and jumping at me, so I shut him out whilst I watered everything.

He doesn't do it to anyone else except me and OH. It doesn't matter what we're doing (e.g. working, playing) but he does it. Ignoring him, telling him off don't seem to work.

I suspect I'm going to have to get a trainer/behaviourist to come to the house and see what they can do

Gosh poor you - its not something I have had to deal with to this extent - certainly not being knocked over? or bitten.

The ignoring or asking for another behaviour seemed to work?

Have you tried having a trailing line on him all the time so that when he tries to do it to you something can grab hold and do a recall or remove him elsewhere?

I know its so frustrating - perhaps a trainer coming to view might be the answer.

Good luck,

Rach