Author Topic: help my new puppies eating me  (Read 3979 times)

Offline jinx athena's mommy

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help my new puppies eating me
« on: September 15, 2005, 04:12:04 pm »
i'm new to the site but i have ready alot of posts and you guys give great advice.  i have a new great dane puppy female 9.5wks old named athena.  she does this weird cujo mode as my husband and i call it where see freaks put and will growl bite snap  ususally when she doesn't want to do something like go outside or go to bed but she will also so it when playing with me bite and scratch.  is this a puppy temper tantrum that she will grow out of or is it something that i should train out.  i try to substitute a stuffed animal when she bite me or attacks my feet and pantleg but that usually only distracts her for so long.  help i'm running out of socks and she's already shredded a pair of pants

Offline ZooCrew

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Re: help my new puppies eating me
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2005, 08:33:01 pm »
I think this is a behavior that should be stopped immediately before she gets any bigger and might cause more damage, temper tantrum or no.

Squirt bottles work great.  So does ignoring.  You could even put her in a time out.  Whatever you do, I would tell her a stern "NO" to go along with whatever action you plan on using.

Offline jinx athena's mommy

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Re: help my new puppies eating me
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2005, 12:39:56 pm »
those both sound like good ideas i think we will dub the bathroom as the time out room and i'm getting more spray bottles so that i can have them everywhere thaqnks and i added a pic its not the best one i have but i'm at work and only have access to so many pics here she's 7 wks old in this one

Offline Kirsten

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Re: help my new puppies eating me
« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2005, 01:17:17 pm »
this crazy lady at the dog park told me how she trained her boxer not to nip.. and we are using it with shakes with very good resaults.  it is essentially an expansion on the ignoring thing. 

What you do is say "eeep" (in a high pitched squeely voice) and turn away from the pup refusing to play.  It is supposed to be an imitation of the noise a puppy makes when a littermate nips too hard.  Shakes hates it when he thinks he might have upset/hurt us.

Offline PupDaddy

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Re: help my new puppies eating me
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2005, 04:01:07 pm »
I've only got one water bottle for squirting the dogs (usually Earl, when he just won't move), but sitting out everywhere are 409, windex, Petzime, Bitter Apple, and Fbreeze bottles. I done even have to squirt him anymore, I just let him see me with it in my hand!

Offline jinx athena's mommy

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Re: help my new puppies eating me
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2005, 12:46:33 pm »
well the squirt bottle seems to do the trick. some one else here had mentioned lemon juice int he water and squirt it in the biting mouth.  ya  that didn't work the little nut likes the lemon juice water she kept coming back for more.  plain water in a squirt bottle and a body shot seems to get her attention and break the spell of evil so that i can at least give her the "no bite " command so it seems to be helping but its goingto be a bumpy ride for a little while yet. i think that she has decided that my husband is alpha then her then the 2 cats and then me in the pecking order but it's coming along

Offline RedyreRottweilers

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Re: help my new puppies eating me
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2005, 01:03:09 pm »
Please look on this forum for my posts about Puppy Raising. it's called Puppy Raising 101.

You absolutely MUST stop this behavior. It is highly disrespectful.

You need to get the pup in puppy class.

Do a search on Bite Inhibition in dogs, and read this article carefully:

http://www.chowwelfare.com/cciw/alpha.htm

This is something that needs to be addressed NOW. It will not get better with time.
Redyre Rottweilers
redyre@carolina.rr.com
No part of this message may be forwarded without my permission.

Offline Jen and Rick

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Re: help my new puppies eating me
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2005, 01:46:36 pm »
Red gave some really good advice, and that article link is a gem!

In my experience, the most important thing is to never let the dog think you're afraid of him.  Rebecca is one of the sweetest, most gentle girls.  Yet when she was a puppy, I had her on my lap brushing her.  She started to writhe about and snarl and snap.  I held her close, said no in a firm voice, and she quieted.  I waited a couple of beats while she was good and then praised her and let her down.  I warned Rick of her behavior, and sure enough she pulled the same stunt on him that night while he was brushing her.  He was ready, though, and reacted just as I had done earlier that day.  And that was it.  She had tested us, discovered it wouldn't work, and she quit for good.

If we had shrunk from her or let her down immediately, it would have sent a clear message to her that she was alpha in our house.

My first dog was a Rottie who tried to seriously attack the vet as a tiny pup on his very first visit to be checked out.  The vet pronounced the pup vicious, and said to take it back.  I already loved the little guy...we had picked him out at 4 weeks and took him home at 8 weeks...and I was stubborn and decided the dog could be trained out of his behavior.  Well, he lived to 14 and never harmed a soul.  It took lots and lots of reading on the topic, much socialization, and some changes in my way of thinking on how dogs should be raised (growing up we'd had poodles!!). But it can be done. Dogs are not vicious, but they can and will use any method they have (teeth, claws) to get their way.  My advice is to read all you can on the subject and do what works for your dog.


Rick and Magnus