Our 8 month old beagle/boston terrier mix is starting to calm down only slightly. She was spayed a few months ago. She's a VERY hyper dog, always has to be running around, can't just sit still. Anyway, for the most part she's well behaved. The biggest problem is that all of a sudden she can just lunge at your face and bite! she's only 25 pounds, but those jaws are powerful! And its so sudden. She can be laying down and having us pet her and all of a sudden she just lunges at your face and bites. she gets lips, noses, ears, whatever. She's drawn blood a few times. She's not necessarily angry when she does this, but every once in a while, she does get angry and has the whole teeth snarling thing and looks really mean, even for a little 25 pound dog, and then she bites at your hands and whatever else she can get. Its really frustrating because we want a nice, well-behaved dog (doesn't everyone? lol) and for the most part she's doing well. We just don't know how to fix this part. We've heard the whole "ignore her, walk away" thing many times. But its so sudden that you can't just ignore it. And when you try to walk away she gets mad and runs after us and jumps and bites at your hands. Any suggestions on how to fix this??

Thanks!!

labman

The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete For more on being top dog, see Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position, Letting your dog know you are the boss

Here are some things to do with a smaller, younger dog:

''Elevation for small puppies: Sit on the floor and gently put your hands around your pup's middle, below his front legs, and lift him up. He is facing you. Hold him for 15 seconds. Repeat until he no longer struggles. If he is past 10-12 weeks, lift his front feet off the ground, but don't pick him up.

Cradling for small puppies: Hold your puppy gently on his back, as you would cradle a small baby. If he struggles, hold him firmly until he quiets for 10-15 seconds. With larger pups, you can do this as your sit on the floor, with your pup between your legs.

Quiet lying down: Place your pup on the floor on his side, with all 4 legs pointing away from you. Use your hands on his neck/shoulder area and middle, to hold him in this position. When he is quiet, praise him. Lengthen the time that you keep him quietly in this position. When he accepts this position well, handle his paws and muzzle, while keeping him quiet.''

The quotes mean this isn't my original work. It is copied from my Puppy Raising Manual. I have long used these or minor variations of them, and they are very effective. You may want to give him a belly rub while he is on his back too. Helps bonding. There is a big difference between him rolling over and demanding a belly rub, and you choosing a time to roll him over and rub his belly. The latter cements your place as pack leader. Once established as leader, corrections should be more effective.

Consistently is very important in correcting jumping and other problems. Quickly correcting her each and every time she jumps on somebody is very important. Something bad has to happen each time. People are successful with a number of different things. The turn and walk away often is veryeffective. If you can't make it work, you may have to try some of the older methods. One of the most gentle is to grab her front paws and hold her up. The traditional knee to the chest or step on her paws work well too. In each case apply ''Bad dog, its name off!'' in a firm, but not loud voice. Go ahead with it even if she is too quick to add a physical correction.



the ignore her andwalk away

RubyPitbull

If you haven't done so, please read what labman has written and look at the links he has provided, especially establishing & keeping alpha positions. The fact that she suddenly jumps up and bites you all, means she believes she is the leader and she is correcting you for whatever she views as inappropriate or annoying behavior from her pack. Consistency in her training, correcting her negative behavior, and leaving no doubt in her mind as to who are the leaders in the household, will extinguish that behavior.

treyball3

Ruby. that's a good thought about her correcting us for doing something wrong. It does seem that's very much what it is! I hadn't thought of the face biting that way. As far as what labman wrote, I've read many of his posts before and have tried many of them. Holding her paws, she just bites your hands. Holding her down on her back or on her side, she will eventually calm down but as soon as you let her up she starts biting and jumping trying to show that SHE is the dominate one. We've tried repeating it multiple times in a row, always with the same result. I think I've read those links before too, but I'll go back through them.

Thanks guys!

RubyPitbull

Establishing & Keeping Alpha Position. Focus on that link.

treyball3

Obviously I've done some things wrong. lol. I know I've read that before, but its good to refocus on it. A couple of questions about that link.... our dog is constantly on the move, never sits still, she loves jumping on the couches, and goes in and out of rooms all the time, up and down the stairs, etc. When either my wife or I get up in the morning and take her outside, when she comes back in she bolts to the bedroom to greet the other of us who are still in bed. She jumps up in bed and is super excited to see us. We've known all along that they really aren't good behaviors, but didn't really know how to stop them. At this point, how do you go about stopping her from doing these things that she's gotten used to doing? And how on earth do you stop her from going through doors and up/down the stairs first?

Thanks!

Emland

My sister has a Boston and they need a lot of exercise. I good hour run each day will help with the bouncing off the walls part.

Ruby and Labman are right on target with establishing the alpha. Bostons like to be in charge.

RubyPitbull

As far as in and out of doors, that is what the leash is for. You need to direct the dog to "sit", and then you walk ahead of the dog saying "come." How have you done with the "heel" command? The dog should be walking by your side, not ahead of you. Sounds like you may have to go back to the basics with your training. Is she crate trained? If not, you should start that. When you come back in from your walks, put her in the crate with her breakfast. That will stop the running and jumping into bed.

treyball3

Emland, thanks for the info on bostons. discouraging, but thanks

She is crate trained, yes. She's in there overnight and while we are at work during the day. And then off and on throughout the evening depending on how she is behaving. So, we should have her on leash all the time pretty much huh? And she's not good with the "heel" command at all. When we go on walks, she's so excited that she definitely leads the way. We have a harness but she's usually 2 feet in front of us. Every once in a while we'll stop and make her sit before we continue. Also, when we first come out of the house she's so excited to go that she bites her leash and tries to pull. We wait until she stops pulling and biting on it before we go.

She's really good with sit, stay, leave it, lay down, rollover, etc. We make her sit before coming back in the house. Sit and stay before food. We don't let her eat until we tell her its ok. when she takes something she's not supposed to have she does really well with "leave it". We usually make her sit and behave before she can get a toy. so, we're not TOTAL failures. She's good in some areas, but not others.

RubyPitbull

LOL. "TOTAL failures." I hope I didn't make you feel like a failure. A LOT of people have the problems you are describing. Training and reinforcing the training, is one of those things that is ongoing throughout a dog's life. Your dog is only 8 months old, and you just have become a little lax in certain areas, that's all. The problem is that she is taking full advantage of it and biting you both. So, you need to go back to the basics. Teach her to heel. Don't let her walk out in front of you. You don't have to crate her all the time, just when you come in from your morning walk to keep her from jumping all over the person who is still in bed. You need to reel her in and keep her exhuberance under control. Play with her but understand that she needs to learn who the boss is in her pack. Both you and your wife need to work on that. If teaching her to heel is problematic, ask your vet for a recommendation for a good trainer in your area. Sometimes, all it takes is to be shown physically what you need to do, rather than reading it in a book or on a website.