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mbyron · Sep 28, 2010, 06:51 AM

Hi. I have a rescued 11 month old male mix - I think he is boxer/lab/pit. I have absolutely no history on him. I have had him for about a month and a half... He has had a mouthing problem when playing since day 1 but it has gotten much worse in the past two weeks. Also within the past two weeks, if he gets wrapped up around something when he's outside on his run, he will dig and when I try to help him he will lunge at me and try to bite me. At first I thought this was also playing but he will bite much harder. Although he hasn't broken the skin, it is concerning to me. Once he starts, the only way to get him to calm down is to put him in a separate room by himself for about 5 minutes. I've tried everything from firmly saying "no" (which does absolutely nothing), to yelping, to giving him a toy (but he would rather have my hand), to just walking away. I am so afraid he has aggression issues... and I have no idea what to try. Any info would be helpful!

mbyron · Sep 28, 2010, 07:00 AM

Two more things I forgot to mention:
1. I did get him neutered about three weeks ago
2. Other than these incidents, he has shown no signs of aggression. No food aggression, nothing.

Aurora_Bell · Sep 28, 2010, 12:09 PM

I would highly suggest obedience classes, this will help you establish the leadership role as well as build your rescue's self confidence. If all else fails, when things like biting are concerned you should seek help from a behaviorist.

Digging can be sign of boredom, what is his exercise routine like? But it can also be a sign of stress. You have had him for almost a year now, so he should be settling in, and the honey moon phase is almost over, his bad tendencies may rear their ugly head a little more now. I suggest obedience classes.

Remember aggression is very dangerous, and not to be taken lightly. You need to nip this in the bud asap.

I commend you on the adoption option! Good luck!

Cat1864 · Sep 28, 2010, 01:46 PM

Bella, the dog is almost a year old. The op has had the pup for less than two months.

mbyron, I, too, think obedience training and exercise would help. The breeds you mention in his genetic make-up need plenty of exercise and mentally stimulating toys like kongs.

Getting himself tangled up, may bring up memories that you know nothing about so be careful. Try to make certain there isn't anything for him to get wrapped around when he is tied out.

De Maria · Sep 30, 2010, 05:49 PM

There was a suggestion above about becoming your dogs pack leader by getting enrolled in obedience classes. That's good advice but be very selective because not all obedience instructors understand dog psychology and will only teach you how to get certain conditioned responses from your dog which will not resolve your problems. Make sure you enroll with an obedience class that will teach how to become your dog's pack leader.

In the meantime, I suggest you also get some info from Cesar Millan.
http://www.cesarsway.com/

A picture is worth a thousand words so a video must be worth a million;
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=cesar+milan+dvd&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=4031468951&ref=pd_sl_96bxd2xu7 7_b

I hope that helps.

Aurora_Bell · Sep 30, 2010, 06:27 PM

Thank you cat, it's been a long week. Mental note to read a little closer. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

To the OP regardless, my advice stays the same, but it worries me a little more, as your new addition should still be in his honey moon phase, and aggression witll continue to grow until at least 3 tears of age. This is actually my essay topic in my animal behavior class this week, I have some great books here and references as far as aggression goes.

Most are actually text books, but I think it would be with in the rules of the site to scan some of the pages and copy them here if you are interested in any further reading.

mbyron · Oct 1, 2010, 07:37 AM

Thank you so much for everyone's input. Bell if you do have some pages that you think could help I would love to read them. I enrolled in an obedience class that does training similar to Cesar Millan's. I watched their last class and they seemed to know what they were talking about, and were actually working with a 6 month old pup that was mouthing. We are going to move the table he gets wrapped around, because I think that does stress him out, but I am also only going to tie him out back if I am also out there so I can better monitor him. He is so good 90% of the time. I just get really discouraged when he acts out. Thanks again for all the input