Aggressive Nipping/Biting...

okay... glitch in Blaze's second day at home!

He has the sharpest puppy teeth I have evern experienced... I have bite marks all over my upper arm (he likes to jump up and bite if I'm sitting down on the floor near him) and hands. I am trying to keep in mind that he WAS a 'farm puppy" with a brother and a sister, a mom, and two other dogs that he probably played a lot with-- nipping and biting, etc., and it's only the second day he's been with us so he hasn't learned that this behavior is not acceptable, but it's getting a *bit* frustrating.

I have tried "rolling" him (a technique I learned in the book "mother knows best") and staring into his eyes to make him know I'm the dominant person here... but that just riles him up!! whoo....he does NOT like that. I've tried putting him in his crate for "time-out" (which is really silly because he's only 10 weeks old)....

ADVICE, anyone? what has worked for you... and does your corgi puppy do this, too?? I remember my other dogs nipping, but nothing to this degree...

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Permalink Reply by Joshua on May 5, 2008 at 1:26pm

I belong to the moderation in everything school. My first reaction is not dominance, but I definitely resort to it when necessary. I come from Huskies and their pack instincts are high. This is how I do it:
If he bites me hard I say "ow!" in a high pitched tone. If he stops, good. If he stops and does it again its another "Ow!" followed by walking away. If he doesn't stop or follows me and bites again, I pin him to the ground - my neck over his. If he submits, good. If he barks or tries to bite again, then I flip him over and continue the dominance with him on his back. That always works - not necessarily immediately, but after enough time pinned, he goes limp (or kisses my nose) and I instantly let him up. Of course, this situation happens rarely, but I do think its important to happen from time to time. There is nothing aggressive about it, its just dominant behaviour. I suppose if you are frustrated or upset and get carried away it could be bad - you have to remain completely calm through this. This shouldn't frighten the puppy, as he knows instinctually that it is just a dominance tactic with no harm done nor intended. I would never hit, smack, flick, etc. my puppy. And we must remember there is never 1 way to go about things. Assess your situation, try different methods and find what works. We had an Alpha female Husky and the ONLY thing that worked was dominance. We had to do this her whole life (just to remind her who was on top), but she was the sweetest girl to everyone - dogs, cats, people, babies - it definitely does not lead to aggressive behaviour. Issues might (I repeat, MIGHT) arise with non-alpha dogs that have a superiority complex (or who WANT to be alpha, but are not), however. It sounds like you just have an alpha.

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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on May 5, 2008 at 1:41pm

OUr obedience trainer has written a few books, and she uses the same technique Charlei and others has mentioned. It worked with SId. Here are some links to some of her books:

http://www.amazon.com/All-Dogs-Need-Some-Training/dp/0876054076/ref...

http://www.amazon.com/KISS-Guide-Raising-Puppy-Simple/dp/0789489473...

http://www.amazon.com/Fido-Come-Training-Your-Understanding/dp/0944...

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Permalink Reply by Parker on May 5, 2008 at 7:24pm

Hey, Kimberly! I've been having the same problem with Grover since we brought him home at 12 weeks. He was also a farm dog previously, but was also played with a lot by the breeders children. At 15 weeks now, he is getting better. It has been slow in the coming, definitely, but the "ouch!" technique has worked for us. He is such a nipper!! I have to really be consistent for him to keep out of the habit. And I'm with you, it was really getting painful. It never failed that he would get me in the fattest, most tender part of my arms!! :)
But there is hope!! Just be patient. It sounds like our boys are a lot alike and Grover has made a lot of progress! Good LUCK!