Aggressive Corgi Puppy..How to stop biting?
Hello!
I have a new baby Pembroke We've just welcomed her into the family this week and I tell you she has adjusted just fine! She's a doll, but when she plays, she gets very aggressive.
She's coming on 12 weeks this Friday, and when she plays her puppy teeth bite HARD. I try and replace my hand with a chew toy and tell her "no.", but she throws the toy away and continues attacking me. Ha.
How can I get her to stop playing so aggressively? Did your corgi do this as a pup? She is my first of this breed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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There is a lot of info in the FAQ but I handled it by letting out a very high pitched, dramatic sqreech every time the teeth touched my skin or clothing. If it continued I would place the puppy in a safe place by himself for about 3 to 5 minutes and then try again. Repeat as often as needed. Sometimes it can take a few times for them to get it. Puppies often play very rough and also are teething so have an urge to bite. Give her lots of chew toys and short walks, deer antlers are great. I also gave my "major biter" card board boxes and plastic bottles to tear up. You do have to watch and remove those items if they start eating them.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I agree that cardboard boxes and plastic bottles/ fast food plastic cups are great toys for puppies!
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Try the high-pitched yelp. It works for some, but others get more excited. If yours gets more excited, than do the leaving thing. I find it more helpful for YOU to leave than to try to pick the pup up and put her away. That way she gets the idea that if she's too rough, she chases you away. Baby gates are invaluable for this exercise, because what you can do is this: if she bites, say "Ouch!" and if she stops, immediately go back to playing. If she does not stop, step over the gate (after prying the puppy's teeth off your pants legs), turn your back and walk away. After a very short time (a minute, or perhaps two), go back in and try again. Lather, rinse, repeat. It may take a few days or even a few weeks for her to get the message. This is not uncommon behavior in Corgi pups, from what I can tell. Our Jack did this and you may be relived to know he has grown to be a dog with a very gentle mouth whose teeth never touch a person in play.
You also need to find activities that you can play with puppy where you don't need to worry about her teeth, so she gets some time to play and bond. Here's two I found helpful:
Tug. Contrary to some opinions, tug does not create aggressive puppies. Use a nice long rope toy, don't leave it out for pup to play with on her own (make it a special toy just for tug). Have her tug to her heart's content, then wave a treat in front of her nose, say "Leave it" and give her the treat when she drops the toy. After a few days you can move to taking out the treat and saying "leave it" without waving it at her, and then quickly on to saying "leave it" first and then getting out the treat when she drops the toy. After you give the treat, go right back to playing tug. This gives you a healthy outlet for her desire to latch on to things, takes away her energy, and also teaches "leave it" at the same time.
Chase. I would go down the basement and run and have Jack chase me. The second he would try to grab my pants, I'd stop, cross my hands in front of my chest, and stand like a statue looking at the ceiling. As soon as he stopped nipping, I'd take off again. This is fun for pup and also helps eliminate the Corgi tendency to nip heels. My only caution would be that if you ever plan on participating in herding, you should not play this game without talking to a herding trainer first; I have heard you can kill the herding drive with this game and if you want to keep it, of course you don't want to play without learning how to keep herding desire intact.
Good luck with your pup!
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Permalink Reply by Momo Taro Lundgren & Mommy pk on
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oh yes... i feel your pain!!!! My 15 week old puppy, MOMO, did the same around the same age as yours. 11-12 weeks, he was quite a pain. He is also my very first pet dog, EVER. So for myself, i really didn't know what to do.
Momo was very very nippy, very very mean, and very very painful on me (cuz i was the main person RECIEVING the bites and 'attacks' and had actually recieved quite the many brusies, puncture marks, cuts and bled - and i'm sure if the authorities saw them, they'd have thought my husband was physically abusing me *sigh*).I too had no idea how to stop it initially, but lucky for me my persistence to eliminate his NIPPING/BITING behavior paid off. I found a trainer who taught me a few very invaluable technique that saved my limbs from my puppy.
My first advice is, and i feel like i've repeated this on many discussion pages... LOL... TIME OUTS. Perhaps your puppy is just a rough player, but even still she doesn't understand that it hurts you. If yelps don't work, TIME OUTS will.
Her time out spot should be a place where she has no access to see you or be near you, maybe her kennel in another room. (momo's spot is his crate/kennel in our bedroom).
each time she nips or puts her teeth on you = automatic TIME OUT. after a few days of constent time outs, being away from you and her toys and alone with no play time, she'll quickly learn to NOT bite so hard while playing.Though i suggest that, if you are confident after her harsh playing, to have her learn bite inhibitations. The less pressure her mouthing gets, the more play time she gets and treats, praises and such.... but that does requires you to use your hands as a tool for her to mouth on. So you can tell her aka "yelp" when she does over do the pressure that YOU LIKE her to be mouthing at. Of course, this is NOT the time to use time outs while teaching bite inhibitiations and her mouthing on you or another person you trust her to mouth on should be initiating it, NOT her.
And yes, it maybe be due to puppy teething and such... and puppies tend to have extremely sharp lil razors for teeth, but if you are consistent with timeouts, if yelping doesn't work for you (it only worked 50/50 for momo, cuz when he got into high playing mode, any "yelp" was a mark to bite harder i guess... for him) she'll learn fast that you don't like her biting and will correct her behaviors to be able to stay around you more.
My Momo is now 15 weeks, and does NIP on accident while playing, and even then, i can tell he's sorry and he puts himself into a semi-timeout mode (lays on the ground with sad eyes) and waits for me to give him the okay to come back and play or else he'll walk away from me cuz he knows i don't like him nipping/biting if i don't call him back to play. Of course it's an ongoing training with him, cuz he's still a puppy, but his horrible NIPPING/BITING is almost completely GONE. You would have thought it was a completely different puppy a few weeks ago. LOL.
Best of luck!
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Permalink Reply by Juno on
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Teach her bit inhibition as other have said...teaching them to put less and less and less pressure. The one thing that I found very helpful with teaching Juno this for nipping and biting was to train him with the help of food. He's wayyyy food motivated so if your corgi is as well, it may work? I would feed Juno kibbles one by one holding each in between my thumb & index finger. When i felt that he was nipping or putting any pressure from his teeth while getting the treat from my fingers, I did not release the treat into his mouth. Instead, I took my fingers along with treat out from his mouth(did not release the treat). I repeated this process until he learned that he needed to be more gentle & not put teeth on my fingers. Your corgi will probably nip the first few times but corgis are very smart so she'll probably get it after a few times especially if shes food motivated & want the kibble/treat. If it gets aggressive as you remove the treat, I'd sit her down first before retrying and also adding in the words either "uh uh!" "ouch" "gentle" or a yelp each time you feel pressure from her teeth. If she wants the treat bad enough, she'll probably learn that gently taking from the fingers means treat. Hopefully that helped! Make sure you stay consistent with what ever technique you use though. Til this day when ever i give juno(9months) a treat, if i feel his teeth, i say ouch and he'll have to retry. I also tell him "gentle" and others are giving him treats.
As for nipping & biting in general while playing, I'd stick to a word such as "uh uh! or no!". You can also try your chosen word and walk away & stop playing with her if she nips or bites while playing. You return a bit and try again & if she does it again then you repeat the process. 3+ times then i would go "too bad" and completely stop play. If stopping play doesn't work, I'd put her in time out or put her in one room confined and you leave to another room(out of sight) so she knows that aggressive playing means you will leave. Corgis and dogs in general hate being ignored and since corgis also work to please their humans...she won't be too fond of you leaving
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Permalink Reply by Kathy Firestone on
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I am still having trouble with my corgi pup at 6 months. He doesn't herd when we are outside playing at the dog park but when we are in the house he will attack our feet and clamp down on the shoes and not let go. It's becoming dangerous as it is causing us to lose our balance sometimes when we are walking.
Just a theory, but I'm thinking it may be a symptom of separation anxiety. He rarely does it with me unless I have my sneakers on (which wear to run errands) but since my hubby works at home and locks himself in his office most of the day, the dog latches onto his feet and refuses to let go. He even gets aggressive with it and has nearly knocked him over.
I welcome any ideas and suggestions. We love him to death and he is a very good dog except for this behavior.
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Permalink Reply by Frances P Moloney on
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Why can't "baby come too" to the home office? Or even get to visit periodically over the course of the day? for a pack animal to have its leader at the far side of a door all day must be very confusing so that when his humans do appear he seems to respond by holding on for dear life.
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We've attempted inviting twice so far and each time he pottied on the carpet. He's in a sort of time out from the office for a few weeks and then we'll try it again.
I stay at home all day so he plays with me. On days I need to go to the laundromat or grocery store the hubby usually plays with the puppy until I get home so he's rarely left alone.
He does like the "herd" to be together and when one of us isn't with him he isn't happy.
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