Biting! How to handle?
Now, however, he is biting. We ha some dominance issues with him, which included growling. We used some basic techniques to re-establish order. We thought it was going well, but over the past week he has bitten three times. Hard. Like, teeth sink into your hand.
If it was just us, we'd work with him. We have toddlers though, so we don't have the luxury of trial and error. I don't want to give him up, but for safety I'm afraid that might be our only option.
Has anyone else dealt with this? What worked for you?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Hi Rachael, would you mind elaborate on the "Basic techniques" that you mentioned? How did he react to those? When he "bites", what happens next? was it a warning bite? did he latch on, break open skin and pull repeatedly? where does he bite and who? what was the situation and what provoke him to bite?
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Permalink Reply by Racheal on
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We stopped letting him sleep in our bedroom, not allowed on furniture unless invited, eat only after we've eaten, must walk behind us through doors and entryways.
When he bites, it's a short but serious growl/snarl followed immediately by a lunge and a bite or a snap/bite combo. The bite breaks the skin and sinks in, but he let's go right away. Once he bit the husband when we were trying to hold him still to trim his nails, once he bit me when he was woken suddenly and once he bit our friend when we were coming inside but blocking his entry into the house.
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Permalink Reply by Di, Pazu, and Mochi the Bunny on
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Hi Racheal,
How have you been correcting him after his bite? Do you use the dominant roll over on back?
I had an issue when Pazu was tired and lying by the door. FYI - he never wanted to sleep in my bedroom and if he did, he preferred to sleep on the ground where it's cooler. If I tried to move him when he was tired, he'd elicit a small growl. Every time he did that, I treated him as a person. I backed away, thinking like "oh ya if I was tired, I wouldn't want to be bothered". Now what I didn't realize was that by backing away, I was telling him that I'm not that alpha. I enabled that behavior. Pazu grew more and more powerful in that particular arena. There's one spot in my apartment that if I move him, he used to growl and then snap at me. So for a while, if I wanted him to move, I'd show him a treat and throw it. He never fussed about that. And the other thing I did was... and really, I'm not sure this would be a good idea for you was that I equipped myself with lots of pillows and thick clothes and if he growled, I growled back. And when I moved in and he snapped, I basically flipped him over on his back in that particular spot. So I claimed that area in my apartment like it was my own again. Since then, even if he's tired, he'll let me move him wherever.
Pazu seemed to be conditional in that he was okay with all other pack order issues dominance - no food aggression at all.. but again he's only 8 months old. So hopefully that's it.
Generally his warnings seem to be like: he's growl, he'd get really still with a glare, and then he'd snap.
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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I definitely would NOT recommend alpha rolling the dog in this case (well I would never recommend it personally, but that's my opinion). I've seen numerous people who thought rolling a dog was the solution to all their problems and they only created even worse behaviors. And with a dog that is already biting people the owner may end up with a nasty bite to the face.
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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Agree with Jane.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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He has been left to develop this way and has developed a "Little Napoleon" complex which isn't that unusual for a bossy corgi. Goggle Nothing In Life Is Free and follow it as close as you can. It is relatively easy. Also, because you have young children, I would contact a dog trainer for help and an evaluation. If you really want to keep him, the investment could make all the difference. A corgi is a working breed that was developed to herd a few large cows and keep critters out of the garden so attitude is desirable but the owner has to be up for the training. I have one of those very bossy ones at my house and he is very safe around the Grandkids but it took a great deal of Obedience training for me to learn how to handle him.
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We looked at trainers, but the debate in our house is that we did training before. It was a class specifically for geared toward herding dogs and was clicker based. We found it very useful for training desired behavior - sit, stay, come, and tricks - but not very useful for discouraging bad behavior. We have trained dogs before and know about the penny jar and all. We wonder what a trainer can tell us/ do for us that we don't already know.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Do you use this everyday? Very important to keep up with it. I notice that this makes a big difference!
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A good trainer will show you how to handle a dog with behavior issues. A dog that bites in the same household with small children is a disaster waiting to happen if nothing is done IMO. There is a LOT more to training than teaching a dog basic obedience and tricks. Something is obviously not working as is if he is biting that frequently.
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I was thinking more of an evaluation of your corgis potential from a trainer. I have done lots of training with various dogs and still do not consider myself qualified to do that. Something has fallen through the cracks for you to have a 2 year old that bites like that. I do not want to alarm you but I would consider this a real problem, it could escalate quickly. It is very possible that NILF will help him take his rightful place in your home but a trainer may be able to give you more concrete advice.I have to watch how I handle my Sparty every day because he really wants to take over and he is 12 with many years of training behind him. His personality is very strong but he is a great friend and worth the effort. He probably would have fit well at a ranch but I picked him!
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Have you ever noticed a glare/stare before this happens? Livvy is people and kid friendly but has gone after 2 of my females one a rescue when she was pregnant and is very protective of her ball and does not want others (except Sage) playing with her ball.
I have seen this in obedience classes also where dogs will stare shortly before going after another dog.
Are the rules such as sleeping in the bedroom,eating and other just enfoerced now or always been the rules? Just wondering if he is feeling that something is different and can't tell you???
Just some thoughts.
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Permalink Reply by Karen Dadisman on
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Has he been checked by the vet to see if there are any medical issues, pain somewhere? This sometimes causes behavior problems also.
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