kat3cats

I need help with this issue, and I'm at the point of rehoming/relinquishing Jack (6 months). Last week he bit my 6 yr old in the face over a piece of chocolate that the child had. We have always worked on bite inhibition, so it was a hard scratch/bruise. Next it was right after dinner and my 6 yr old was scraping his plate in the trash- wham- a bite on the leg (scratch). After both of these incidents, Jack was unceremoniously put into his crate (with a large blanket over the front cause I was really mad). This evening, he bit my husband, a tooth snagged on the back of his hand and blood was drawn. In the course of a week, both my husband and son have been bitten and it's over HUMAN food. He is fed regularly on high quality food. He'll eat from your hand (if it's his food or his snacks). We're getting really scared over here, and I don't want someone unknowledgable to have this dog-- the pound isn't an option for us. Am I gonna have to crate him while I cook, while we eat, and after we've cleaned everything up? Crating while we have snacks? Help me out here please. Thank you.

I'm printing all of these out for my husband and the rest of the family. I feel like I'm talking to the floor when I tell everyone to put away flashlights. Jack is already pretty bad with this. I can't open a blind or turn on the ceiling fan without this behavior starting up. Summer should be interesting.

He's 5 1/2 months old. I got him at 4 months. Generally he's a great boy, unless it's time to go out for some leash work. If my preschoolers come out to jump on the trampoline, I have to drag him around the back of the house and into the house or he will attempt to pull my arm out of it's socket. Thankfully, the bridge is out on our road or he would be jerking me all over the place. We have minimal traffic now unless someone comes to visit or turn around in our driveway before the bridge. Severe tire chaser for sure.

Hi Patricia, He certainly looks like a big handful. Here's what I have at the moment that I'm reading. Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out by Laura VanArendonk Baugh- Lots of layman's terms, easy read, and she injects humor too. Positive Perspectives by Pat B. Miller Control Unleashed The Puppy Program by Leslie McDevitt-- I found this one harder to follow so I signed up with the Yahoo! Group for clarification and assistance with it-- the group is very active. I read the boards here TONS. There's so much knowledge here and I use it. I love it here! I know exactly what you mean about the power of that jerk-- we have columns on our front porch, and my cousin drove up unexpectedly. Jack went one way, lightning fast towards his car around the column as we were coming out of the house. He jerked so hard he nearly brought it down, and it's reinforced with cement! He's only 5 months old! This and other reactive issues is why I bought the Fired Up book. Not much of what I've tried with him is working, and the leash seems to be something just to jerk the livin heck out of me with. I think most of that may be-- just guessing here, cause the person that had Jack before us is a "sensitive subject" that nobody wants to question...-- but maybe the first 4 months of life he was allowed/encouraged(?) to drag around his human. Good luck to you, and bless you for taking on this big boy.

well I lived out there over 15 years ago, but here's my 2 cents! I lived in Issaquah. There are loads to do out that way, and there used to be some pet friendly apartments too. Lots of trails, and I'm trying to remember the name of the "mountain" out that way-- I believe it was Cougar Mtn and Squawk(sp?) Mtn trails. www.everytrail.com is a good place to look. I lived in Issaquah BECAUSE I hate the "big city"-- Seattle was very intimidating to me! We looked at several apartments downtown and, because I had an 8 year old at the time, was very concerned about safety. The good thing about that whole Seattle area is that buses run EVERYWHERE so you're good to go on commutes. We had an aussie shepherd at the time and we took her so many places. She was just an awesome hiking partner and explorer-- we never did any of the other stuff with her. Seattle has SO many suburbs that you don't HAVE to live right downtown. "Downtown" used to be the most expensive place in the area to live. Good luck in your search, the NW is an awesome (albeit, expensive, to me at least...) place.

See I was thinking that the "off-switch" was something separate to be trained, not the lifestyle adjustments to behavior that we do everyday. There are days when I think we're getting nowhere with Jack... then I'll meet someone that knew him before we got him and they're like, "wow, he's such a totally different dog, so happy and relaxed." I guess we're going to keep having these moments til he grows into the dog we'd like him to be. So, again, thank you all for the responses and clarification, I just thought I was "missing something."

I'm still trying to figure out the off switch. I've googled for it, read my books, and I haven't figured out a way to learn it, to teach it. I /have/ read about playing with the pup just to the point of where they lose concentration, then stopping the game until they chill out, even for a second, then to mark that behavior and then continue the game. I /think/ this is part of the "off switch game." Not sure. When I stop play like that he just turns into a thug and a bully and I end up putting his toys away. :/ By thug/bully, I mean that he jumps on me, snaps at the toy, circles me to nip-- no settling at all. Then it's "TOO BAD" and I put the toys away. Maybe soon he'll figure it out. Good luck to you too.

What an awesome idea! I'm going to me nudging my husband in this direction-- we're in NC and it gets pretty dang hot out here too in the summer.

Thanks yall Lots of info to ponder.

Yeah, I'm getting frustrated. I've tried signing up for two separate classes in my area. One was canceled for "lack of interest" and that particular trainer is moving out of the area. The next one I signed up for, not only was I the ONLY participant, the trainer didn't even bother to show up. That class was in a town 20 minutes from me. Jack and I are coming along in our relationship/training fun, but I really wanted a class for dog/people socialization. We live out in the boonies and encounter nothing on our walks besides ourselves and of course the fun of sniffing the wildlife spoor (Jack, not me LOL). I live in Rockingham County, NC. The other options for us would be Danville, VA (30 mins away) or Greensboro NC (1 hr). Is there anybody near me that knows of some place for meetings with fun people and fun dogs? I talked to one guy in Reidsville who has his dogs in agility but seems very reluctant for fundamentals (for later training) or pup fun besides his dog daycare business.

It's good to hear from you Derek, this is one thread I've always followed closely. I know that with teaching the sit to Jack, it started as a default behavior then I eventually gave a name to it. I still have to w.a.i.t.....for him to get bored enough to sit (he's 5 months old now) but then I gush about it "gooooood sit!" etc. My clicker books say to "shape" to sit if it's not one of the default behaviors for your dog. Like if his hind end even starts to bend into a sit, to click and treat for that and so on. I know these experienced BC parents will probably have better and "more to the point" advice than I.

Haha! Those tugs are awesome, Camden's mom. My aussie used to be that way when I used to be into sports. Jack.. well, so far I know he doesn't like it when I'm sick and gets upset that my cat Moe wants to sit on me and give comfort. I got a lot of nose-in-the-face bonks this past weekend when I was trying to lay on the couch. Like, "hey. Hey. Mom, get up." We haven't had him long enough to see if he reacts to sports or high emotions yet. Our kids get him pretty stirred up, and surprisingly he's great. I expected problems from my kids LOUDNESS but so far they all just get wound up and run around the house. He settles down when they do, thank God!

We live in an area that people just love to drop off cats and dogs and just drive away. When I was growing up we didn't have "animal control." We had the neighbor with cows, the neighbor that raised chickens, and another neighbor with goats. If we couldn't find somewhere to take them, one of these men would end up shooting whatever animal was harassing the livestock. Then we had me, wanting to bring all these animals home and having my parents tell me-- "when you grow up, and have your own house, YOU can make these decisions..." My dad was one of those men whose "job" was to put down our animals. I remember very well a dog of ours that had gotten a taste for chickens, and my dad explained to us what had to happen. It wasn't easy, and it was one of the few times I've seen my dad cry. Of course this is also the man that shot 3 pitbulls off of his dog, carried Ted (his dog) to the vet, and nursed it back to health-- wound care and everything. Towards the end of Ted's life (8 yrs later), my dad would carry him outside to "do his business" and hand-fed him daily. That was one dog my dad couldn't bring himself to put down. Ted ended up passing away in his sleep a few years ago. All that said, you have to do what you have to do. I, personally, can't do it. I'd have to choose going to the vet to get it done. For food... well that's a different area altogether and it doesn't bother me very much. I'm just not GREAT at it and prefer going to our local farmers for our food.

Oh, husband got bitten... by me. I chewed his head off (after I laughed at him for being peed on, of course). That's why I train the pup... and the kids... and him.. LOL

I don't let the dog on the furniture or the bed, as he has his own spots. His cot, his crate, his pillow. It's not for any dominance reason, it's from bad experience in other people's houses. I knew quite a few people with 7-12 dogs that have complete run of the houses/couches/beds and there was absolutely no training there. Of course we no longer visit those people because the husband got bit and I was concerned for our kids. Speaking of our kids, they're still small, and sometimes our daughter crawls in the bed with us in the middle of the night. I don't want any startle responses from the pup. Also my husband is a complete loony when it comes to the carpet in the bedroom. He loses his mind when I wear my shoes in there. (LOL )