# Stay Or Go??



## Benny's (Jul 18, 2012)

Benny is almost 5 months old. He is a very smart puppy and has learned come, sit, down and is doing very well in house training. He has always mouthed but by using the mister water bottle that has gotten better. I have recently enlarged his area to include both the kitchen (his former domain) and the tv room. He has become a terror. He insists on being on the furniture and if I correct him, he bites me. When I correct him I tell him "Off" and if he doesn't move then I tug on his leash. I have to have the leash on because if I reach for him, he will always bite. I have checked with the vet and there doesn't seem to be a problem there. I have also talked to a very good trainer who suggested putting a mat on the chairs he favors or, if things don't improve, letting the breeder have him back as in her opinion he is a very dominate dog. The water bottle doesn't seem to register with him any more other than trying to chew it if he can reach it. I don't want to give him up but the bites are painful and getting worse. Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

I think your trainer needs to do a bit more work with you and him.. Surely telling you to take him back is a complete cop out. Can you get a new trainer? Or speak to someone who specialises in the behaviour side. I'm sure it's not too late to teach him about the biting. 5 months is still young. Lola is very nippy at the minute but I'm hopeful we can over come it with some obedience classes and socialisation, she will also be attending doggy day care from next week. I really hope someone can help you with Benny. He sounds like a smart pup


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## Benny's (Jul 18, 2012)

The trainer I'm using is the one most recommended in my area. She has a really good reputation. The hardest part is finding some consequence for the biting. The biting is really bad and he seems to be doing it more when he is disciplined. The water mister is a thing of the past for discipline. What do you use for discipline?


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

You are spot on when you say he seems to be doing it more when he is disciplined. You have started a method of punishment by using the mister and by the sound of things he is reacting to that. 

Molly was 17 months old when I got her and was rehomed for aggresion to the humans and other dogs in her family. She also reacted if they wanted to remove her from chair or beds. She is not at all dominant and I think you need a new trainer if they is their best opinion. You need a positive reward based trainer. If you were in the UK I would say you need an APDT trainer who is guaranteed to not use punishment and use positive reward based methods.

Once you start using punishment you damage the relationship with your pup as you have discovered. The answer is not what to use for discipline but more how to teach the dog to behave when asked so you do not need to discipline. 

I taught Molly to get down from furniture when asked using treats and rewards when she did as asked. 

In terms of a consequence for biting - for a young pup which is all yours is the most effective thing is to remove yourself from the situation - so withdraw your attention totally from the pup for a few minutes. Using discipline ends up in an increasing cycle and your poor pup is already telling you it is stressed out by your aggresive behaviour in using the spray so you need to build confidence and forget the talk of dominance.


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## RuthMill (Jun 30, 2012)

When Lola gets ratty, nipping and/or biting I take her to the kitchen for time out. If I am in the kitchen I leave the room. I do this for 5 minutes then if she is quiet I go in and treat her. As soon as she starts misbehaving I do time out again for another 5 minutes. This sounds monotonous but honestly it works. She only needs to be out in time out once then after it she is well behaved. I will continue to do this until she is old enough to understand time out as a "command" then hopefully all I will have to do is say time out and she will behave. It has worked for other people. Just exert yourself as leader of the pack and make sure everyone in your family reinforces this to Benny. If he is naughty say no in a gruff voice. Take him to another room that is safe for him telling him it's time out. Then if he is quiet and behaving well in time out go in praise him and treat him with a high value treat. I'm no expert but this is working for us. They learn very quickly and want to please. He might think biting is a game...


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

Hi Mary, Dexter used to be pretty mouthy at 5 months, trying to discipline him always made him worse. He used to bite me quite hard (although never piercing the skin) when I tried to brush him which was every day! Staying calm, time out and lots of treats for good behaviour did the trick. He is now very gentle and well-behaved and will even tolerate brushing as he knows if he sits still he will get his favourite treat afterwards.


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## MillieDog (Jun 1, 2011)

2ndhandgal is right.

I'm not happy about punishment training, it seems self defeating. Cockapoo's are very clever dogs, but not aggressive dogs, they not need your will imposed on them. They are very friendly and only too willing to please, and will know when you're pleased with them.

Please try and find a trainer who works with positive training and if possible clicker training, which I can't praise highly enough. Dogs learn so quickly with it if you get the golden rules right ie click the exact piece of behaviour you like, this may be a step by step process not the actual final result. Always treat whether when you click, even if you made a mistake.

I think Benny is just confused and standing his ground.


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## puppylove (Jul 25, 2011)

I agree with everything 2ndhandhal has said and from my own personal experience getting into a head to head never works.

Eg Beau was chewing a very large and tasty chew. I didn't want him to eat it all at once as he can have digestive problems. I stupidly tried to take it and he clamped his teeth round it. I quickly realised my mistake and now he willingly leaves it if I" swap" it for a piece of cheese.

I got the result I wanted and without a confrontation which might have escalated. Your dog is so very young to be labelling it as aggressive and I agree that if you use positive methods you will rebuild the trust.


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## Benny's (Jul 18, 2012)

Thank you all for your comments which are quite helpful. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to reward good behaviour - that is how I have taught him everything else. The bites are quite painful and the sight of blood running down my arm gets me caught up in his bad behaviour instead of trying to teach him. Wish me luck.


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## theaccessman (Mar 12, 2012)

As stated above you would be doing yourself and your dog a huge favor to find a new trainer as soon as possible. "Letting the breeder have him back" is a sign that this trainer is not qualified to train dogs. Positive reinforcement based on food reward for good behavior is the answer not punishment with a water bottle for bad behavior. You will also need to learn about establishing yourself as the pack leader with this dog it is a simple thing to do and needs to be done with this dog as soon as possible. I have attached a link to get you started on pack leadership.

http://www.cbrrescue.org/articles/packleader.htm


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Good luck - your pup is only young so should be easily turned round with the emphasis on teaching what you do want rather than what you dont want.

The whole Alpha/Dominance situation is largely discredited these days. Some of those rules to establish alpha are fine common sense advice - but long stays and reprimands are not the way to go in my opinion and are heading down the aversive confrontational approach which you do not need to do.

http://www.fun4fido.co.uk/blog/debunking-the-dominance-myth.html

Molly is now a happy friendly member of my family, she comes for cuddles on the bed and sofa - but also know the rules and gets down when asked.


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## MillieDog (Jun 1, 2011)

Do let us know how you get on. Good luck with the positive training method, I'm sure Benny will soon understand what is required of him.

Mind its, difficult not to sneak your dog onto the couch for a cuddle. Maybe if he stops biting, you wont mind he being up there with you.


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## janee (Mar 25, 2012)

LIbby was like that as a puppy she would not get off the furniture and would go for my hands if I tried to push her off, so I used a slip lead and popped it over her head, its a phase they do grow out of and I found its better to use a treat to tempt them off the furniture and praise them for getting off. You can also own the sofa so they don't go on unless you let them, basically you stand in front of the sofa and block them when they try to get on, its basically body language that stops it. Libby is 4 now and gets off the furniture the second I tell her, its a game when they are puppies.


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## janee (Mar 25, 2012)

Libby was our first dog and so the huma nfamily and new pup had to learn how to deal with each other at the same time. I had watched Ceasar on the TV and he had me convinced that her behaviour was dominate so we stopped her sitting on our knees etc she had to sit on the floor next to us, I now believe its utter rubbish and we missed out on those puppy cuddles. A year later we got Teddy and hes always on our laps, we were concerned when we got him that we had actually been spoilt by Libby because she really was a very good puppy, if she hadn't of been we would not have got another. Teddy obeyed the word 'no' from the first day we got him, we knew what we were doing and had the confidence to deal with him with no fears of being bitten etc. I certainly lacked confidence in dealing with Libby in the early days and it makes such a difference to how they behave towards us.


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## animal lover (Jul 18, 2012)

A very dominant dog needs to be well controlled but they can be made submissive have you tried time out by making his area smaller when he does this.as for biting well judah has bit me but it only took me standing firm to put an end to that.show no fear or the dog will rules. if you can see a dog as a two year old that never grows up it helps. actions have consequences and you cant back down, A strong stance should do wonders/ hope this helps


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