08-17-2016, 05:39 AM
Shawny, it may be that your pup was just in a phase. I posted previously that I had a pup which enjoyed biting. One night, I remember coming home and finding my partner and our son hugging each other against a wall with our cute little pup standing in front of them and looking up expectantly. They were both upset and said they couldn't move or he'd bite them. That wasn't an isolated occasion. At one stage, my partner told me we should consider returning our pup to the breeder. The thing is that pups bite because it's fun. It's their way of playing. Watch a litter of pups and you'll see a lot of biting of rear legs. If they stayed in the litter, they'd eventually realise from their siblings' reactions that it wasn't fun for them or the mother would sort them out. But humans aren't able to simulate dog-on-dog discipline. Even worse, the biting hurts us much more than other dogs. We have thinner skin and bites which would only annoy another dog may well draw blood from us.
The biting, however, pretty much stopped within a month. There wasn't any silver bullet. We did try to let the pup know he was causing pain by squealing, as his litter mates would have done. And bigger dogs down the dog park would periodically make it clear that they wouldn't tolerate that behaviour. But the biggest factor in solving the problem was time and maturation. A month in the life of a pup is an eternity. He soon lost any desire to bite. If his teeth accidentally touched me, he would act as if he'd come into contact with an electric fence. He shows absolutely no aggression towards people. And all that happened without professional intervention or dominance training.
Could it be that your pup's aggression wasn't a sign that he had his eyes on the top job? Might it have been boisterous rough play or mere bad behaviour which needed correction? Pups aren't really like Mafiosi looking for an opportunity to whack the boss so they can take over. The very fact that the previous dogs you had didn't need dominance training should be proof of that.
By the way, I've assumed that your dog was a new pup. But trainers such as Victoria Stillwell have repeatedly shown that older "power breed" dogs with aggression problems can be turned around with positive reinforcement and by addressing the causes of the aggression. The idea they have to be dominated by a strong pack leader has been discredited.
I hope Woodstock won't believe that he has to buy into that old wive's tale if he buys a "power breed".
The biting, however, pretty much stopped within a month. There wasn't any silver bullet. We did try to let the pup know he was causing pain by squealing, as his litter mates would have done. And bigger dogs down the dog park would periodically make it clear that they wouldn't tolerate that behaviour. But the biggest factor in solving the problem was time and maturation. A month in the life of a pup is an eternity. He soon lost any desire to bite. If his teeth accidentally touched me, he would act as if he'd come into contact with an electric fence. He shows absolutely no aggression towards people. And all that happened without professional intervention or dominance training.
Could it be that your pup's aggression wasn't a sign that he had his eyes on the top job? Might it have been boisterous rough play or mere bad behaviour which needed correction? Pups aren't really like Mafiosi looking for an opportunity to whack the boss so they can take over. The very fact that the previous dogs you had didn't need dominance training should be proof of that.
By the way, I've assumed that your dog was a new pup. But trainers such as Victoria Stillwell have repeatedly shown that older "power breed" dogs with aggression problems can be turned around with positive reinforcement and by addressing the causes of the aggression. The idea they have to be dominated by a strong pack leader has been discredited.
I hope Woodstock won't believe that he has to buy into that old wive's tale if he buys a "power breed".