Tips on biting and stopping aggression?

[elonepb]

Butter is doing really great in his general housebreaking and is always such a lovebug when he wakes up from naps or is getting tired. Here is pic of him to make you keep reading



But sometimes Butter will go into aggression mode and I'm not quite sure how to break him out of it. This seems to be the common theme around here for pups, so at least I know I'm not alone in my struggles and concerns. Overall he's wonderful and there's nothing about his toys, visitors or anything specific that sets him off - but when he goes into his mode it's hard to "train" him out of it.

I've read some great tips here but they don't seem to be working. The first, yelping out like a littermate bit too hard worked at first, but now it's egging him on. Yelping makes him keep at it. Second, we went to a can of pennies. Worked at first, but now he wants to attack the can when we shake it. Third, breeder showed us how to flip him on his back and simulate his mother's neck bracing until he submits. He does submit but when you let go he's back at it again right away. If I tell him to sit, sometimes he will but as soon as I reinforce positively he's back at it. If I just ignore him and walk away he chases and bites the ankles or pants.

We have been trying to keep training him using different tips that let him know when it hurts but once he is in "aggression" mode it's hard to break him out of it. We probably are reinforcing it somehow, but I'd love to know other tips people have. Maybe he's just "playing" and doesn't realize I don't want to play like that.

 

[Jennifer Clark]

Ok this will sound really bad but keep in mind I did it without thinking because he bit me so hard. I bit him back

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[brutus77]

Well the only thing really that seemed to work for us really was a time out for 5-10 mins. We would just tell him no and pick him up and put him in his crate for a time out. I noticed he especially went into shark mode when he was tired. kinda like a fussy baby. Brutus is now 9 mos old and I think we are rounding the bend on shark mode. He likes to bite my son (who is 20) the best. My son did bite him back the other day and it was really the funniest thing I have ever seen. Brutus backed up, crouched down, and sprung into full blown attack mode. He thought it was a challenge to see who could bite the hardest.

 

[elonepb]

Well the only thing really that seemed to work for us really was a time out for 5-10 mins. We would just tell him no and pick him up and put him in his crate for a time out. I noticed he especially went into shark mode when he was tired. kinda like a fussy baby. Brutus is now 9 mos old and I think we are rounding the bend on shark mode. He likes to bite my son (who is 20) the best. My son did bite him back the other day and it was really the funniest thing I have ever seen. Brutus backed up, crouched down, and sprung into full blown attack mode. He thought it was a challenge to see who could bite the hardest.

Eek, I think that's definitely what we are looking to avoid. And I'd prefer never to use the crate as punishment because my GF and I work all day and require him to stay in there (outside of the dog walker breaks).

When he's playful biting we are just saying no and redirecting him to a chew toy. That seems to work fairly well.... but when he's in aggression mode he just wants to snap lock and hold. And the old tricks to get him to stop don't seem to be working much anymore.

 

[brutus77]

We never made it a punishment. The jail picture was a joke. our vet told us if redirection wasn't working to just remove him for 5 mins or so, so he would understand he could not behave like that and still interact with us. Sorry I gave you the wrong impression. He loves his crate and feels very safe there. He loves to go in and out when we are home.

 

[elonepb]

We never made it a punishment. The jail picture was a joke. our vet told us if redirection wasn't working to just remove him for 5 mins or so, so he would understand he could not behave like that and still interact with us. Sorry I gave you the wrong impression. He loves his crate and feels very safe there. He loves to go in and out when we are home.

That's great advice, do you have a particular method of initiating this 5 minute break (e.g. calmly place inside, give treat once calm, don't yell at him)? Does he put up a huge fight when it happens at first and then calm down? I just want to be sure he doesn't view it as a punishment.

 

[TubbysMom]

Ok this will sound really bad but keep in mind I did it without thinking because he bit me so hard. I bit him back

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Tubby's dad bit him back once and bam he never bit us again. It wasn't hard or to hurt him but he got the picture

 

[brutus77]

That's great advice, do you have a particular method of initiating this 5 minute break (e.g. calmly place inside, give treat once calm, don't yell at him)? Does he put up a huge fight when it happens at first and then calm down? I just want to be sure he doesn't view it as a punishment.

We just picked him up and gently put him in his crate. Bullys are extremely intelligent and Brutus got the message fast. I found that most times he was biting so much because he was over tired and needed a nap anyway. Usually he was ok with redirection to a toy and us telling him "this is what you bite on". Butter is adorable and will catch on quick.

 

[JennieS]

Ruthie is aggressive with other dogs, not people. Sorry, I have no advice. I really just wanted to say that Butter is extremely cute.

 

[Jennifer Clark]

Tubby's dad bit him back once and bam he never bit us again. It wasn't hard or to hurt him but he got the picture

I did it out of reflex LOL I did the same thing with my son and he never bit me again he either

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[DudleysMom]

Dudley was a beast. I was afraid of him. He would go absolutely berserk! I was being terrorized by an 18 pound (at the time) puppy! The trainer likened it to a toddler being over-tired. She said to put him in his crate and see if he didn't fall asleep. Sure enough...every time. I was like you...I didn't want to make it a punishment, because I was gone from 6:50 am, home at 12:15 and then gone again until 6 pm. It doesn't take a lot of play or exertion to make a bulldog tired. I am being honest here...for awhile, I was thinking of finding him a new home. But the crate nap really helped! I'd just pick him up and tell him it was time for "sleepy-sleep" (ok, don't judge, I talked to him like a baby). His legs would be going, he'd be trying to bite me...I'd put him in his crate and he would bark and cry... but after a minute or two...little snores! He'd wake up in 10 or 15 minutes and be my sweet baby boy again!

 

[Samantha Orts]

We have the same thing going on. June is 13 weeks and is really a fan of biting the hands and feet. Normally we can get a hold of a toy and redirect her, but she does get it her "fiesty modes" as we call it and we have put her in time out in her crate for a few minutes with no toys, bed, etc. She stays in her crate when we are at work also, but when she goes in there normally she has toys, gets a treat, etc. When it's time out, she gets none of that and it seems like she can tell the difference between the time out crate and the bed time crate. She doesn't like being in there while my boyfriend and I are home so she sits and calms down and when we let her out after a few minutes she is a normal puppy again. Try it a few times and see if it works.

 

[brutus77]

Exactly!! They really are like babies. They don't know how to express that they are tired and cranky. It really does work. Butter will not think he is being punished, he will most likely take a nice nap. I promise he will be fine. Isn't it funny how crazy we are about our babies??

 

[PABULLDOG]

I put a lil hot sauce on my are and the stops her from biting me. Now if i can only get her to play with other dogs.

 

[Kimmy]

Excellent advice!! I thought it was just me and Hurley that went through this. I too reached a point in training efforts where I just realized that I wasn't helping Hurley anymore. I cried, my hubby cried and Hurley kept terrorizing us. I tried all of the things you have tried. What changed was when she outgrew her "puppy" crate. It was a collapsable one/wire. We hauled out the next size crate. This was the plastic 2 piece ones. She hated her puppy crate .. she would pee in it as soon as I put her in it. And I swear she did it just because she could. LOL With the new crate she would just curl up and go to sleep.. now back to the terror. I kept using above mentioned training techniques and when enough was enough I too would just pick her up and put her in the "box" and I would say very loudly to her " BOX " an in she went. After about 2 weeks we developed a routine where she had actual naptimes. It worked so well that all I have to say now is " BOX " and off she goes on her own to her box. Also when those razor sharp puppy teeth were all gone it wasn't as stressful because I wasn't bleeding all day long.. I wish you luck and stick with it the message you want to give is " this is unexeptable behaviour " and this is what happens when you do it !! My first bulldog was a mush never an grouchy moment.

p.s. she will be 2 in January and she still has her scheduled naptimes