Small dog problem..

[vass0922]

A friend of mine has a small dog, about a year old. Well this dog seems to love tearing into paper stuff.

Its also gotten to start biting her occasionally First she got bit when she was trying to get him to quit fighting with his little brother. Then just today she was trying to get a kleenex he was eating away from him and the dog tried to bite her again

Any idea how to solve the two problems? (biting her, and the paper thing... dog also loves the toilet paper roll lol)

[Martoch]

Yeah, rub his face all in it and show him where the newspaper is...oh wait, that's not what you're talking about is it?
Threaten to take him to the dentist, all kids/puppies hate that!

[Epidemic]

Personally I am partial to a sharp loud no. I usually give a smack on the nose with a rolled up piece of paper. It makes a louder noise in conjunction with the no is pretty effective. A few days of that and usually they get the idea.

I do not know if it is a good idea to stop them from fighting though. That is normal play for puppies as long as no one is drawing blood.

[Martoch]

Puppy fights are actually good...in the wild the dogs would establish a hierarchy and the little squabbles they have as pups gives them early practice. Now I'm not saying you should let them fight all of the time...as Epidemic mentioned, if it gets bloody or out of hand then it's time to step in and separate them. You gotta let them know that you're the top dog around these parts.

[Knothead]

Its also gotten to start biting her occasionally First she got bit when she was trying to get him to quit fighting with his little brother. Then just today she was trying to get a kleenex he was eating away from him and the dog tried to bite her again ---Vass0922

Uh, that is SO not a good sign.

A dog snapping at its owner can indicate a deep psychological problem. Is this one of those "Purebred" dogs?

[draboo]

very good point,knot. a friend had a cocker that had to be put down,it was just too insane. nice LOOKING dog,tho absolutly no concept of authority.

after fatdog goes,which will probably be in the next two years(bloodhounds dont live much past 10),it ll be a good ol` mutt for us,if we get another.

[Theophylact]

Barbara Woodhouse's No Bad Dogs is supposedly the definitive book on controlling your dog humanely.

[Epidemic]

Knothead,

Dog biting an owner may be a bad sign. It really depends on the type of biting. I am speaking to the puppy nips. If these are bites out of anger or fear then you have a problem.


All puppies bite. At least any I have seen. They treat you as one of year peers just like they do to their mom. Their mom corrects them with a snarl and a snap. I have always corrected with the "barked NO!" and a snap with a thin rolled up paper. You do not hit them with the sunday times or a telephone book.

You do not hit them with the sunday times or a telephone book.

[Warthog]

Personally I am partial to a sharp loud no. I usually give a smack on the nose with a rolled up piece of paper. It makes a louder noise in conjunction with the no is pretty effective. A few days of that and usually they get the idea.

I agree...having your dog always know that YOU are in control is the first step to obedience, IMO. Even as little as going where YOU want to go on the walk, and not necessarily where the dog wants to go, here there and everywhere smelling things...the dog quickly finds out he/she follows you, not the other way around.

My friends little hot dog dog -whatever tehy are called - was 3 years old when they got it. It used to bite him and be very disobedient......over a few months it pretty much stopped doing that stuff. I'm sure it would have been much quicker if my friend was more bold (aka bossy) with the dog (what I was saying before)...it would chew on the carpet, he would say "no" or "stop", etc. and it wouldn't listen. Meanwhile, I would get annoyed at the dog because we were trying to play a video game and I'd just go over, pick the dumb dog up and plop it in it's bed. Being very direct is the best way.

Warthog