7 Month Old Shih Tzu - Bit me for first time!

[Guest Anonymous]

i have a 7 month old full breed Shih Tzu male puppy. he is neutered and has always been very sweet, loving and playful. he is often very stubborn when i take him outside and often does not come when i call him...until he is ready. this morning he got in my dirty laundry and when i went to take a sock he was chewing away from him he growled then snapped and bit me on the thumb. it broke the skin and bled. i've never whipped him before but have used treats to potty train him, etc. after the bite this morning i whipped his butt and yelled bad dog. is this normal? did i do the right thing? what if this happens again, how should i deal with this. thanks!

[courtnek]

this dog also sounds like he has "possesion" issues...once his, he thinks its HIS and no one can take it. NILIF will help with the pack structure, but YOU need to enforce the policy that EVERYTHING IS YOURS, and you can take whatever you want from him.


you need to make sure he gets NOTHING (not food, not walks, not even petting) until he has done something to earn it. even a simple sit.
as time goes on, make the work harder. sit/stay. sit/lay down. sit-dont-move-til-I say-you-can......

dogs need to know their place in the pack, and that place should always be beneath you, and every other human in the house. even a baby. for safety, if nothing else.

[Guest Anonymous]

this is a cut and paste from another poster...

I think NILIF is a great idea! your dog will learn all sorts of manners from this and the annoying behaviors tend to just dissapear.

The one thing I want to point out is that biting is not acceptable. it is something that can be fixed with NILIF, but I think that something more immediate and impressive is warranted in a situation where a dog bites its handler--be it a warning or a real bite.

my boy ares bit me about a month and a half ago. he was playing with another puppy. all day, they had been playing and they would get a little rough. this time, they were getting possessive over a toy. not really thinking, I just reached down (half talking to another person) and put my arm around his chest. he bit my face--i assume because he was already wound up and thought it was the other dog. I dont believe in corporal punishment for dogs, in general. but, that day, he got it. I didnt roll him or anything like that, just grabbed him by the back of the neck and told him firmly "NO!" several times and stared him right in the eyes. he got the idea.

The one thing I will say about corporal punishment, is that you need to make it something they understand. the closer to dog language you can get, the better. when you "whip his butt," make it mean something to
him. i dont like the alpha roll for most people. get down to his level, look him in the eyes. hold him very tightly and tell him "NO" very firmly. (be careful that he doesnt bite you again). slappin him does nothing. also, you cannot hesitate. YOU ARE THE ALPHA. an alpha dog would lay right into a lower pack member for that behavior, you have to do the same!

if your dog nips, bites, or otherwise, CORRECT him. there is nothing more UNNATURAL for a dog than to grow up without corrections. you dont have to collapse their world for every little infraction, but you should let them know that certain things are not acceptable (biting is one, food aggression is another).

I know some people are going to disagree with me, but most dogs are very handler sensitive and sensitive to correction/praise. some dogs arent and they need to be corrected a little bit.

Joseph

[rotten_two]

if i might just chime in with a little different spin on things . . .

i will start by saying that i am not discounting the "say please" or nilif regiment. it is quite effective in teaching your pup manners and just what is his place within a pack. however in order for nilif to work you must have some basic cues in place (sit,down, etc) -- we'll get to this point later.

i think i am gonna play devil's advocate here in order to highlight a few things that could be done differently.

first of all here are some of my major questions/comments

1) have you taken your pup to any type of training class? if so was is geared toward positive methods? i recommend puppy kindergarten for continued socialization and early manners.

2) that said, does your pup respond reliably to a sit or down cue? if not you should practice sit and down at the very least.

3) if he is not coming when called i don't think he is "stubborn" rather i think he needs more recall training. work on the "come" command, alot. remember come means stop everything and run to me as fast as you can! start in low distraction environments (inside) and work your way up to outside (on-leash) and then eventually outside (off leash). at 7 months i don't expect he is coming when called. i also want to point out that when you give your dog a command you better be willing and able to enforce it. for practice outside (especially) i suggest a long line so that he can have 20-30 feet of freedom but if you call him "pup come" and he doesn't come you can go get him. when you go get him you have to be happy and upbeat. take him to the place from whence you called him (praising all the way because he is coming afterall) ask for a sit and then release him. here's the point -- if you call "come" and don't enforce it you only degrade the value of the command. he will learn that the word come doesn't have any relevance to him. so practice with lots of treats and exuberance so he learns how to win the game of come! be careful not to practice come only when you need to take him inside -- lest he learns that come = go inside.

4) how did he get in the dirty laundry? 7 months is a bit early for unsupervised run of the house. tether him to your belt or crate him if you can't watch him at times. until you've had time to train him about what is on/off limits in the house and until he abides by those rules he needs constant supervision and reminders of what is acceptable! next time he gets into something he shouldn't i want you to roll up a newspaper, go to a mirror and smack yourself silly for allowing it to happen. also it would be helpful to have a command for him to "give" something from his mouth (out, drop it). work on things of low value first and make your way up to socks. always trade up! if he gets a tissue offer a treat for the trade. treats may have to be very high value (like chicken or liver) for certain items. praise him always for deciding to trade. hopefully this will help you with the guarding issues. he learns that when he gives something up he gets something way better so it is ok for him to forfeit a sock.

5) punishment is only effective if a) it occurs almost simultaneously with the action being punished and b) it is severe enuff to prevent the behavior in the future but not so severe as to destroy the dog's psyche. basically humans are not very effective punishers in this aspect. what have you really taught pup when you smack him? have you taught him an appropriate behavior? nope, just that you are sometimes dangerous!
another thing to consider is that in some dogs violence begets violence. so say you try to take the sock, he growls, you still try, so now he snaps, you still try so now he bites, you smack him, he gets even more aroused bites again this time maybe multiple times, see the cycle?

don't get me wrong i in no way condone puppy teeth on human flesh. i think you need to work on some basic commands and help him realize the correct choices. i think alot of people are quick to say establish dominance but i prefer to think of it as showing good leadership skills. a good leader does not often need to resort to aggression. i tend to think of my dogs as children and this respect i don't do anything to them that i would not do to a child.

if you require further assistance pm me and i can give you some reading material that will help :) sorry this was so long and i hope it helps.