Biting, nipping, jumping and all round PITA

[theothersparticus]

I took Bella to her dog training class yesterday. It was her second class and she was winding herself up as there was a GSD there she'd never met before and couldn't keep away from it, at one point they were barking at each other.

When it came to walking around the training area (with other large dogs) she got extreemly agitated and started jumping up at the GSD and me, she was also biting her lead and nipping at me. I have been trying to get her to not bite by shouting 'OUCH!' whenever it happens and ignoring her but when she does it on the lead it's harder as I can't just drop the lead. She managed to bite me quite painfully on the second walk around, it didn't puncture the skin but I really wanted to wallop her (I didn't). The trainer suggested giving her a huge tug on her training collar but when she has hold of the lead in her jaws it's quite hard, she just thinks it's time for tug-of-war. This is something she also does on walks but she's never bitten so hard before. I use a rope lead that's quite thick, but not tug toy thick.

Can anyone offer any ideas on stopping this behaviour? My hand is still a bit numb over 12 hours later and more than anything it's embarrassing as hell when everyone else's dog can behave itself.

I can't remember how old Bella is? Our 9 month old rescue pup has recently started nipping/jumping up to get attention, or when anxious/excited, and I discovered that yelping, saying 'no',etc didn't work at all.

What has worked is giving him a positive command - something he can do, and knows how to do like 'sit' and 'stay'. In other words, not telling him what I DON'T want him to do, but telling him what I DO want him to do.

No idea how you could apply that in training class though. It sounds as though the anxiety/excitement were too much for her - could you walk a little further away from the other dogs to start with, maybe??

I was going to suggest along the same lines as Elibean - get Sit consistent and use that to divert from unwanted behaviours. You probably need to work on 'Drop' command too at home.

Do you keep talking to Bella while you're walking round - I know its easier said than done but you want her attention on you.

Another thought off the top of my head - don't know if its a good one or not, maybe someone else can comment - I wonder if you could impregnate the rope lead with something that tastes unpleasant to your dog.

Bella's about 5 months old and very needy, I was hoping I could use this need to be my friend to my benefit when it comes to training but no such luck.

I've been trying to use 'Sit' to distract her when we go past people on walks as she loves to jump up and say hello (not helped by passers-by who encourage it) and it works on and off. Amazingly her 'Leave It' is really good in the class, and okay at home.

The training room is quite small and as we go in the large dogs group there really isn't a chance to get some distance between Bella and other dogs. When Bella's paw was wrapped up we tried putting pepper on it to stop her chewing it, she seemed to like it but she seems to have an aversion to orange so I'll try rubbing the lead with orange peel.

Yes, apparently lemon or oil of cloves is quite good (I was told to put on things we didn't want pup to chew when he first came, but didn't in the end).

Funny, Mouse's 'Leave it' is his best command too - except with small furries!

Whoo - what sort of training class and trainer do you have - really time to look for a new class and new trainer

Your dog sound completely stressed out by the whole training situation - small room large dogs too much movement.

If you were in my class I would ask you to come into the class, treat your dog and walk out again do this for a while until the dog is happy. You could also just sit and watch. However if your dog showed any of those behaviours I would suggest one to one training to start with or training outdoor where it is not so intense for the dog.

Your dog is showing an emotional reaction to a situation and your trainer encourages you to pull and drag him hard on the lead - this will just increase the stress levels and make the behaviour worse.

You need to teach and train the behaviours in a calm quiet environment and then move to an environment with more distractions once the behaviour is learnt.

Absolutely teach alternative positive behaviours, teach a good heel, teach a good sit, teach a good down and ask for that behaviour rather than the jumping up or biting the lead. Teach the heel in the garden without a lead so there is nothing to bite then when heel is learnt teach with a lead and no more lead biting.

The trainers are either members of the british institute of professional dog trainers or are working towards becoming members. I don't really know of any others in the area, this one was recommended by two different vets in my area.

I might take her to the next session with a toy and ask to sit on the sides for a bit. The main thing I wanted for her from these sessions was to be able to interact with other people and dogs without going crazy. I can't wait to introduce her to my niece and nephew but at the moment, I'm certain she'll jump all over them

I would be very concerned that you are leaving a training class and needing to ask for advice on how to behave in the training class - if you get what I mean.

Unfortunately the British Institute of Professional Dog Trainers is no quarantee that they are an experienced qualified good trainer - some members are ex service and police dogs handlers - there is no way I would follow those training methods.

You can get to one level of the british institute of professional dog trainers by doing a one week course

If the situation you are taking her into is making the behaviour worse, it will not be appropriate for teaching her new behaviour.

When she meets your niece and nephew have her on a lead if she goes to jump up walk away with her, ask her to sit and she can then have a stroke from niece and nephew, she will forget, and try to stand up just take her away a bit and then reapproach.

I've just done a bit more research on the BIPDT and my original feeling has been confirmed.

It has been established a long time and many members still work on the dominance pack dog theory. It does not have any worthwhile code of conduct or training method that expects it members to follow unlike APDT who do have a strict code of conduct regarding training methods that members have to follow.

Yes, I thought it was a bit that you need advice about the training class. Here is APDT list of trainers, maybe there's one near you (I don't know about the differnet bodies myself but if minimuu recommends that's got to be good!)