Hi, hoping for some advice!

Barney is nearly 7 months old and still nips at our hands and clothes. We have tried all the advice on here such as 'eeking' or putting him outside or in his crate for time out but he still does it. We followed the bite inhibition advice that someone kindly posted but it doesn't sem to have been very effective in our case.
It is very frustrating because otherwise he is progressing really well. We have been taking him to puppy classes ever since he was 10 weeks old and he is really good at most of the exercises. He sits, lays down, waits, leaves, comes when called etc. In fact he'll do anything at all for a bit of garlic covered liver! :-)
In fact 90% of the time he is really good but then for no apparent reason he'll suddenly snap at me or my mum. He's got all his adult teeth now so as you can imagine he really hurts and my mum is scared to let my nephews pet him too much in case he snaps at them too.
The other night I decided to follow some advice I had read in a book. He started jumping up and chewing at my arm so I didn't say a word but got him by the collar and put him out in the back garden. He barked and scratched at the door but when he quitened down, I counted to 10 and let him back in. He instantly started again so I repeated it. I ended up doing this about 6 times but eventually he calmed down and I thought we were finally getting somewhere, however despite trying this for the past few days he's still doing it and now I'm finding it difficult to get hold of his collar because he knows what I'm going to do. 
He also does it when he's been left on his own for any time (never left for more than 3 hours). When you come back in he gets so over excited, he jumps and nips. His tail is wagging and I think he just gets carried away and we used to put it down to puppy over exuberance but I'm now getting a bit worried that he is a bit aggressive. What do you think? We've never had a dog before.

Can you remind us what sort of dog he is please? It helps sometimes to know that :)

First of all, are you absolutely sure you are being consistent and that no-one in the family is winding him up or play fighting with him? It's very easy for good work to be undone if all the family are not following the rules.

Next, when you state that for no reason he'll snap at you or your mum, is this when you are stroking him, or does he come to you and "launch" himself at you?

Taking him by his collar and putting him outside often will teach a dog to avoid being taken by the collar; for a while you may prefer to use a light houseline attached to his collar -you can then lead him anywhere with this, but take care he doesn't get caught up anywhere and of course remember to take it off when you go out or put him in his crate.

I don't think he is aggressive, (unless there's more to it than you have told us). As you are trying hard but not really getting anywhere, I'd suggest contacting a good reputable trainer who can come to you at home and see what he is like and recommend a few things. For instance you have been giving him time outs - these have to be done totaly consistently, but only for about 5 mins at a time or he will hav no idea what they are for, and thus not learn anything. Also if the crate was in the same room as all of the family, this will make a big difference.

Are you remembering also to reward him for making good choices; does he have enough exercise and chews/toys? :)

Try www.apdt.co.uk for starters, if not try Charlie Clarricoates at Soham.

Good luck, hth

Lindsay
x

Hi, thanks for your reply.

Barney is a Tibetan Terrier. He's pretty headstrong and stubborn!

I'm positive that no-one is intentionally winding him up or play fighting with him. He's actually my mum's dog (but I visit every day for a couple of hours). She lives alone. My brother and my nephews spend quite a bit of time there too but the kids are never unsupervised with him. We did use to play 'tuggy' games with him but have stopped that as it does seem to get him too over-excited. We're also a bit careful with fetch games for the same reason. No-body ever play fights with him. My eldest nephew comes to puppy classes with us and enjoys practicing at Grandma's house so I'm fairly sure he should be getting a fairly consistent message.

He mainly snaps when you try to stroke him. Our trainer has said that he is probably wary of a great big hand coming at his head so we need to get him accustomed to his head being handled (as most people, even out on walks automatically go to pat a dog on the head) which we try and do as much as possible. He will occasionally launch himself at you (I have a big black bruise on my bum where he jumped up and nipped me when I had my back to him!). I think this is mainly because he likes to be the centre of attention at all times!

I like the idea of a houseline. Where can I get one of these? Will he not just chew it? He chews most things!

I'm glad you don't think he's aggressive. I don't really. I think he is just incredibly headstong and also hasn't quite gripped what is acceptable play and what isn't. He's gorgeous and cute most of the time, he just has an occasional mad 5 minutes.

We're quite lucky in that our dog trainer (from puppy classes) lives just a few doors away. She has been round mum's house a couple of times and she is fairly convinced that he is just pushing his boundaries and trying to turn everything into a 'play with me' game. He's pretty obedient with her. She is able to calm him with various voice changes and correction noises or by restraining him firmly until he settles (when he usually then licks you to death!). I'm therefore fairly sure that the problem is our training techniques :-( ,rather than Barney being uncontollable. She does give us lots of advice and has told us to go back to basics, i.e. making him sit and wait every time we go out the door etc etc. Thanks for suggesting Charlie Clarricotes though, I have just had a look at his website and will certainly think about consulting a one-to-one trainer for a consultation if we see no improvement soon.

Finally, I'm fairly sure he gets enough exercise. He gets taken out for a 20-30 min walk 3 times a day as well as running around the garden. As he is only 7 months old I thought that this was about right? He has loads of chews and toys (although he does destry them very quickly, as he has an amazingly powerful chew for quite a small dog - he can unravel one of those plaited ropes in 15 minutes! I did wonder if this may be relevant. Could he still have teething discomfort? I think he's got all his adult teeth but he can gnaw away at a nylabone like you've never seen and loves crunching ice cubes). He gets plenty of rewards for good behaviour, both in terms of vocal praise and treats such as chopped liver/cheese.

Thanks for your advice though, any suggestions will be gratefully received!   

my schnauzers didnt stop this till 8 months old when it went overnight

Really? That is reassuring. :-)

I was hoping he may grow out of it, but people kept telling me that you can't just expect that, you must 'train' them out of it.

If I knew an end was in sight it wouldn't seem so bad!

Hello - my puppy was terrible for playbiting and she certainly went on well beyond 7 months. I hadn't had a dog before so I was worried at one point that she was 'aggressive' as well but kind people on here reassured me! :) Now (aged 2) she is very gentle indeed. I think it helped a lot when her new teeth finally 'settled in' as the whole teething process seemed to make her manic and bitey - and I don't think I exactly trained her out of it - more discouraged her biteyness until she got over it, if you see what I mean! Good luck. :)

Yes, :) after the whole teething thing the teeth then settle into the jaw, some youngsters will chew for England!To an extent they do grow out of it but it's best not to rely too much on this hope <g>.

It sounds as if things are actually going rather normally and as if your current trainer is fine anyway, but sometimes a second opinion can help. If I give a time out, I tend to mark it - I'm not sure otherwise the dog "gets it". So for instance i tend to say "ah!" and then calmly with no other speaking take the dog out of the room for just a few minutes. This may need to be repeated an awful lot but it does almost always work. You can do "3 strikes and you're out" which is the same, but the 3rdt time the dog is left out for up to (not over) 30 minutes, this gives dog and owner time to cool down and chill out as things can get fraught, but never take the pup out for more than a few minutes the first 2 times. Always mark the behaviour at once :)

The house line - yes he may chew it in which case buy a simple chain lead, although watch him as very occasionally a dog will get a tooth caught in a chain lead. Otherwise you can buy a cheap one from www.apbc.org.uk in the shop area.

Re yelping, eeking etc ... some dogs get more excited by it esp. terrier types. Depends on the individual. It may be better to make the noise as if he was about to knock over a boilinghot cup of coffee over himself - more "urgent" if you get my drift. May work better than "owch" ...

Hth a bit
Lindsay
x

ps my BSD was affectionatly known as "mad bitey puppy" and she is now 5, has a soft mouth and superb bite inhibition. So it can turn out totally fine :D

Lindsey, couldnt help but smile at the thought of her saying  [ah]   i know you meant a sharp aaaaaa!

:P

Lindsay
x

Thank you to everyone for their advice and similar stories. It definitely helps coming on here. You begin to feel like you're the only one who ever has these problems because everyone elses dogs 'look' like angels, whilst Barney is beyond help!

He has actually seemed a bit better this weekend. (or is that wishful thinking!)

Thanks to all.

You say he snaps when you try to stroke him. Have you had his eyes checked over to make sure his vision is ok. Has he got a lot of hair over his eyes. If he has it might be worth tying it back or, if you don't intend to show him, trim it back. Then he will be able to see the hand coming towards him.

Hi, this is a very good point.

Yes, he has loads of hair over his eyes. I have tried to tie it back but he hates it! Even if I manage to get a band in he spends the next ten minutes pawing at it til he gets it out!

I think he needs it cutting. I'll have to take him somewhere though because I wouldn't dare do it myself - I'd probably have his eye out!

Have you looked at his mouth?  We had a Pomeranian that would attack if a hand or brush went anywhere near her head.  She still had her puppy teeth and her adult teeth were coming through too!  Once she lost her puppy teeth she was like a totally different dog and now lets us stroke and brush her!