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Post by django on May 20, 2015 19:19:26 GMT -5
Hello! This is my first post! Bear with me on the length!
So I recently took in a pit boxer mix. He was owned by a woman who's dog had become pregnant. Due to poor living conditions and improper care, most of the puppies died from fleas.
We rescued django and brought him home (gave him a bath at the woman's house first of course). He is a utter delight. However he has a obsession with biting. I use the word obsession, because nothing will stop him once he starts, and sometimes he will draw blood (he still has puppy teeth, yes).
So far he knows sit, stay, leave it (only when concerning food or treats though), come and look at me. I try to use these to bring him back when he starts biting but they do not work.
He has loads of toys...different kinds to keep him interested. If he starts to bite, I use them to reinforce what he should be biting and use a lot of praise. However, he completely ignores it and goes out of his way to bite some part of me. I have to ripe him off my sock to get him to let go.
Loud noises do not work. I tried yelping, to recreate what his mother or litermates would do. The only thing I can do is get up and walk away. He is usually calm when I get back...but often a few minutes later the biting will continue.
I am glad that he does not do this behavior with strangers. In fact, he is on his best behavior when other people are around. For some reason he only bites me.
Is there more I can be doing? Or should I stick with leaving the room and reinforcing with toys. Will he eventually get the idea?
I just want to be able to sit and play with him without being bitten all the time. It seems like 90% of my interaction with him is being attacked.
Again, sorry for the length! Just wanted to put as much info as possible to get the best advice!
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Post by michele5611 on May 22, 2015 8:01:52 GMT -5
Welcome aboard and thanks for rescuing Django! He is lucky to have found you. I am by no means a trainer hopefully others will chime in as well but it sounds like you are doing a lot right!
I can tell you that I just went thru a similar thing with my new dog. I got her at a little over three months and she was very mouthy esp. with my husband. I tried saying ouch and that worked for about a day. We basically would just get up and walk away. I can tell you at almost a year she is sooooo much better and made great improvements.
Not sure if you checked out the training section yet but I will post some threads for you that may be helpful.
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Post by michele5611 on May 22, 2015 8:11:33 GMT -5
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Post by michele5611 on May 22, 2015 8:12:34 GMT -5
More mouthiness remedies: For pups that get too mouthy during play...... I would a) Stop the game IMMEDIATELY when teeth touch human skin (walk away) b) make sure you use a toy that's big enough so he has plenty of toy to grab and won't mistakenly grab a finger or hand. Nipping/mouthing is often a big problem with Pit Bull pups esp. if they have been weaned/taken away from littermates too early (which I'm betting this pup was....) Work on this exercise as well: sit on the floor with your pup. Pup a treat in your closed fist and present the closed fist to your pup (make sure he can't get a taste of the treat but can smell it!) Let him sniff, paw, and nibble, but do NOT do ANYthing. As soon as the pup backs away from your hand and gives you a look like, "What gives?!" say YES! in a happy/upbeat voice, and give him the food. Repeat often. This teaches self control and to not maul hands. Another exercise you can do is sit with your pup and present your hand - if the pup doesn't nibble and either ignores the hand, licks it, or otherwise acts appropriately, say YES! and offer a tiny food reward from a bowl of treats you'll have stashed to the side. You can also substitute treats for a toy you can throw or offer the pup. If when you offer your hand the pup nibbles, say EASY! and take your hand away. Wait a good 10 - 20 seconds, and offer your hand again. This exercise teaches that HANDS are not to play with, behaving around hands gets you good stuff, and nibbling means FUN ENDS. Read more: therealpitbull.proboards.com/thread/66/mouthy-pit-bulls#ixzz3asAbBPGT
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Post by django on May 27, 2015 11:41:19 GMT -5
Thank you for the advice! I will try these techniques out! We have a big turtle stuffed animal that we try to use...but he jumps and tries to go around it to bite me. I get it in his mouth for a second and its like he's annoyed that I'm distracting him from biting me lol. Yes he was definitely taken from his mom too early (we didn't want him to stay there too long because of the horrible conditions). I'm glad to hear that I'm on the right path though. Just today I was trying to clean and he went wild on my ankles leaving a few bloody bites. I tried using a toy but again he growls and jumps at me, avoiding the toy. So I put him in his room to calm down.
I guess he just needs more training and time. I'd still love to see what others have to say, and in the mean time I'll check those links out. Thanks again!
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