10 week old Aussie Shepherd biting calves and knees

[PAUL KRONFIELD]

Our Bluey is a great pup except often while walking with him he will bite and hold trousers about knee high, and pull.   How do you stop this behavior?   I thought the herding behavior was ankle high only.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there!

Welcome to the forums!

Is Bluey biting when walking him on a leash or just regularly as you walk around the house/yard?

If on walks, does he also try to bite the leash? 

 

[PAUL KRONFIELD]

When he goes to the dark side he bite both me and my wife around the yard, while we are walking.   On the long leash he does bite the leash.     Other times around the house he either naps or lays on the floor watching us.   When we take him out to do his business, usually 4AM he is very cooperative (no leash).   When I take him out at 6;30 he is in his dark side evil play mode and gets our trousers around knee level and grabs material and pulls.

When we first got him a neighbor was playing with him using a towel.  Bluey would chomp down on the towel and play tug.   I suspect he may have picked up this nasty habit of biting our legs through the clothing in order to grab and pull.  The more you try to stop him the more he persists.

40% of the time he is very sweet.   It is the 60% green eyed monster that concerns us.   We have never had a dog before.  We live on a 50 acre cattle ranch.  When Bluey saw his first cow he was so scared he turned tail and galloped up the hill nonstop.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Thanks for the extra details, very helpful!

Bluey is such a pretty pup, I love the pattern of his colors! With such a cutesy face, it's hard to imagine him turning into a green-eyed monster, I know right? I have to give you credit though, Aussies during puppyhood (just like Australian cattle dogs) have a rep for being little landsharks. 

We can't blame them though, these pups were originally bred to work on farms and ranches with the purpose of herding livestock such as sheep and cattle. As you are already aware, with a history of herding, these dogs are very attracted to movement, so this means they'll find chasing cars, bikes, joggers, cats, children and our arms, feet and legs, irresistible. 

On top of this, they're hypersensitive to lights, shadows, sounds and motions which makes nipping feet or legs their favorite pastime. It's therefore not unusual for us to struggle walking from point A to point B without having a landshark puppy attached to our legs!

It also doesn't help that these pups are very energetic. The biggest challenge therefore that comes with living with these pups in modern settings, is teaching them how to relax and take it easy in their roles as pets versus eighteen-hour day workaholics on the farm. The fact you have a 50-acre cattle ranch though makes him super duper lucky!

To reduce your Australian Shepherd's puppy biting, you will need to take a multifaceted approach, tackling the issue from a variety of angles. In many cases, the biting starts as a result of teething. Teething in puppies generally takes place between the ages of 2 and 7 months. 

When a puppy's adult teeth start erupting, the process of them cutting through the gums causes discomfort which is relieved by chewing. When these puppies bite, it feels good (especially cloth and fabric), and therefore there is some good level of internal reinforcement at play.

However, on top of this, there are chances that other reinforcers are at play when nipping such as attention and interaction from owners and carrying out instinctive behaviors causing the behavior to persist. 

You may therefore have to implement a combination of strategies to reduce the biting behavior.  Following are some tips:

-Provide lots of age-appropriate toys of different textures and rotate them so to keep his interest alive. 

-Use barriers such as baby gates so that you can walk away from him when he's in "green-monster" mode.

-Provide teething toys that can help him during the teething stage (make sure they're specifically crafted for teething puppies)

-Aim to train him to sit, hand target and lie down so that you can use these cues to gain some control when you see him approaching you with an intent to bite

-When you must walk in the yard, try to freeze in your tracks and stop walking/moving ignoring him totally. Imagine turning into a lamppost! Many pups will lose interest as they're after the "resistance" we provide when moving as that allows them to play tug and latch even more. If it's difficult to freeze due the painful nips, it may help to wear tall Wellington boots and extra padding on the knee area.  

-Provide a new routine in the yard for that 6:30 outing that prevents him from thinking about nipping you, such as doing some fun treasure hunts https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/, letting him play with a Bubble machine (yes, there are bubble machines made just for dogs that blow bacon-flavored bubbles) or giving him a food puzzle to focus on (Kong Wobbler, stuffed Kong). 

- I would highly suggest carrying a portion of his kibble mixed with treats in a pocket or treat bag and work on engaging him in some replacement behaviors.

Here are several replacement behaviors that can be life savers with nippy pups: 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/replacement-behaviors-to-stop-puppy-biting/

You also want to train him to be more gentle with his mouth: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/

Engage him in some bite inhibition games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/

Get him used to being handled and touched: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/

and keep that brain busy with training, brain games and some impulse control games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/10-impulse-control-games-for-dogs/

and don't forget the importance of socialization as the time is ticking!: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/socializing-your-puppy/

Here are tips for pups who bite on the leash in case this starts to become a problem:

I hope this helps! Keep us posted on how things go.

Happy training!

Best,

Adrienne