Puppy biting and lunging towards you barking

[JoanneCoyne]

Help!!!!! I have a 10 week old mix rescue. Pit, Jack Russell, poodle, shitzu mix. I think he is possessed! He constantly bites, and when you correct him he barks and lunges at you with an attitude. We have tried replacing with a favorite toy and I think he thinks he is rewarded for biting. We tried the yelling ouch but that just riled  him up more. We then went to no bite and tried to ignore him,  he just comes after you. I am going to try the target game suggested. I was also thinking of buying a small play yard and when he bites say no bite and set him in there so he doesn’t come after you. Not sure if this would cause more problems in the future. He is crate trained sleeps and takes several naps in the crate. He has learned to come and sit. Very treat motivated. I have scratches all over my arms and holes in all my pants. I have been on antibiotics because I got an infection from one of the scratches. I need to know why he is so aggressive? Help

[Adrienne]

Hello, and welcome to the forums!

Ouch, getting an infection from being scratched must be very upsetting! This sounds for the most part like out-of-hand, super boisterous puppy play behavior, with the tenacity of the Jack Russell in the mix. He sounds like a good candidate for puppy classes,  especially those focusing on puppy play time and socialization, where he can refine his bite inhibition further by playing with other puppies and getting rid of some excess energy and socializing at the same time. But of course, with this COVID19 situation,  this might not be an option. 

I would suggest to avoid corrections considering that we can go from playful biting, to defensive biting in no time. This can lead to troublesome behaviors along the road. You mention him being aggressive, but I need more details about his biting considering that puppy biting can often appear as aggressive.  Does he act aggressive when you touch his food? Toys?  What signs of aggression are you exactly seeing and in what specific contexts.

A lot of puppy play looks rough and play aggression is common in puppies. They'll play growl,  play bark and play bite. They'll stalk you and do mock attacks. They'll grab to your pant legs and pull back and growl. 

 If you are referring to the barking and lunging when you correct him, then it's important to stop this approach. A German shepherd puppy was once brought to me for defensive biting upon being touched, because a veterinarian told the owner to grab the puppy's muzzle every time he was biting. From playful bites, his biting turned into defensive biting because he came to associate hands with bad things. This puppy indeed didn't like to be touched anywhere and would nip to protect himself. It took extra time to train him to perform alternate behaviors because we had to overcome his defensive reaction towards hands. 

Here are some exercises that can help divert his attention from biting to alternate activities: 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/

You can also work on refining your pup's biting with these exercises which you can incorporate in your daily training:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/

To protect your hands you can try wearing a pair of leather gloves and to protect your arms try wearing extra layers of clothes, as much as this may be impractical now with the warm weather coming, it at leash can protect your from scratches. For the legs, you can try wearing tall rubber boots. Nails can be also filed down to be less sharp using a dremmel or fingernail file (your vet can do this for you).  Also, ask your doctor whether your tetanus shot is up to date and how to prevent any infections in the future. I use Neosporin or a betadine solution when I get teeth marks or scratches from hyper pups. Those teeth and nails carry bacteria so we need to be careful. 

It also helps to invest in toys and activities that encourage independent play (so to not always look for you for playing) such as Kong Wobblers, stuffed Kongs and brain games. When you try to replace with a toy, what toy you give matters. If you give a toy that is always around and that is static (doesn't move) it is pretty much value-less compared to your hands, legs and other body parts that he can play with. Try re-directing to a stuffed Kong, or a flirt pole for dogs (I like to carry mine around my waist when I have puppies) or a tennis ball to chase (keep several in a bag attached to a belt.) Or how about stop feeding him from the bowl and redirecting to fun kibble tossed around to be chased? 

You can also find several more tips in the many threads on puppy nipping in this forum.As you can see this is a very common problem,  I am listing you some so you don't have to go searching for them.  It is good to read through the most challenging cases as they can give you several options to keep in mind as you navigate through the puppy nipping phase.

 

I hope this helps! Please follow up with more details or questions if I haven't covered the issue in detail or simply would like to do more troubleshooting. I am here for support.

Best,

Adrienne

Disclaimer: Behavior modification comes with risks. if your dog is aggressive, please consult with  a dog behavior professional for safety and correct behavior modification implementation. Make sure the professional uses force-free methods. 

[JoanneCoyne]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will try them. You wanted more info on aggression. Here is the scenario, dog nips I say no bite he does it again, I say no bite and try to move away, he will bark at you and continue to try to bite at you if you are setting him down. He has an attitude and will look right at you and bark and try to nip at u. What do u think of putting him in a puppy play yard. When he is nippy which is most of the time. I will get the high interest toys u spoke of.

[Adrienne]

Thanks for the extra details, they are very helpful!

It sounds like he is trying to engage with you, but in a persistent manner. It seems like he doesn't understand what no bite means, and thinks it's just part of the game. When we repeat saying things and the puppy or dog doesn't listen or understand, we are weakening its effectiveness. In general, dogs learn better if we focus on teaching them alternate ways to interact with us rather than trying to suppress their instinctive behaviors. And play biting is a puppy's favorite activity. So I think alternate activities as the exercises mentioned and toys can help. 

I have mixed feelings about using time-outs (time spent in a separated area such as a crate or play pen) for nipping. The reasons for this are several and vary based on how it's used. 

-I think a time-out area works great in the case of a puppy who is starting to nip because he is cranky and is in dire need of a nap. Puppies need to sleep quite a lot as they have a lot of developing to do. Sometimes, they have a hard settling for a nap because they are just overstimulated. So in this case, we are providing a place to relax and doze off. Having chew toys can encourage the pup to gnaw before falling asleep. 

-In the case of a puppy biting because hyper and in need to drain exercise, putting him in the play pen as a consequence in hopes of diminishing the behavior falls under negative punishment (removing something or access to something the dog likes contingent on the problematic behavior). In other words, we are basically depriving the puppy from our company/attention and freedom to spend time around the house/room, contingent upon his biting behavior. This is not a major deal , but it can have some unwanted "side-effects."

For example, the puppy may associate the play yard with social isolation, so next time, the puppy may play hard to catch or he may nip if we are dragging him by the collar. Or perhaps, the puppy feels our anger/frustration and this triggers him to bite more. On top of this, after being released from the area, he may act super excited again and nip again, meaning that he may end up being closed repeatedly but never learn alternate ways to interact with us. Not to mention, this method requires perfect timing, if we don't take the puppy quickly enough to his time-out area, he may not associate this consequence with the undesired behavior. 

However, we can make some compromises to ameliorate things. We can make the timeout area extra appealing, we can place blankets and chew toys there. We can verbally mark the undesirable behavior with a "too bad! or "whoops" (so he knows in a timely manner what behavior granted the time-out) and we can escort him there calmly without showing any anger or frustration. We can gently guide him with his collar as we use a treat as a lure and then give the treat once he is inside this area (always remove collars when in a crate or left unsupervised). We can then start fading the sight of the treat by holding the treat in a pocket and giving it only once he's inside. 

So if we think the puppy is cranky, we can certainly use this strategy. If the puppy instead is hyper, we can try to catch him before he nips (or just quickly as possible) so to prevent too much rehearsal and try our best to redirect to other activities (hand targeting, play with a flirt pole, sitting for a tossed kibble, sits for tossing a ball etc.)

Puppies thrive on training and mental stimulation in the form of appropriate play and enrichment (brain games). Balancing this out correctly  is important to reduce the incidences of nipping.