Barking and Biting out of crate

[AlykarimAziz]

I have a 13 week old Australian Shepherd and he is mostly very well behaved but recently, he’s been starting to bark and trying bite me more and more frequently. At first it seems like he may be trying to play but when he bites I yelp. When I first got him he would come lick and comfort me but now it just seems to feed his energy and he continues to bark much more. He calms down in his crate but when I let him out, he’s just recharged so I feel like Im the past couple days I’ve had to crate him much longer than I would like. Im starting to get frustrated that Im not figuring out what he needs because he’ll still do it after we go outside to play.

[Adrienne]

Hi there,

Welcome to the forums!

Aussies can be a handful when it comes to energy levels and needs for mental stimulation. It seems like your yelping was initially working and he was acting sort of apologetic about it, but it seems that as he's growing, he is looking for more interaction and engagement. Yelping may work with some pups, while others may get more overstimulated by it.  This is why more and more dog trainers are recently moving away from this approach. 

Most puppies and dogs learn better when we offer them alternate behaviors to engage in rather than us concentrating on how to suppress unwanted behaviors. 

You can find the following exercises helpful:

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/

Here are more tips to tackle puppy biting: 

Make sure to catch him before he has a chance to bark and bite. Timing is important considering that once a pup has started biting, he'll be too focused on tugging and biting to easily distract him. Please note that most of these exercises require you to carry treats (or toys) in your pocket or treat bag for most of the day.

-When you expect him to come towards you to bite,  as soon as he is close to you, freeze (become motionless) and offer him a stuffed Kong. You can stuff it with some peanut butter mixed with some kibble and crushed dog cookies so he has to lick to get it out.  Freezing a stuffed Kong makes for a longer lasting puzzle.  A Kong Wobbler/ Buster Cube filled with a portion of your dog's daily allowance of kibble can also come handy once he learns how to get the kibble out.

- When you notice he is about to bite as you walk around, you can also try to engage him with toys that add movement into the game such as a tennis ball tossed in the opposite direction (make it extra fun!) or a flirt pole (stick with a stuffed animal attached one end). The goal is to find a way to make these toys much more interesting, rewarding and fun to interact with than your body. Dogs bred to herd may enjoy chasing large balls used for the sport of Treibball. 

--Redirect to an interactive game with you. As soon as he approaches you, ask for a sit and reward by tossing one piece of kibble/treat. He'll likely eat it and come for more if he perceives them as valuable enough. Repeat several times. This makes your dog tired, provides an outlet for chasing instincts while you incorporate some fun obedience. Here is how to train sit, which is an incompatible behavior compared with biting (a dog in general cannot sit and bite clothes at the same time).  Here's a link on how to train sit, of course start in a quiet room first and work your way to making sits very fluent.  Initially, as your dog is learning to sit, you can just toss the treat without asking for a sit as soon as he approaches you. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/sit/

-Alternatively you can redirect to an empty water bottle with no lid filled up. Most dogs cannot resist the crinkling sounds produced by chewing on these. They make an economical. temporary chew toy. Always monitor your dog when chewing if your dog tends to ingest things and consider that excess chewing can make some parts sharp. To make the bottle even more interesting, fill it up with a portion of your puppy's daily ratio of kibble so your puppy will keep busy trying to roll the kibble out. You can read more about this fun game here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/

-Targeting is also a great option to divert a pup's biting to something else. You can train to target your hands when you are sitting, and when you are standing up, you can use a target stick or  a ruler and reinforce targeting with his nose with treats/kibble tossed at a distance. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/

-Make sure you provide outlets for pent-up energy. Games, training, exercise and opportunities for socialization should wear her out and provide outlets for his basic needs. With brain games that allow him to chase things and get rewards out of them (like kibble out of a bottle or a Kong Wobbler) she should seek these games more and more which can turn your legs pretty boring after a while because she gets more out of these activities when she's bored/frustrated/overstimulated. 

The main goal in getting a puppy to stop biting is to teach that it's boring playing with our bodies and clothes because there are far better forms of play out there. So move less and make your toys move more. Wriggle them, toss them, provide toys that release food. With their strong urge to bite and play satiated with other forms of play, soon, pups should outgrow the habit of chasing legs and clothing just as they outgrow the habit of chasing their tails.

You may have to try several of the above options and see what works best. Redirection to a rewarding treat-dispensing toy or game that uses treats should be moderately easy at this age if these activities are made rewarding. Teaching an alternate behavior is also important because dogs cannot misbehave if they are busy targeting or sitting! It may take a bit of time though to teach these alternate behaviors fluently but it is sure worth the time and effort.

By providing outlets for his energy and needs for mental stimulation and reinforcing appropriate behaviors, you should eventually start seeing a decrease in the biting behavior. Keep track of it so to measure whether things are getting better with time. If things are going well, you should have created a new routine where your dog looks forward to interacting with you in positive ways because of all the fun and rewarding activities you provide (which don't involve biting).

Since you noticed a lot of barking and biting after coming inside from play or after coming out from the crate, it could be your dog needs some calming activity to chill down his excitement a notch. Try to offer activities before he has a chance to rehearse the problematic behavior of barking and biting. So as soon as you open the crate or come back inside after playing, even before he has a chance to bark or bite,  try to put his energy to good use by asking for more productive behaviors such as some training and offering brain games like the muffin game, targeting, airplane game to just name a few.  

I hope this helps,

Keep me posted on how things go!

[AlykarimAziz]

Thanks Adrienne! I’ll keep you posted on what’s working and what isn’t!

[Adrienne]

Sounds like a plan. Let me know how things work out, I am always here for more troubleshooting.

Best,

Adrienne