I'm having a biting/aggression problem with our new husky puppy. I did read the biting sticky for this subforum, but I have all ready tried many of the suggestions without improvement. According to The Puppy Primer (http://www.amazon.com/The-Puppy-Primer-Patricia-McConnell/dp/1891767135/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356535280&sr=8-1&keywords=puppy+primer) if owners don't see ANY changes after numerous repetitions, it doesn't make sense to keep with the same modification. So, bear in mind that I haven't just tried these behavior modifications a couple of times and given up, but for several days at a time with no noticeable improvement.

First things first, he's aggressive about food. We have two other dogs in our home who are not aggressive about food and he is attempting to bully them around. This is not limited to food either, but I've noticed him displaying this behavior with toys and people as well. (He guards me from one of our other dogs, in an attempt to try and convince me not to pay attention to the other dog.) He's a puppy and we understand this. If he wants it, he thinks he's entitled to it unless I tell him otherwise. So, for nearly a week I have fed him most of his meals piece by piece while handing food to our other dogs at the same time. In the process I have taught him the Down command. Now that he knows Down, I make him lie down to eat from his food bowl. (ie. I don't put the food bowl down until he lies down and stays until I say the release word.) I have read numerous times, that a way to continue working with food aggressive dogs is to take the food away several times mid-meal and then make them follow a command to have it back. The problem, of course, is taking the food away - he growls and turns to bite. He's only a baby, so I imagine we can curb this behavior with the right modification. The trick is finding the right one.

The growling didn't seem to start until after we tried the yelping trick to get him to stop biting. He's one of the rare types who gets more excited by the yelping and thinks this is incentive to bite harder. We have also tried holding his muzzle and saying, "No." But this contact seems to also excite him and provoke further biting (He'll attempt to look you square in eyes as though you're initiating a challenge and issue a growl. He'll then back away for half a second and lunge at your hand.) This is the same for getting up and leaving the room - he'll run after our pants legs, latch on to them, and because we're still walking away, he takes this as play and starts growling and biting harder. Its clear he wants to be an alpha dog and we're doing our best to try and make sure he understands this isn't the case. He is currently cornered off (with baby gates) to the most frequented area of our home, so he is supervised like a hawk. The only room he can access from here is the bathroom and we keep the door closed unless we're going in and out. Last night, he followed me in to sniff around and I bent down to pick him up and shoo him out, and he issued a growl and turned around to snap at me mid pick-up. Its not that he never wants to be handled. He loves being snuggled. But BOY oh BOY does he not like being told, "No."

Any suggestions would be MUCH appreciated.

When taking his food away from him, try handing him a high value treat in exchange. This worked fairly well with Lucian. I also drop a high value treat anytime I walk near him while he's eating.

As for the biting, this takes a VERY long time to get a handle on. Lucian is 5 months old, and still mouths hands. Not nearly as much as he used to, but he's still doing it. How old is your pup? Once they are done teething the biting usually is a lot easier to control.

Maybe you should try puppy classes.

I forgot to mention how old he was... He's about 10 weeks old. He is definitely teething. He wants to put his mouth on everything. I will try giving him a treat and see how that works. As for puppy classes, he's still too young for that. He's going to the vet this Friday for his first set of shots. So, it'll be a month or two before he's had the immunizations he needs to be in a setting like that.

First of all - you have a 10 week old puppy. I'm fairly certain this isn't aggression.

At 10 weeks old he's not teething yet - he's just being a puppy. Teething won't start until roughly closer to 4 months.

Aggression towards food - in a multi-dog household all dogs should be fed in different locations that are blocked off so that the dogs can't get to each other.

Resource guarding (food, toys, you etc) - If you've always (for the time you've had him) taken things from him without giving him something in return you're created the guarding (OR If he's come from an environment where he always had to fight for things toys/food/affection etc). The growling over the food is because you're taking it away from him. Would you be happy if someone took your food away mid meal several times? You should -never- take something away from the dog without giving something of a higher value to him and you should -never- be taking his food away from him. This is how many resource guarding problems start. He should be taught that us taking things is okay and that starts by trading things. If he has a toy that you want - get him something that is much more interesting and "trade" it with him. It teaches him that it's okay for people to take things.

Growling (and subsequently punishing a growl) - you should NEVER punish a growl. Never ever ever! A growl is a warning that tells us that 1) the dog really doesn't like something and 2) a bite will come if it continues. By punishing a growl you're telling the dog that he can essentially forget the warning and just go straight to biting. Which is bad times especially if children ever are involved in the picture.

He chases pant legs because that's what puppies do - pants move in awkward ways and they really just look like fast moving toys.

Biting - if yelping didn't work (yelping didn't work with my girl, either) you can move to timeouts. Removing yourself from all affection/playtime for a few seconds for biting too hard. You can also have a toy with you at all times and every time he attempts to bite you place the toy in his way/mouth so he bites it. It'll teach him proper things to bite/chew on.

+1 Well put Ceara!

xxGhostxx wrote:

I forgot to mention how old he was... He's about 10 weeks old. He is definitely teething. He wants to put his mouth on everything. I will try giving him a treat and see how that works. As for puppy classes, he's still too young for that. He's going to the vet this Friday for his first set of shots. So, it'll be a month or two before he's had the immunizations he needs to be in a setting like that.

10 weeks isn't too young for puppy classes. The place I took Hayden to accepted puppies from 8-16 weeks for puppy kindergarden. The first 16 weeks of their life is the most important time for socializing and learning.

http://www.happyhound.com/PDFs/socialization.pdf

Also, it takes longer than a few days with one method to see results, I you switch your punishment and consequence every few days to every week, your pup will get confused.

ETA: a puppies first vaccines should start at 6-7 weeks, just for future reference.

I know puppies vaccinations should start at 6-7 weeks. The couple we purchased him from did not administer vaccines to the puppies and with the holiday approaching we weren't able to take him in for his first vet appointment. He's going in on Saturday. As for puppy classes, I don't disagree with socializing. We're taking him on walks at parks every other day. But, we're also minimizing his contact with new people and animals at this point (That does not mean he isn't interacting at all, just for brief periods. The world is still an overwhelming place to him at the moment and he is timid in new environment. One step at a time.) since he isn't immunized and this allows us to reduce the potential for him to catch anything.

I appreciate the feedback. Though, I beg to differ on whether or not it is aggression. We have two other full grown dogs in this house (including an Akita) who never, ever acted like this as puppies and we've raised other dogs in the past. Did they bite? Sure. Did they want to mouth everything in site? Sure. He's a puppy, we get that. This one is very, very different. Like animals, we too can sense things about a disposition. It doesn't mean we aren't willing to work with him and try new things. To try NEW things is why I posted here. So, I appreciate the suggestions. It can be confusing because for every person here that says, "You should NEVER," I have dog training books that say otherwise. I've read positive reinforcement, dominance reinforcement, the NILIF program, "Say Please" etc; etc; etc;. Clearly, different methods work for different dogs, and we need to find the right one for this little baby.

Also, I know it can take a while to see results. But when something is provoking the behavior instead of causing him to pause for a second and reconsider, that isn't beneficial either.

Edit: By the by, I'm pretty sure he's got a teething issue right now, since his mouth reeks of iron.

Well - you continue punishing the growling and picking up his food several times because those books say to do it and let us know how you curbed the guarding problems!

You're right, every person does have different techniques they use and not every technique will work for every person. However, I'm confused as to why one would come seeking advice and information if just to dismiss it because it doesnt coincide with what the books say because we're not "dog trainers who write dog training books"?

xxGhostxx wrote:

Edit: By the by, I'm pretty sure he's got a teething issue right now, since his mouth reeks of iron.

No dog/puppy that I have ever raised or come into contact with (and I've come into contact with TONS of puppies during teething) has ever "reeked of iron". 10 weeks is too young for a puppy to start teething. Typically they start between 3 and 4 months.

Also - you're increasing your pups risk of exposure to illnesses exponentially by taking him out to parks for walks before his full series of vaccinations. Your pup does not have to be near or around another dog physically (or person who has a sick dog) to get sick.

I did not dismiss your advice. I believe I said, "So, I appreciate the suggestions." That was not sarcasm. My inclusion of the differing methods was to say, "Everyone has a different method" and I wasn't doing what I was doing with my dog to be an obnoxious butthead, but because that was what I had read was a good idea. I did feel you were condescending in your original post, resorting to uses of "NEVER ever" has a tendency to sound pedantic and authoritative when I believe it was clear that I was admitting what I was doing with this puppy was not working. I said, "To try NEW things is why I posted here." So, I'm confused about your, "However, I'm confused as to why one would come seeking advice and information if just to dismiss it because it doesnt coincide with what the books say because we're not "dog trainers who write dog training books"?" I came here because I wanted advice. I just took it. I fed him, did not take the bowl away, and tried enticing him with a treat. It didn't work because apparently the treat is not enticing enough? Or we need to start with something simpler like a toy.

When you follow a comment of thanks with "I beg to differ..." it is usually a dismissal.

Anyway. What kind of treat did you use? If it is of lower value to him than his kibble it won't work.

Teething doesn't start till 4 months, I'm a vet tech. He has another 6 weeks till that starts. You came here for advise and that's awesome, and we are trying to help the best we can with the information you provided us, but you are obviously more convinced by books. And that's great! There are a lot of threads on how we all curbed resource guarding, mouthing, and overzelous pups. There's a search on the left hand side of the site homepage.

I think maybe we're having a misunderstanding of the word, "teething"? He is getting teeth, not losing them. That happens later. I do understand that. My, "I beg to differ," comment was in regards to whether or not he is being aggressive, not your suggestions. I do, very much, disagree with the notion that he is not being aggressive and just being a puppy. And, I was attempting to relate the fact that I have had enough experience raising other puppies to know this is different than standard puppy behavior. That is all I am differing with. That's why I came here. And I do, sincerely, appreciate the suggestions.

The treat was chicken. We don't have a ton of treats for him at the moment, other than some Blue Buffalo salmon biscuits, because other things have really been upsetting his digestion. (Assuming its the grain, since when he eats the Blue Buffalo only, he has solid poop.) I do have a small rawhide I can try next time, although he seems to be so intent on plowing through his food (which is probably my doing) that even when I had my hand with the treat up under his nose, he totally ignored it.

If he's eating rapidly it's because he's scared it's going to be taken away.

Hand feed him all his meals (so YOU dictate how fast he eats OR place a ball (big enough) in his bowl so that it takes up most of the room but there is still some room for it to move around so that he has to push the ball around to eat.

Or you can get a large flat bottomed container to put the food in so that he can't grab mouthfuls of it and he'd have to pick up each kibble individually or could only get one or two or a few at a time.

You can also get something called a "treat ball" and you can put his entire meal in there and make him work for it. I've done it with my girl - just because. She loves her treat ball.

All puppies will vary in their puppyhood. Maybe he just doesn't conform to what your standard of puppyhood is with the dogs that you have raised but he is seemingly very much within the bounds of what I would call puppyhood and not aggression.

at what age did you bring him home? (I'm sorry if you already said and I missed it)

Hayden_69 wrote:

+1 Well put Ceara!

Thanks Kelly! I just wanna say you're avatar picture is really AMAZING!

I will try that. Thank you. Do you think a small handful at a time is a good idea? Or kibble by kibble? I saw it recommended to pinch a piece of food between the thumb and forefinger because it also helps with bite inhibition. He does seem to take it nicer when I do this. So, that has been effective. But, piece by piece seems slow for a hungry pup? Not sure.

Piece by piece and occasionally you could do like 3-4 pieces kind of as like a "surprise!" for being good/eating slow/taking it nice. He's eating quickly and gulping his food because he's scared that you're going to take it away. For now he just has to learn that the food isn't going anywhere and it's okay to take his time.

Another good thing about hand feeding his meals is that you can do all of his training by using his meals as the rewards and really begin building the foundation of a strong bond with him! It also helps cut down on his over all treat intake as you won't need to do as many training sessions with treats that aren't his meals.

I just taught a "take it nice" by not giving her food if I felt teeth on my fingers. Bite inhibition takes a lot more work because "take it nice" only translates to taking food/treats or even toys. You have to then get the dog to understand inhibition during play and excitement and other times.

Bella very rarely leaves any mark on the skin even during extremely rough play because she has a very soft mouth. Occasionally she'll get rambunctious - but 90% of the time that's not the case.

Excellent. Thank you. Sorry we got off on the wrong foot, truly. I will give this a try and keep at it. I did teach him the down command as a result of feeding him his kibble piece by piece before, so I'll stick with this.

You're welcome and good luck! The internet is a tricky place sometimes and makes it hard to convey things properly! so no apologies necessary

xxGhostxx wrote:

I think maybe we're having a misunderstanding of the word, "teething"? He is getting teeth, not losing them.

Ah! Gotcha!

Niraya wrote:

Hayden_69 wrote:

+1 Well put Ceara!

Thanks Kelly! I just wanna say you're avatar picture is really AMAZING!

Oh thanks! It was a random picture I took from my cell phone as I was leaving the house.

Hi, I completely understand the aggression thing, I have an 11 week old pup and he is also barking and snapping/biting aggressively in certain circumstances. Unfortunately also with my children who have been extremely patient with him. My seven year old has just been bitten on the lip (which broke the skin) for attempting to take his lead off.

He does it most if he is being stubborn, like if I remove him from licking the dishwasher or the bin, and with the kids it's when they try to pet/stroke him.

Otherwise he is well behaved. I feel he thinks it's ok to bite and I'm worried that this is not normal. I was under the impression that huskies were naturally good with children. Can anyone tell if that is so or is that myth?

Can i make it clear that this is not a mouthing problem, we have that too but he is easily distracted from that. He is really going for us. The pup in the original post sounds similar in personality so just wondered if you had had any luck.

My children are really starting to dislike him and I'm worried.

Also he seemed to have a very dominant father and I'm worried it could be genetic(?)

We are doing the yelping, and that does not phase him at all, we give him time out also but neither changes the behavior. We also have worked on being better pack leaders, i.e ignoring him when he is demanding attention, making sure he knows who is in charge of the food etc. and that has solved some problems but not this biting.

I wondered if you had any luck with your puppy, and what worked for you? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.