Re: Dog Bitting

Question
Hi, I have 2 dogs. The first one is Archer a 8 year old Labrador cross German shepherd male who we have had since he was a pup. The Second one Malone is a 2 year old foxhound male who we adopted from the local RSPCA, he was a mistreated hunting dog who had never been in human company. Both dogs have been spayed.
Recently the lab cross has had 2 incidents of bitting (he has never bitten before this) The first time i dismissed the incident as he bit someone coming through the front door uninvited, the second time however he bit a child and this concerns me as it appeared to be unprovoked. I am concerned that Archer is overly jealous of Malone and that having to compete for attention is causing the bad behavior.

Answer
Hi Sarah, Archer has you recognized as his Alpha dog, and Malone may not know where he stands in the pack. Be sure to give both dogs equal attention and equal play time.  But it may also be important for Archer to know that he is dog number 2,(you are number 1). So you can feed him first, give him a treat first, do his training and play time first...so he feels secure as second in the pack. This will also help Malone know that the is dog number three and needs to act accordingly. It, by no means, should tell him he is not important, just that you are in charge of the pack and will be a fair leader to both of them. You did not mention how long ago you adopted Malone. Let me know the answer of this question as it is important, they might just be going through a time sorting out the pack dominance. As for Archer, any kind of nipping or biting, even if it is in play , has to be corrected. Tell him "NO Bitiing, BE GENTLE". I use the "BE GENTLE" command to my dogs when they are playing and the teeth come out at all or if they are playing too rough. They all know what it means and stop playing rough and treat each other with respect or they know that I will step in and correct each of them with a nip (pinch) on the neck. Socialize both of them (together if you can) by taking them on walks, to pet supermarkets... where they can learn to work on obedience together.  Please leave me some feedback, nominations if you wish, and keep me posted. The only way we can tell we are doing a good job as volunteers is by your feedback or reposting us. It is much easier to see results in our classes, and we can correct problems so much easier. So let me know how it goes with them and you as soon as you can. Thank you for writing. Regards, Susan