QuestionQUESTION: I adopted a very loving basset hound a year ago from the pound...he is two years old. My problem is when he is sleeping or napping and we go to pet him or move him to his bed he will snap or bite at us. Sometimes when he has a chewy or a shoe that he is not suppose to have he will growl and try to bite us if you go to take it from him. Most of the time he is very loving but when we yell at him for snapping of biting he then cowards from us. What is the best way of breaking him from doing this as he has broken the skin on everyone in the family.
ANSWER: Hi Elaine,
The first problem is very easy :) Leave him alone when he's sleeping. Not all dogs like to be disturbed in their sleep.
Have you let this behavior go for a year or is it recent? As far as taking things away from him I mean. And is that the only method you've used thus far is yelling?
Do you know anything at all of his history?
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QUESTION: HE HAS DONE THIS SINCE WE ADOPTED HIM. MY HUSBAND WILL POP HIM ON THE NOSE AND TELL HIM NO BITE AND THAN TAKE HIM OUT TO THE GARAGE AND NOT ALLOW HIM BACK IN FOR AWHILE. WHEN HE BITES HE KNOWS HE DID WRONG BECAUSE HE COWARDS FROM US. NOW HE DOESN'T DO IT ALL THE TIME...JUST ONCE IN A WHILE SO WE ARE NEVER SURE WHEN HE WILL DO IT. SOMETIMES WE TAKE HIS TOYS AND PLAY WITH HIM AND HE IS FINE. BUT EVERY SO OFTEN HE GETS FUNNY. I KNOW NOTHING OF HIS HISTORY BUT HE IS VERY LOVING AND IS VERY FRIENDLY TO EVERYONE HE MEETS INCLUDING OTHER DOGS...
ANSWER: Aggression begets aggression. The dog is associating hands with being hit at this point. He doesn't 'know' he did wrong...please don't make that mistake...he is reacting to your body language, tone of voice and hitting. You would cower if your husband was towering over you, screaming and threatening to hit you, wouldn't you? Or if you were in a bar and some crazy drunk man backed you into a corner and started to yell and curse in your face? It's a reaction to the circumstances not the deed. If he 'knew' he shouldn't be biting, he wouldn't be.
It is normal for a dog to be protective of things that are in their mouths. It is not normal, however, for them to bite. That said, he is giving you a warning growl first, which you are ignoring. This is the point to correct him. A sharp, quick 'eh-eh' followed by a command such as leave it or drop it (you may need to teach him these). He is giving you very clear signals which you aren't paying attention to, prior to you getting bit. You're ignoring his 'back off' warning.
A submissive or subordinate dog will not bite the leader. You two are obviously not seen as such. :) That's an easy fix as well. Google 'NILF'...it's a method of dog training which helps you to become a better 'boss'. If you need help with the training or the drop it and leave it commands, let me know.
Is he ONLY biting when you try to remove things from his mouth, then?
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QUESTION: Sometimes when I'm playing with him he will get excited and start barking and play biting at me...I tell him no bite and walk away from him that seems to do the trick.
AnswerVery good! Both that you're doing it correctly and it seems to be working...keep up with that. What will help is if you can stop play before he gets excited. Learn to read his cues...when you see that he's reaching a certain level of excitement, stop play.
Something that has helped me, in the past, with food/possession aggressive dogs was to hand feed. What I would do was fill their food bowl and sit on the floor with them, feeding them from my hand. This way they begin to see hands as a source of goodies. :)
Another thing that helped was buying chews/treats that were big enough for me to hold onto. Compressed rawhides work really well. I'd hold it, letting him chew it and occasionally tell him to 'drop it' or 'let go'. Keep it to myself for a count of 10, 20, 30...however long it took for him to settle back down and then I'd let him resume chewing.
You can also distract him. If you need something (or want something) that is in his mouth, grab a treat. Tell him 'drop it', show him the treat. As soon as he drops the object, praise. Give him the treat and take the item.
Part of the behavioral problem is one that you've created. (Besides your husband popping him). When he bites, you back away. It's a normal reaction BUT it's the reaction he wants and he is in turn rewarded (in his mind) for the behavior. Make sense? If you work with distraction techniques and positive reinforcement, I really think you'll be pleased with the results.
