Pug nipping

Question
QUESTION: My daughter's 1 year old pug has an affectionate and playful personality, but has a bad habit of nipping, barking, and attacking our feet, whether bare-foot, in socks, or shoes, and is especially "angry" with our feet when we are in a walking mode.  Can you suggest anything to break the irritating habit?  We've used treats to distract her, praised her when she doesn't nip, used menthol extract on our feet, and now find the only to defray the assaults is to use "noise control" (shaking plastic bottles filled with a few pennies when we move around the house).  

Also, she has not yet been spayed...would her temperament be less aggressive, if spayed?  What are the pros & cons for spaying?  My daughter hasn't yet decided if she wants to have her dog spayed.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as my daughter and I don't want to go through life armed with penny-filled plastic bottles to protect our ankles and feet.  Thank you.

ANSWER: The first thing I would do is get her spayed. She will be healthier for it.

Then, I would have spray bottles with water in them and anytime she nips at you, give her a good spray. This, like the puppy bombs(bottles or cans with pennies in them), usually helps to break them of bad habits.

Also, is you have a harness on her, you can attach the lease to the harness anytime she is near you and when she acts improperly, you can then jerk the leash to the side firmly to correct her behavior. Do not jerk it so hard you can harm her but firmly enough to distract the behavior.

I can only see pros for spaying: no unwanted litters that might kill your female in the birthing process, no pyometra(uterine infection that can be deadly), no spotting of blood during her cycles, no males hanging around and possibly injuring your female during her cycles.

Cons: you can lose her during any surgical procedures but if you have a really good vet, this should not be an issue.

Thanks and Good Luck.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your suggestions to break our pug from attacking our feet.  We'll definitely try the squirt bottle and harness/light-jerk techniques; hopefully, one or both methods will do the trick.

The pro & con answers to my spaying question will definitely help my daughter decide in favor of the surgery.  The pure-bred black pug was purchased as a pet, and not for breeding purposes, but my daughter thought that if she allowed her dog to have just one litter before spaying, it might affect the pug's behavior in a positive way by developing a calm maternal instinct, and less likely to attack feet.  

My previous question wasn't fully answered...will spaying alter the pug's temperament and make her less aggressive?  Male dogs I've had as pets, after neutering, made them more docile, less sexual in nature, and more people-friendly; is the same true of spayed females?

We have another minor problem with the pug.  Our other dog is completely potty-trained, and always lets us know when he needs to go outside.  When we let him out, we usually always put the pug out at the same time, hoping that she'll get in the habit of going to the bathroom when outside.  However, she senses that we'll put her outside with our other dog when he signals he needs to go out.  She dodges us and runs like crazy and usually takes refuge under a large coffee.  Chasing her every time it's time to go outside has become a game my daughter and I have grown tired of playing.  But the real problem is that when she comes back into the house, after a while, she oftentimes sneaks into another room and leaves a pile or puddle, which we discover later.  She shows no remorse at all when we scold her.  Most of the time she does go potty outside, but at least once daily she slips up, and she NEVER signals us when she has to go to the bathroom.  Any ideas to break her of that?

Thanks again for your advice.

Mark Johnson

Answer
I should have added but just now caught this: your little grandpug is black. Blacks are our favorite BUT they have just a bit more of the devil in them then the fawns. They can at times really be a challenge. But they are so beautiful, they are with it.

Her biggest problem right now is that she is still a puppy. Pugs are puppies for two years. The spaying probably won't slow her down a bit. You will just have to be patient and let her get a little bit of age on her. Most pugs will mellow with age but SOME of them are kind of rowdy for most of their life.

The same is true for her potty habits. She is still a puppy. You might hang a bell on your door and teach her to ring it when she goes outside. Also, reward her like crazy every time she goes out to potty and does what she is supposed to do. Spaying may help this a bit but again,
1. she is a puppy and 2. she is a pug. Sometimes they can be very stubborn on house breaking and sneaky. She also may be like a human child...too busy playing to do her business and then have an accident...although here we call them on purposes.

Hope this answers your question.

Thanks and Merry Christmas