Need help, bad.

We have a 10 month old miniature poodle that is usually very playful.
He bite us a lot, but he doesn't bite hard. We are working on correctly
that and it is getting better, slowly.

The main problem is when he finds tissues, paper towels, socks, etc he
turns into a little monster. If we go near his mouth the remove the
item he grows and will snap and bite VERY HARD. He has made both of us
bleed while trying to remove the item on more than one ocassion. If I
safely grab the item say say 'GIVE' a hundred times, he almost always
will eventually give it up. But it is dangerous catching him and
grabing the item in his mouth. If I get out a snack, he will always
eventually drop the item.

But I don't want him to growl and snap AT ALL, in the first place. It's
dangerous to anyone that goes near him. How do I prevent that??

Mike

wrote in message
ups.com...
Need help, bad.

We have a 10 month old miniature poodle that is usually very playful.
He bite us a lot, but he doesn't bite hard. We are working on correctly
that and it is getting better, slowly.

The main problem is when he finds tissues, paper towels, socks, etc he
turns into a little monster. If we go near his mouth the remove the
item he grows and will snap and bite VERY HARD. He has made both of us
bleed while trying to remove the item on more than one ocassion. If I
safely grab the item say say 'GIVE' a hundred times, he almost always
will eventually give it up. But it is dangerous catching him and
grabing the item in his mouth. If I get out a snack, he will always
eventually drop the item.

But I don't want him to growl and snap AT ALL, in the first place. It's
dangerous to anyone that goes near him. How do I prevent that??

I'd start with a good training class, and fast. small poodles are often
known for being mean, and my opinion is that it's because most of them are
not trained at all.

here's the standard stuff:

when he bites you, pull away, squeal like it hurts, and turn your back an
ignore him for a while. he'll learn that if he bites, he gets ignored, and
that's no fun at all.
as far as the towels, socks, etc, those are toys to him. he thinks he's
playing a game. if you try to remove them, his biting is part of the game.
don't play the game at all. don't pull, don't try to force it out, don't
even touch the item. pull out the best treat you can think of (maybe even a
better toy? a squeaker maybe?) and offer that while you say give. when he
drops the sock, give him the good treat and praise the heck out of him.
don't give him the opportunity to bite, chase, or ever think you're playing
along.

but most important, go to a training class. try a puppy class, even though
your dog is a bit older, since he's small, most trainers will accept small
dogs so they won't be as intimidated by the big dogs in a full grown
classes.

good luck!

-kelly

wrote in message
ups.com...
Need help, bad.

We have a 10 month old miniature poodle that is usually very playful.
He bite us a lot, but he doesn't bite hard. We are working on correctly
that and it is getting better, slowly.

The main problem is when he finds tissues, paper towels, socks, etc he
turns into a little monster. If we go near his mouth the remove the
item he grows and will snap and bite VERY HARD. He has made both of us
bleed while trying to remove the item on more than one ocassion. If I
safely grab the item say say 'GIVE' a hundred times, he almost always
will eventually give it up. But it is dangerous catching him and
grabing the item in his mouth. If I get out a snack, he will always
eventually drop the item.

But I don't want him to growl and snap AT ALL, in the first place. It's
dangerous to anyone that goes near him. How do I prevent that??

Hoo boy, since this pup is 10 months old and doing this sort of stuff, you
need to do some major retraining for you and him. IMHO a 10 month old pup,
no matter if he's little & cute, should be biting, especially biting hard.
Every time he acts nasty and gets away with it, the more he'll think that's
the way things are done and the harder it will be to get him to stop. I'd
recommend a really good obedience trainer and/or a behaviorist. Good
obedience training will help tremendously.

And until you can see an obedience trainer/behaviorist, I'll have this
little curly haired stinker drag a leash ALL the time. If he gets something
he shouldn't have, I'll take him by the leash to a closed door and wrap the
leash on the doorknob. The leash should have no slack in it but it
shouldn't be so tight to choke or to trigger him to fight defensively
either. By tying him up, you'll gain a mechanical advantage which will make
things a bit easier for you to get the object from him.

Chris and her smoothies,
Pablo and little Lucy

"Chris Jung" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...
leash on the doorknob. The leash should have no slack in it but it
shouldn't be so tight to choke or to trigger him to fight defensively
either. By tying him up, you'll gain a mechanical advantage which will
make things a bit easier for you to get the object from him.

My puppy will think you are playing tug if you try to pull something
from his mouth. The easiest way to get something from him if
he doesn't drop it when commanded is to pick him up. For
some reason, he drops whatever he's holding when he's picked
up. This may not work for all (or even many) dogs, but it's
at least worth a try.

Failing that, I'd try the more gentle approaches first. Ignore
him if he has something (like a sock) that just isn't that important.
Trade him for a treat if you really want it. Actually, my puppy
class teacher said that you would always want to trade something
when you ask the dog to relinquish something. It doesn't have
to be a treat, it can be a toy.

Bizby

Thanks for the help all.

We went through an 8 week puppy training class and he learned alot,
though we didn't always do the best job with our 'homework'. So I know
his behavior is our fault. The class was based around positive
reinforcement.

When he gets socks and such, he isn't playing at all. He's down right
vicious. He play bites when he has his toys. This is...vicious like I
said.

The treats DO work, but how will this STOP him from viciously bitting
if approached.

The ONLY time he drops the socks is if I coerce him with treats. I know
how to get the socks back, I want to know how to stop the anger so that
if anyone unknowingly tries to take it away from him they won't end up
hurt. Will the treats and praising work over time to STOP the vicious
outbursts and biting??????
Thanks,

Mike

"Jack "The Unpalatable Barbarian" Morrison"
wrote in message
...

Find one where they'll show you how to teach him a reliable RECALL,
too. It's the *most* important command you'll ever teach your dog.

He may escape from his leash someday(a lot of dogs do, you know,
especially when they're not wearing a choke or slip collar), and you
wouldn't want him running off on you, right?

:-P


-kelly

wrote in message
ups.com...
Need help, bad.

We have a 10 month old miniature poodle that is usually very playful.
He bite us a lot, but he doesn't bite hard. We are working on correctly
that and it is getting better, slowly.

The main problem is when he finds tissues, paper towels, socks, etc he
turns into a little monster. If we go near his mouth the remove the
item he grows and will snap and bite VERY HARD. He has made both of us
bleed while trying to remove the item on more than one ocassion. If I
safely grab the item say say 'GIVE' a hundred times, he almost always
will eventually give it up. But it is dangerous catching him and
grabing the item in his mouth. If I get out a snack, he will always
eventually drop the item.

But I don't want him to growl and snap AT ALL, in the first place. It's
dangerous to anyone that goes near him. How do I prevent that??

I would get a copy of the Susan Garrett book "Ruff Love" and start using
those principles (similar to the Nothing In Life Is Free method) to get your
puppy in line. It is a kind of tough love behavior modification plan which
makes the dog have to work for every kind of reinforcement - in the
beginning, the dog is crated for much of the time and is only ever out when
you are working with it. Privledges are earned by good behavior. I haven't
used this program myself, as I haven't had a dog with serious behavior
issues and I don't think it is necessary for the average pet.
I have a puppy now, almost 5 months, who had some issues with growling and
snapping when she was picked up, but it was resolved by teaching her who the
party in control is (NOT her!) I didn't have to go as far as the plan, but I
would have done it if I was unsuccessful in modifying her behavior with mild
corrections and a lot of mental and physical stimulation. While obedience
class is a good suggestion, I think you may need something more to prevent
more problems in the future.

Christy

wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for the help all.

We went through an 8 week puppy training class and he learned alot,
though we didn't always do the best job with our 'homework'. So I know
his behavior is our fault. The class was based around positive
reinforcement.

When he gets socks and such, he isn't playing at all. He's down right
vicious. He play bites when he has his toys. This is...vicious like I
said.

The treats DO work, but how will this STOP him from viciously bitting
if approached.

The ONLY time he drops the socks is if I coerce him with treats. I know
how to get the socks back, I want to know how to stop the anger so that
if anyone unknowingly tries to take it away from him they won't end up
hurt. Will the treats and praising work over time to STOP the vicious
outbursts and biting??????
Thanks,

The idea, I believe, is that you use the treats to teach the "drop it"
command. You don't teach it only when he is running away with
a sock though. During regular play with his own toys, you
occasionally ask him to drop it, give him a treat and or praise,
and then give it back, or give him a different toy. You want to
teach the command in a less stressful situation, so be extra diligent
about having socks and so forth picked up for a while.

As he gets good with the command you might want to phase
out the treats, but it's a good idea to keep up the trade. That
is, trade one toy for another, or a toy for a sock. That way it
doesn't seem like he's losing anything.

Yes, I would hope that as he learns that you aren't just trying
to take things away from him, that he would guard less.

You also want to teach him the "leave it" command which
means that you don't want him to pick it up at all. You
use that before he's gotten ahold of it obviously. Same idea,
you place a treat within reach, ask him to leave it, and then
praise and treat for leaving it alone. A couple of important
things. First, you want to start by holding the treat in a closed
hand so that he can't actually get it. He should snuffle at the
hand for a while, but as soon as he backs off, praise and
treat. Second, and very important, do *not* give him the
thing you told him to leave. When you treat him, use a
different kind of treat entirely. Over time you should be
able to hold the treat in an open hand, and then have it on
the floor. Third, and most important, make sure during
the training process that you always have control over the
"bait" item. You don't want him to be able to get it, so
be ready to cover it at an instant's notice.

With the use of these two commands, you should be able
to train him to leave things like socks and shoes alone.

Bizby

when he bites you, pull away, squeal like it hurts, and turn your back an
ignore him for a while. he'll learn that if he bites, he gets ignored,
and
that's no fun at all.


This method worked great with Maui, my toy poodle! You should definately
try it out. I added the command "ouch" though too when right before I
pulled away and acted hurt. Now, occasionally he gets riled up and wants to
play rough, if I say "ouch" he backs off immediately and takes it easy.

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 13:55:27 -0400, "MauiJNP" wrote:



when he bites you, pull away, squeal like it hurts, and turn your back an
ignore him for a while. he'll learn that if he bites, he gets ignored,
and
that's no fun at all.


This method worked great with Maui, my toy poodle! You should definately
try it out. I added the command "ouch" though too when right before I
pulled away and acted hurt. Now, occasionally he gets riled up and wants to
play rough, if I say "ouch" he backs off immediately and takes it easy.


Our toy poodle, Sammie, went with us to a family wedding in another
state this past weekend. He got the job of entertaining the one year
old son of a bridesmaid. It was great to see him playing with a
toddler who loves dogs but hasn't spent much time around them. The
same dog who will bite ferociously when in a rousing bitey face game
with dogs never put a tooth on the toddler. Licked him all over his
stubby little legs until the boy fell over laughing, but no nips, no
knocking him over and no rough stuff at all. When the mom commented
on what a great dog he is, I told her my daughter had done great
training on him as he was as nippy and rowdy as the next puppy when we
got him.


--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy, so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay