Ask a Trainer8 Things I've Learned from My Dog-Training Clients

Dogster

How to respond when bitten

This is a forum for bonding with your fellow Dogsters about the traits, quirks and idiosyncrasies of your favorite breed. Please remember that there are absolutely no animal sales or requests for studding or breeding allowed on our sites. All posts and interactions should be in the spirit of Dogster's Community Guidelines and should be fun, friendly and informational. Enjoy!

Kirby

Show me the- treats!

Barked: Wed Nov 18, '09 5:09am PST


	Every night, my d/h moves Kirby over when he comes to bed as Kirby is usually on his side. Last night, as usual, he gently semi-picks him up and scootches him over, his face up close and Kirby licking his face. Well, he had to move just a little more, and when Jim repeated the move, instead of licking him, he bit him on the nose. It was a pretty bloody mess. When he's being moved, he always growls softly a little, and we thought it was cute. Apparently not. I put him out of the bedroom and closed the door, the 1st time in years he's been banished. I don't know how we should have responded to him after this incident. It seems like saying 'bad dog' etc doesn't seem sufficient. I just don't know how it should have been handled. Jim's mad at Kirby (can't blame him) He's always trusted us, knowing we'd never hurt him but now it's our trust that is shaken. Jim feels betrayed, they have such a good, loving relationship and getting bitten is a shock. Any insight on something like this?

my posts | my page | gift me | become pals

[notify]

Bingley

Cookie Monster

Barked: Wed Nov 18, '09 1:18pm PST


	If it's Kirby's first time giving a good bite like that, try your best to treat him like nothing happened. When your husband tries to get in bed, if Kirby starts to growl, tell him "No!" in a firm voice. If he continues the growl, remove him from the room (or if you have a crate in your room, give him his time out there) before he gets the chance to do a repeat bite. If you feel like it, allow him back in after a few minutes of his "time out". And, perhaps it would mean more to Kirby if you disapproved of his behavior. Sounds like he is claiming the bed, and maybe you, as his own. I'm not an expert at dog training or anything, but if Bingley did that to me, that's what I would do. Tell him no, and remove him from the situation before he gets used to biting in it. And, you could make a game out of training him to get "up" on the bed, and then telling him to get "off". I do this with Bingley on the furniture. I'll tell him "Up!" to get on the couch or whatever, (I don't reward him, because I figure being up on the furniture is his reward, even if he doesn't know it, lol), and then point to the floor and tell him "off!' and treat him when he gets off the furniture. It's still a work in progress with him, but he's getting more obedient (Shih tzu are so stubborn! lol) when I don't want him on the furniture. That could help in this situation, too.