Any Dog Trainers Out There?

Updated on May 06, 2010
L.S. asks from Chula Vista, CA
6 answers

Hi moms,
We acquired a Jack Russell/Yorkie mix two months ago -- he turns one year old this month. He was not a rescue; we got him from a lady on Craigslist who was moving and couldn't take him with her. He's an adorable dog and very fun-loving and wonderful with our 5-year-old daughter. However, he's a rough player and very "mouthy." By that I mean that he'll put his teeth on you and thinks it's playing. He's not trying to bite us, but it has resulted in a small bite on two different occasions -- on our daughter, while they were playing around running in the yard. (He IS done teething and has all his adult teeth and he also has plenty of chew toys and bones around the house).

Side note: We recently returned our rescue chihuahua to the rescue group because she bit two people over the course of 10 months, one a neighborhood child who did nothing more than walk through our front door. (That's a long story that I don't want to get into, but it was a nightmare situation when we had friends/family visiting, service, people, etc. and we're so relieved to be done with it. Anyway, a biting dog is exactly what we DON'T want!!!)

Anyway, I'm looking for some tips that we can apply at home. We did hire a trainer for one session the day after he came home with us and she helped us with some walking habits (he's a puller) and how to keep him from jumping over our low backyard fence. What we didn't know at the time was that he plays with his mouth, otherwise we would have addressed this issue w/ her as well. We'd like to have him trained more, but that isn't an option financially at this time.

We are trying to be very firm with our sharp "No!" every time he puts his teeth on us, but I must say that I'm the most consistent with this, much more than my daughter and husband, although I keep telling them that they MUST tell him "no" immediately when he does it. And although he knows the word "no" it's not really working. A lady at my work yesterday said that her trainer told her to firmly pop her dog on the snout and say "NO!" and that would probably curtail it right there. I'm not one to hit an animal, but I did try it yesterday and it only made him mouthier!

Any advice/ techniques that you could give me would be wonderful. Also, he gets plenty of exercise; we walk him at least one to two times a day and he loves running around the yard and chasing the ball.

Thanks moms!!

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A.A.

answers from Denver on

Think like a dog. What does another dog do when the play gets too rough? Another young dog will yelp and ignore the dog that chomped too hard for a while, refusing to play. The desire for play is high, so the biter learns not to do that.

A mother (dominant) dog, if the puppy is misbehaving will emit a low level growl while staring directly in the puppy's eyes. In extreme cases she may also hold the puppy's snout, firmly, but gently between her teeth for a few seconds while growling disapproval and demanding submission. She doesn't let up till he stops resisting.

Your family should probably adopt these roles. The child, if not large enough to overpower the dog, should use yelping and avoiding the dog. You and and dad should growl frozen with meaningful eye contact, flip the dog belly up while growling, or hold it's muzzle while growling and staring into it's eyes till it stops resisting. It will catch on that this is not okay pack behavior pretty quickly.

And you can use similar techniques for most things you want them to stop doing that are aggressive (intentionally or accidentally) in some way.

3 moms found this helpful

V.W.

answers from Jacksonville on

Try to watch a few Dog Whisperer episodes (Cesar Milan, on Nat Geographic explorer). What he would probably do is: When the dog starts being mouthy, poke the dog (stiffen your hand like you are going to karate chop and poke forward with the ends of your fingers) in the neck/shoulder area while making an unpleasant sound. He uses a sound that sounds to me like a cross between a "psssst" and a " shhhhhhhhht". Make it sudden and sharp. It is not to "pop" the dog, but to get his attention and make him focus on you (while indicating that you don't like what he is doing).
Also, do some reading on dog relationships in packs or wolf behavior. The mother will discipline the pup by grabbing it on the neck area and pushing the pup to the ground (forcing it into submission). That is what you need to do. Get the dog to understand that you are the 'alpha', the boss, and that he/she must please you and NOT repeat that mouthy behavior. You don't have to be mean or hit the dog to do this.

Good luck.

Oh.. one other thing. You will probably get people say that you should pop the dog with a newspaper or something at some point. I have always read (and believe) that the hand that disciplines is the same hand that feeds and praises as well. Don't use a "tool". Use your hand.

2 moms found this helpful
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D.K.

answers from State College on

Anytime his he puts his mouth on you yelp! This is how puppies teach each other it hurts. A quick yelp lets him know he has gone too far. Also end any play for a few seconds when he does this and don't move. When he lets go and/or backs up, tell him what a good boy he is.

If you yell, "pop the dog" , etc many times they think you are playing a game and will tend to play more, which means more mouthing.

1 mom found this helpful
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N.B.

answers from Toledo on

"No" has to be the constant response for the dog to learn. I have the same mix, and they are very high-energy dogs. Tug toys are good to teach what's OK to mouth and what's not. Also, fetching burns up energy. Hitting a dog is never a good idea. They don't understand why you're doing it, and can respond by being aggressive. You're attacking them, after all. If you only use your voice, they learn to obey. The most important thing to remember is to say" Good boy!" and treat him as soon as the dog responds to "no". You have to make him understand not only what to stop, but that it's a good thing to stop.The good news is that you have a smart and loving pet, he just needs a little work. you might consider basic training classes instead of a one-on-one trainer. They are very educational, and cost alot less. We took a 6wk. class for $40 or so. Well worth it. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful
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D.N.

answers from Chicago on

I would suggest getting a book from the library. Terriers are extremely energetic dogs, even if mixed, and love to play They are almost like toddlers. My sitter has a Jack Russell and sometimes takes my kids by her house. My older kids say he likes to play the same way. A book about breed behaviors might help stop the bad behaviors. This may help since training is out of the budget right now.
I found the following:
http://www.dogobedienceadvice.com/stop-jack-russell-bitin...
It might help.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.K.

answers from Mansfield on

Sorry- this is long but helpful! IT works (also works great with jumping)!Non-aggressive biting that happens during play, greetings or when trying to get your attention should not be brushed off. A dog will quickly learn that it is okay to act recklessly and carelessly with you and that biting is acceptable.
By the age of 3 months a puppy should have learned not to bite hard. Puppies get their first lessons in bite-inhibition from their mother and siblings. If a puppy bites too hard their siblings yelp and will stop playing. Mother dogs will usually freeze and if that does not stop the biting they will then growl or nip at the pup to stop the attack. Since your dog seems to already know not to bite "too hard" you should be able to train them not to bite, mouth AT ALL at this point. The key to bite inhibition is to remain consistent. (pick where you are to start...how hard does he bite) 1) you start with only correcting hard mouthing. When they no longer bite hard, you start correcting medium hard bites, when they stop that, you start correcting medium bites and continue that process. Once your dog will only mouth you softly, you start teaching them not to use their teeth on any human skin or clothes. This is done by discouraging any and all mouthing. When you are at this point you need to have zero tolerance for any use of their teeth on your skin and clothing. Every time your dog initiates the inappropriate mouthing you respond with a loud "ouch" or other signal. (you can use No but No is overused in dog training so I try not to use it- they start ignoring it!) This will become the signal that tells your dog that he has crossed over the boundaries you have set. As you respond you freeze (hard for kids to understand but you must teach them how to handle this) when the dog lets go, you ignore them for at least thirty seconds, but no longer thana minute. Being ignored is his punishment, because what they wanted at this time was your attention. Consider confining him for a brief period of up to two-minutes in a carrier, or if you use gates and they are up, leave the puppy by stepping over the gate. After the time-out, resume the activity you were participating in before the negative response. If they repeat the inappropriate behavior, repeat the above but the 2nd time after the ignoring period, play time stops for a while. My kids usually just walked away, ignoring the puppy for a while, did something else then would call the puppy back over a few minutes later when she was busy doing something else. By then the bad behavior was forgotten by pup anyway. It took a couple weeks of consistantly doing this! But my newest pup was only 4 weeks when taken from momma (not by us so she didn't know any of this to start with), jumping took less time then biting but it worked the same way. She jumped, we said ouch, ignored her. When she was calm went back to playing. Do not reinforce the negative behavior by looking at the dog, talking to him or trying to push him away (with jumping...we just backed up so she "fell"). Any attention can reinforce this bad behavior so you most consistantly ignore after the ouch is given! He is not trying to hurt- just play so once he learns that playing stops when he does this.... he will quit!
Sorry this is long- but was trying to give you details and understanding! It does work! I have small kids (4,6 & 11) and have never had a problem training my kids how to train the dogs not to bite or jump. Our newest pup will be a year in a few weeks (like I said got her way too young... she was a rescue, friend of a friend kind of thing) so my youngest was only 3 and had never had a pup to deal with before but she was able to learn this and train her not to jump or bite! But you have to train your husband and daughter how to do this first! Then you can all work together to train your dog! Hope this helps :)

1 mom found this helpful
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