Question:
Hi Chad, I hope all is well with you, your family and dogs. We are currently in your group obedience class and you came to our house 3 months ago for a session because of biting and jumping. My wife and I are at our wits end and almost ready to give him up but still love him a lot, which is why he is still here. I feel that if we can stop the jumping and nipping at visitors and the barking at us in the evening we will have the patience to solve the other issues. We need your advice and guidance on how to solve the issues.
To give you further insight below are some facts and issues: Our pup will be 7 mos old in 10 days, we have had him for 5 months. From the beginning he has been a nipper/biter and jumps on people. He has gotten better in some respects but worse in others. He loves people and other dogs. He can be very loving and affectionate and loves to be like a big “baby”. Other times he is like the devil in disguise.
Concerns:
- Still jumps on and nips people when they come to the house. We have tried everything such as when the visitor arrives they walk in quietly and don’t acknowledge Tucker, sit down and then call him as my wife or I are holding him. But as soon as we let go he jumps and bites
- We have tried turning our backs and ignoring him, but he runs up behind us and bites our butt, leg or ankle
- Won’t come when we call him but will sit when commanded
- One very annoying thing he does almost every night is to bark at me or my wife. When he starts this we have tried different things, ignoring him, leaving the room, trying to get him to sit and stop but he runs from us and it takes two of us to get hold of him. The barking can last for an hour or more sometimes. If my wife tried to pet him and get him to stop barking, he jumps at her and tries to nip her. It’s very stressful.
- He is destroying the yard. We paid to have the perimeter of the yard filled with river rock to cover plant bases and drip system hoses because he was digging in the plants. Even with large river rock he still has pulled up most of the drip system. He pulls the bottom of the gutters off and continues to dig holes all over the lawn. We have used chili powder to try to get him to stay away but works for a few hours and then not
- Licking. He licks everything. The fridge, the oven, the dishwasher, the cabinets, the walls, the furniture and our clothes.
The Short Answer:
I know, puppies can be a handful but please don’t give up yet! You only had one private lesson and you haven’t completed the Basic Obedience Class yet. It sounds like another private lesson would be a good idea, along with completing the group class. In the meantime, one thing you can do is use the leash when people come over. There’s no rule against using the leash indoors. The rest will require a much longer answer.
The Long Answer:
The good news is that the dog is friendly and that these behaviors are all very common. However, there are multiple questions within this question, so let me take a few of them one at a time and break things down a bit. Ready? Here we go:
“Still jumps on and nips people when they come to the house. We have tried everything such as when the visitor arrives they walk in quietly and don’t acknowledge Tucker, sit down and then call him as my wife or I are holding him. But as soon as we let go he jumps and bites.”
- Why This Didn’t Work: What is happening here sounds very similar to what is called a “restrained recall.” This is when someone holds the dog back until the owner calls “Come!” The frustration of being restrained builds drive and intensity to the recall. However, when restraint is used in the way described in the question, the frustration is being used to build a really intense greeting…the opposite of what was intended.
- What To Do: Have the dog on leash, use the leash pops that we learned in obedience class to keep the dog from pulling and do not allow the dog to approach your guests until calm. Allow him to sniff the guests but do not allow any jumping or biting. All the while, the guests should be totally ignoring the dog…not even looking at the dog. They will look, remind them to stop. Once the dog has smelled them and totally settled down, they can calmly pet him. Ask them to stop petting everytime he jumps. Also, when he jumps up, pop the leash. Nothing harsh, just a little pop to interrupt the jumping.
“We have tried turning our backs and ignoring him, but he runs up behind us and bites our butt, leg or ankle.”
- Why This Didn’t Work: Yeehaw! Most dogs think this is great fun! Here’s the problem: Most people have a misunderstanding of the basic principle of “ignoring” the dog because turning your back on a dog is not ignoring them. In fact, I’d say turning away is the opposite of ignoring. It feels like a game of tag or keep away or something fun like that. It is also an example of a human yielding their personal space to a dog. Do you see where I’m going with this? The human is displaying submissive and/or play type behaviors, both of which are likely to bring more intensity from the dog.
- What To Do: Ignore the dog by literally acting like you do not see or hear him. Yes, he will still jump at first, it won’t stop instantly, but most dogs will stop pretty darn quick…if you actually succeed at ignoring them. Cesar Millan would say, “No Touch, No Talk, No Eye Contact” and a behaviorist would call this technique extinction. It works well most of the time. However, if he just won’t stop, or you just can’t ignore the jumping, you can use what I call a “non-engaging correction” by nudging the dog with a knee or pushing him off with your hand…but don’t look at him and don’t say anything when you do it. Eh-eh! I can see you, you are looking at the dog and saying “down, no, off, no jump” as you do it. That will not work unless you really get firm, which can cause an unwanted fearful or defensive reaction in some dogs. Remember this; the correction is secondary in importance to no attention coming from your face.
“One very annoying thing he does almost every night is to bark at me or my wife. When he starts this we have tried different things, ignoring him, leaving the room, trying to get him to sit and stop but he runs from us and it takes two of us to get hold of him. The barking can last for an hour or more sometimes. If my wife tried to pet him and get him to stop barking, he jumps at her and tries to nip her. It’s very stressful.”
- Why This Didn’t Work: First of all, there are multiple strategies here that conflict with each other. For example: We have tried ignoring him, as well as having him sit and petting him. These things are the opposite of each other. Trying a bunch of conflicting things will never work because there is no consistency, no way to know which of the multiple things is working or not working. I get it, you try something and it doesn’t work so you stop and try something else. That makes sense but often the problem is that whatever was tried was not actually done correctly, consistently or was given up on too soon.
- What To Do: Read the previous segments, it’s conceptually the same as the jumping. Ignore the dog’s demands for attention. Follow what I call the “Play Hard To Get Rule” and only give the dog attention when you initiate it. Not only when he is jumping, biting or barking but all the time, 24/7, you should give the dog attention by invite only. Yes, even when he comes up to you calmly, if he wasn’t invited, ignore him. Eh, don’t look into those sweet little eyes, don’t fall for it, wait until the dog is away from you and then call him over to you for some love.
“He is destroying the yard. We paid to have the perimeter of the yard filled with river rock to cover plant bases and drip system hoses because he was digging in the plants. Even with large river rock he still has pulled up most of the drip system. He pulls the bottom of the gutters off and continues to dig holes all over the lawn. We have used chili powder to try to get him to stay away but works for a few hours and then not.”
- Why This Didn’t Work: It sounds like the chili powder actually did work, there was just a lack of consistency because it loses its potency after a few hours.
- What To Do: I am not usually a fan of having to pepper the whole yard but if he only targets certain spots, and it seems to be working, simply add fresh chili powder every time he will be left unsupervised in the yard. Proper exercise and more things to chew on (bones, stuffed Kong, etc.) would be a more holistic approach. If it is happening when you are there, then teaching a solid “Leave It” command would be in order. This is taught in the Basic Obedience Class.
“He licks everything. The fridge, the oven, the dishwasher, the cabinets, the walls, the furniture and our clothes.”
- What To Do: See the previous question about digging. There are icky sprays that are safe to use on household items, rather than chili powder, but you will still need to test for staining. Exercise, chew items and a solid “Leave It” command are in order here.
Closing Notes
I shared this Q & A because the questions, as well as the attempted solutions, are all very common in the world of raising a puppy or adolescent dog. This is because all of the “behavior problems” in this article are also normal canine behaviors that humans just happen to not appreciate. Young dogs tend to have way more energy than people expect. They get bored, they want to play, they need things to chew, they will find ways to occupy their time when left alone, they need to be trained, they need to be walked way more than you think, they need a chance to run in an open space, they need to explore their world by sniffing and putting stuff in their mouths. We need to think in terms of it being our jobs, as dog owners, to fulfill these needs in ways that we can approve of rather than simply trying to suppress them all the time.
Chad Culp, Certified Dog Trainer, Canine Behavior Consultant and Owner of Thriving Canine.
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