My 10-month old toy poodle bit me when I tried to take something away from him. How should I punish him?

Question

We learned that when he has something in his mouth, not to try and take it from him, but to either force him to drop it, or wait until he leaves it alone. Today, he went into the garbage and took out a napkin and had it in his mouth. I tried to take the napkin from him, and he turned around and bit me pretty hard. There was blood.

Answer 1

You need to take your dog to puppy training. They will teach you how to train the puppy and eliminate negative behavior. Your puppy doesn't have the cogntive skills to associate being punished with biting. It's kind of like people who hit their kids to teach them not to hit........and then they get mad when the child hits them.

Answer 2

DON'T HIT HIM.
He's acting out from instinct and that won't work.
One of the best ways is to take a rolled up newspaper and bang it on your opened fist in front of his face on your hand. He'll get the idea pretty fast.

When you find the dog with something in his mouth that is potentially harmful you should try to get it away as soon as possible. Repeat yelling 'DROP IT' , up close, followed by the newspaper thing should work. You can also use a spray bottle of water and spirtz him in the face.

The problem with using your hand on him is that he may be come
fearful of human hands in general and start snipping everyone
indescriminately.

Once on vacation, I made the mistake of putting my foot in front of a little dog that was humping a bigger dog inside a small cafe in a little village in the Alps. The little dog turned his face around to my foot and put a nice big whole in my hiking sneakers.

Needless to say, I didn't get much sympathy from the other patrons or the cafe owner.

Answer 3

The Dog Whisperer just had this segment on. It was a small dog as well. He told the owner to not be fearful of the bite..... be assertive...grab the object, own the object. No yelling just calm assertive behavior by you and this will stop once you have done this with other objects. I didn't mean that the bite was insignificant but go into this mode knowing that you may get bitten initially. Talking to a pet at this point is useless...

Answer 4

She is loosing her baby teeth, it's normal. I would not give her rib bones, even if you are careful. The sauce and meat can upset her tummy (too heavy and spicy) and she could get a sliver of bone when you aren't looking, or you just don't notice it. The only meat she should have at this point is plain, boiled, chicken or hamburger with no sauces, salt, pepper, etc. The only sort of bones you should give your dogs are the ones sold in pet stores, and you should wait until she is over a year old before you give them too her. She's just too little right now to be able to properly digest it. It's also easier for her to choke on the bigger pieces.

Answer 5

Only way to properly teach your dog how to behave is by going to behaviour classes. They don't teach the dog too much, but will teach you how to properly look after and discipline your own dog to garner respect also out of him. Put the garbage in a place that isn't accessible to him makes the most sense to me but if that's impossible and the next time he does that tell him in a stern voice NO, make sure you are in his face when you do so. Once they think they can get away with things, they'll continue to do so. Best to end his behavioural problems now before you end up with a dog that will ignore even your most simplest of commands.

Answer 6

IF you didn't punish him when he bit you then you can't do it until he bites you again..you have to punish the dog at the time of what ever it is that he's doing..or they don't know what they are getting in trouble for..its not like a kid that you can say "rememeber what you did this after noon?? this is for that.." and next time he does it just give him a tap on the nose and say no..no too hard but not too soft either..

Answer 7

This is a very spoiled dog & unless you get serious about teaching him some manners he could get into serious trouble. Bites a child & draws blood,watch out. Bit him back. Not hard enough to cause harm but enough to make him yelp. Then scold him. He needs to know it hurts & you will not tolerate such behavior. Sounds mean. Poodles are smart dogs. They catch on fast.
Breaking this habit could save his life in the end.

Answer 8

You should be training him to drop it by command; right now seems like a power struggle and he is winning. He is training you not to take what is not yours or else and it is working; you need to take back control (with training and patience) to correct this behavior before it gets out of hand - literally ; I start with toys and get them to drop it by command and reward the drop it behavior which has worked ; now whatever the item; I just say drop it and they do ; it doesn't come over night but try it out; also is he getting exercised? and challenged ? (everlasting treat balls etc ) so not to spark boredom for him to search his own entertainment? patience and time investment will correct this behavior

Answer 9

He thinks that he is getting you pretty well trained.. But, now its your turn..he has certainly crossed the boundry.
Don't let him have ANYTHING to eat, without having to sit first..Teach him the very basic 'sit' command, and don't give him any treat or any food, until he sits for at least 15 seconds..this makes YOU boss of his food, and turns the tables on him..
If you need tips for teaching 'sit' just email me..
My dad had to do this with our dog when I was a kid..as he would threaten us kids when he had anything to eat..my dad taught him to sit for any treat, and we kids were required to make him sit before he got anything from us..It worked, and I have always relied on that..
I see that many have recommended punishments..Pleas don't ever return violence for violence..That may make him quit threatening you, but will leave him still aggressive to others..It doesn't solve the problem.

Answer 10

Well its too late to punish him now, he won't know what he did wrong. But, normally if you flick him on the nose or pop him on the head and say "NO, NO" it makes him stop. We trained my 2 Whippets to drop whatever is in their mouth when we say "Drop it" . I can't remember how we did that. But if your poodle keeps that up he might be sick, I'm not saying he is but he might be? Trying spanking him and putting him in his crate for about and hour or so when he bites you. I know it sounds mean but it works!