My dog has bit 5 people already..how do i stop him from biting?

Question

I have a intact 6 year old male Maltese poodle.I adopted him when he was a year old ...Anyway he severely bit my TwinSister on the hand today and in the past year &1/2 he bit 4 other people.he has never bit me yet. How do I stop his biting behavior?

Thanks:Sahara

Answer 1

If these are severe bites as you say, you are going to need help from a qualified professional dog trainer. It is really hard for an inexperienced owner of a highly aggressive dog to learn what they need to watch for and how to act without a lot of help from someone who can stand there with you and watch your dog.

Getting him neutered might help, and you really should do it anyway.

If you are not going to seek help from a professional trainer and are determined to keep your dog (by the way, in most states, if the bites were reported your dog would've been seized by animal control and euthanized already) you have very few options. I recommend you do a lot of research on aggressive dogs and dog bites and try to implement some of those ideas. One of the best sites I've found for aggressive dog problems is leerburg.com. The main writer was a police K-9 handler and has loads of experience with biting dogs, both those that do it on command and those that do it of their own volition. I've included a link to one of their articles below.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Where in the world do you live that animal control has not turned up at your door? A true 'severe' bite would need medical attention and everywhere I know, doctors are required to report dog bites to the authorities.
So, either these are not severe bites or you live in a very backward state.
The dog sounds like it is probably totally spoiled and has learned biting gets him what he wants.
Certainly he should have been neutered, but I don't think that will help at this point. The responsible thing for you to do is have the dog euthanized. Rescues are not going to take a dog with a bite history. They would be liable if the dog hurt someone, just as you are liabel now for owning a dog with a bite history.

Answer 3

Please, seek the help of a positive trainer right away. To find one, visit:
http://www.ccpdt.org
The trainers you find on here use positive methods to help your dog (and you) to work through this problem. If there is something that you or your sister are doing to provoke the bites, then you need to know about it, right now.
Things that small dogs do not like:
being hovered over / loomed over
being grabbed
having things taken from them without something being offered in exchange

In the time between now and when the trainer comes, please pay attention to your dog's body language and signals. Most dogs will warn you before they bite; and since your Maltipoo has already bitten, it will be smartest of you to take care. Growling, snapping, and "freezing" body language are the biggest 3 signs. What I mean by "freezing" is that your dog will suddenly stop moving and will also stare at you or at your hands, if they are close. If your dog does this, please respect him, back off, and wait for him to calm down. Never grab at a dog when he's warning you that he will bite.

Answer 4

One day he will bite someone and you will have a lawsuit on your gand. Also in some states, of the dog is known to be vicious, they will be put to sleep. I would not own a vicious dog. Even tho it is a small dog,it is up to you to restrain it and keep it from doing anyone harm. What would you do if you were attacked by a larger dog like a rottweiller? No one likes to be attacked by a dog. When company is there, keep him away from them, in a different room or whatever it takes. If it stays outside, you need a good fenced yard that will hold him in. Do not take him to public places where he may attack someone else. Keep him under control.

Answer 5

I would never keep an aggressive dog, no matter how big or small it was. If there is any chance to help the dog, it should be neutered asap because neutered dog have a higher incidence of biting and he should taken to obedience classes so YOU can learn to CONTROL your dog. If you can not learn to control the dog I think euthanasia would be best because you can not re-home a dog that is aggressive because it is not right to pass these problems off onto other people.

Answer 6

Five instances in a relatively short time is a serious problem. Good thing he is a smaller breed or this could be a severely bad situation. As suggested keep the dog as far away from people as possible. It very well may be to late to fix the problem. If the authorities knew they would most certainly have the dog put down.

Answer 7

Have him neutered. Use a muzzle. Stop babying him so much.
You are very blessed that this is a small "cute" dog. If he were larger, he would have been turned in to authorities, taken away, and destroyed.
Small dogs get babied. And they turn into tyrants. You really need to work on dominance issues and training. If you ever have to give him up, he could end up being destroyed simply because he has no manners.

Answer 8

You need to get this under control before someone sues you. Have you taken the dog to a vet? There could be something medical going on here. If not, you should invest in some training for your dog, or keep it away from people. There are pretty stern laws for dogs who bite, and you could lose him forever.

Answer 9

keep this dog completely isolated from the world for the next 10 days as I'm sure the law requires where you are & have him euthanized immediately after that

If you have not corrected this in 2 years you are certainly not going to do it now!

What kind of place would adopt out an un neutered dog? And why would you leave him that way all this time?

another dog pays for having a completely irresponsible owner

Answer 10

Get him NEUTERED!!! Obedience training right away. Your dog has to learn that you are the boss, not them and obedience classes can help you and your dog learn different ways for him to channel his agression. With dog bite laws becoming stricter every day, I would try to resolve this as soon as possible. It would be horrible if he bit the wrong person (although I guess anyone who was bit would be the wrong person) and animal control was called to put down your dog.