Dominant dog makes me want to cry?

Question

My dog is a rescue jack russell terrier. Up to date on doctors visits and vaccines and not quite 1 year old yet.
She's well behaved and lovely in every way except when ever you go to show her any affection or attention, she bites. I have to quickly put a chew toy in her mouth or she'll just bite me.
I tried everything, I tried bitter apple spray, a spray bottle with water, rattling can, I tried to hold her down until she stopped biting and kicking but she will NOT stop until I just stand upand walk away and even then sometimes she follows me part way to bite my legs as I go.
But I know she loves me because she always stays by me as long as I don't pet her. Also she isn't biting in a mean way, it all seems like play biting (even though she always breaks open my skin).
Please help me what can I do Usually I can't put the leash on without her biting. Something always seems to have to be in her mouth on her walks too she needs to bite the leash. I walk her 2-3 hrs a daytotal.

please help, the vet's checked her teeth and everything and everythings ok. I don't now what to do, it can't stay like this.

Answer 1

Attention Seeking Behavior does not necessarily mean that your dog is dominant. In fact if your dog is not quite a year old (an adolescent), and is a rescue, chances are that this behavior will continue as long as you feed into it. Remember that bad attention is attention too. So as you’re struggling to hold down a squirming pup that this is a game to him now, you just need to walk away when presented with this fun ‘game’.
I have recently rescued a female American Pit Bull Terrier by the name of Butterfly. Your JRT and my APBT are alike in the sense that they are both rescues (Butterfly had a horrible past) and they are both Terriers, (which means they have an extremely strong will). If that will is to get your attention, they will stop at nothing. Butterfly has been here one week yesterday and in this time we have nearly put an end to her unwanted attention seeking behavior. Keep in mind with a rescue too that they most likely don’t understand what is acceptable and what isn’t as far as people-play. It is your job to teach this.
The key to this is to practice NILF training with your tenacious pup. (If unfamiliar with NILF, research via the web) Don’t let him have free pets, make him work for EVERYTHING (whether it be a ’sit’ command, or a ‘down‘). If he begins to jump and mouth, simply get up and walk away. I have found turning my back and crossing my arms (I sometimes had to turn several times before Butterfly ‘got it’) worked and when she finally sat down and looked at me calmly she was rewarded with high praise and love. If she mouthed I walked away again. This really stopped her jumping and mouthing fast.
If you really feel you need help, and you cannot decipher if it is aggression, dominance or simply hard-headed attention seeking puppy play, please fine a local certified trainer and possible behaviorist to evaluate your dog.
I wish you all the luck with your terrier and thank you for rescuing someone in need!

Answer 2

When he bites you yell "OW!" in your biggest "now I have to go to the hospital" voice. Never allow him to even play bite...always react the same way. When he pulls away (most likely because you scared him), praise him with either words or a treat. If he is biting you while you are putting on his leash for a walk, say OW and if he doesn't pull away, take the walk away from him. It's kind of like a puppy time out. Older dogs are little harder to break of the biting habit, it will take lots of work. If this doesn't work, you may have to look up dog training classes that have specialized classes that deal with specific behavior issues. Since you got him as a rescue, you may still want to take training classes, many offer them for older adopted dogs.

Answer 3

Slow down, take a deep breath. First, she may NOT be dominant. She may be a 'fear aggressive' dog. If she IS doing it out of fear, imagine what the spray and can might have done. Going TO her (to show 'affection' or 'attention') can be interpreted by HER as a dominant, aggressive display by YOU. Give her some space, don't feel sorry for her (she needs to see your gentle strength, not weakness). Keep her well exercised, and make sure it is YOUR WALK, not hers. (Those that know me elsewhere know what i mean). Have her walk at the pace YOU set and try to keep her focus on following you and not being distracted by anything else.
Above all, please don't give up. If it helps, I just rehabilitated a silky terrier even worse than yours and she now has a new home and her previous owners would never recognize her as the dog they almost put down........

Answer 4

Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your dog. It sounds very similar to this and could be genetic coupled with insufficient socialization early in life:

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2003&PID=6593&O=Generic

The range of behaviors manifest in this condition includes postural threats and stares to sudden stiffening and bites [2, 28, 29]. This is the primary category of canine aggression in which no warning is given [30]. The classic afflicted dog growls, lunges, snaps or bites if they are stared at, physically manipulated--often when reaching over their head to put on a leash, physically disrupted or moved from a resting site--no matter how gently this is done, and when they are physically or verbally 'corrected'. Otherwise, clients report that these are perfectly wonderful and charming dogs for well over 95% of the time. Clients are further puzzled by the observation that the dog often seeks them out for attention and then bites them when they give it.

-----------
Giving structure in a calm and gentle manner can help her learn self control. She probably starts off being tense and she needs calmness instead of anything that fuels her aggression. It is the equivalent of giving her a time out so she can calm down. Alpha rolling her or squirting her in the face just makes her angrier or more irritable.

You can teach her to sit or down/stay for treats. You can also desensitize her to touch by touching her in a non-threatening way with just a finger on her haunch or chest or wherever she doesn't seem to mind and then feeding her a treat. You can teach her bite inhibition by feeding her by hand. Put food in your fingers and if she lunges to bite it, pull away and tell her off. Tell her to take it gently and repeat this until she's licking it off. You can also start this with a wooden spoon instead of your fingers if you need to.

I would also look into prozac for dogs to help speed things up. It may work or it might not have any effect but it is worth looking into from your vet. It will take some patience on your part but she is still a puppy and can learn new behaviors to go along with her other good behaviors.

Answer 5

The dog's first owner was too rough with her, and you are getting bitten because of it. If you and the dog could go through 'dog training' together, both you and she could be helped through this rough 'getting to know you period' and you would have help getting her to stop biting. If training doesn't work, you'll have to make a decision ... keep her anyway, or give her away again. I think the training will work, but I can't PROMISE you it will ... but if you like this dog and want to keep her, that is your 'best bet' for getting her to stop this biting. It doesn't really matter if the bites are real or 'playing' ... the dog is breaking your skin, and that MUST stop. Look in the phone book for good dog trainers who give classes in your area. Good luck to both you and your new dog.

Answer 6

from what u say it sounds like u have a good understanding of your situation your just havin some trouble gettin it under control, she was probly never taught when she was younger that biting is bad, so she contiunes to play like she'd play with her siblings, when she goes to bite at you if u can grab her muzzel and roll her lip under so when she bites down she bites herself, when she starts acting up stand in front of her and in a calm stearn voice tell her she a BAAAADDDD DOOOGGGG and this may sound corny but even shake your finger at her, basically scold her as if she were a little kid, dogs are super smart and if people just tune into it a lil more theyll see how easy it is to "rationalize" with them to get them to behave, that all myt sound kinda weird but that was the best i could describe how id handle the situation, ive been a vet tech for 4 yrs so u kinda start to understand pretty well how there little brains work

Answer 7

to Misa M...hogwash.Bullying ?? Tell that to the alpha wolf in a pack.You must establish that you are the pack leader and biting will not be tolerated.Do the same thing the mother would do if she got bit.Grab as much skin behind the ear on the neck as you can without hurting the dog,roll her on her side, belly exposed and hold her there keeping eye contact the whole time.Never be the first to look away.No talking unless you want to make a growling sound.
Do this everytime she bites,you must be consistent. Check out Cesar Milan,the Dog Whisperer,online or get one of his books on being the pack leader.It will make you a better owner and your dog will certainly be happier as all dogs crave leadership.

Answer 8

OK. Never, ever hold your dog down or try to alpha roll her to make her stop. This act has caused a bad behavior to become much worse, as we can see by your question. She needs things to chew on and play with that are not your body parts!
If this were my dog, I would immediately do a very strict NILIF program with her. She wold need to work for every bite of food and she would be spending a lot of time in her crate. Every moment that she was out of her crate would be spent interacting with me - all of her self-rewarding activities would need to disappear. Susan Garrett's book _Ruff Love_ is a great guide for this, though it is very challenging to get through. Here it is:
http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=563&ParentCat=175&string=ruff

Here is a link for NILIF:
http://www.k9deb.com/nilif.htm
Again, this is an all-positive program. This means no choke chains or electric shock collars, no alpha rolling or other bullying techniques. I understand your frustration, but it's time to turn things around. You can do it, and you and your dog will be much happier for it!

Answer 9

First of all, I would try to figure out what causes her to bite.
Try gripping her snount just enough to close her mouth and tell her a firm "No bite!" If she stops, give her a treat. If she bites again, grip her muzzle and order to her cage (or put her in there saying "cage!" "bed!" or whatever you refer it to). Gripping of the snout is something that mother dogs will sometimes do with their young pups if they're biting too hard.

Answer 10

Why do you think she was in rescue?

Some dogs, especially Jack Russels, it seems, have strong opinions about "personal space". She's not a "touchy, feely" dog and probably never will be.

You can't change that. Just like no one could convince you that your new favorite thing is someone coming up and ruffling your hair every 10 minutes.

You can try bribing her with food.