why is she so mean?

Question

i got a chocolate lab recently.
and she likes to bite my hand when i mess with her
and i thought labs where good animals!!!
so why does she snap at me and bite, and make
me wanna punch her in the face.
o and she chaces the little kitten around & pullls her by the ear.
she cuddles and shes sweeet. and really smart..
but why?

Answer 1

wresting and biting is natural playing in a litter environment. when she bites, grab her mouth closed and tell her NO! very sternly. then get a rope or other type of toy and play tug a war with her. chasing the cat is part if their natural instinct. but scold her when she does it, the cat will eventually learn to stay away. don't EVER punch her in the face. If you have to correct her swat her on the butt, but don't punch her. That will just cause her to get head shy and more aggressive.

Answer 2

I've said it before and I'll say it again: no dog of any breed is going to automatically be "well behaved" if someone doesn't teach them what good behavior is.

How and why are you "messing with her?" Are you getting her worked up? Playing roughly with her? Teasing her? Taking food or toys away from her? You don't want to put her in a position where she feels that she needs to bite to make you stop doing something. Treat her with respect. If you are not annoying or upsetting her and she bites, give a short, high pitched cry and ignore her for five to ten minutes. This is how puppies learn not to play too roughly with other dogs. This will only work if you are not doing things that upset her; if you are, she may learn that biting is a good way to make you go away and stop annoying her.

Have you worked on introducing the dog and the kitten slowly? Your dog needs to start learning basic obedience commands like "sit", "stay" and "lie down". Keep her on a leash when you let her interact with the kitten and separate them if she gets too worked up. Keep them apart until you can control your dog better and don't let them play together unsupervised until your dog knows how to behave around your kitten and does so reliably. Your dog could seriously injure your kitten, even without meaning to, and you are responsible for insuring the safety and happiness of all your pets.

Answer 3

Well, first of all...this is how dogs will play.

If she is a puppy, biting your hand and carrying on is how puppies play with each other. They nip and "grasp" each others necks, feets, muzzles....to play. It is also how they determine the alpha from the beta in the pack.

With the chasing of the kitten....she is also playing. To her, you and the kitten are her "pack". This is how she views her home life now...and she is trying to establish where her position in the pack is.

You may be playing too hard with her if she is snapping and biting at you often. Try to play less rough...as she has to be older to play harder. If she is just a pup, she could be getting scared if you are too rough an thus, snapping at you to let you know.."Knock it off, that is too hard or rough".

Please, do not punch her in the face. Instead, try some of these "pack" leading ideas. (Some may sound a bit odd but they do work)

When she bites at your hand, bite back. NOT HARD, but enough so that she knows you are taking control and you ARE the alpha dog in the pack. When you do, (if you decide) to bite(more so nip) her back...do so on the cheek, about an inch back (towards her shoulders) from her smile line (lips). This is how the Mom teaches them who rules the roost when she is raising them. Its also one of the ways that dogs determine who is alpha in the pack and who isn't. By your doing so, she will learn that YOU are the alpha dog.

When she starts to snap and nip at you, grasp her by the scruff of her neck and (carefully) move her away from you. This is how her Momma dog tells her "enough, knock it off". If you are too rough with her, she will take it as aggression and continue to do so harder, so you have to find the right pressure and movement so that she understands you mean business but you aren't challenging her.

When she snaps and bites at you, stop playing and sit back a bit, look at her, using a firm voice, tell her "No bite!". Everytime she does this you will have to use the voice and firmness. Again, do not yell...all that does is scare her and she can end up afraid of you and even more aggressive-mean than before. By using a soft, quiet yet firm voice...she will actually pay closer attention to what you're saying. When you yell, you scare her and put her on guard...she can't listen and learn if she is too busy being scared.

Puppies are like children. They have to be handled carefully yet firmly.
Too hard, they get mean...
Too soft, they don't believe you.
Too inconsistant---they won't believe you and will continue...possibly learning even more bad habits

You should also look into puppy training classes. (Or young dog classes). They can help you in learning new ways to interact with your dog while teaching her the proper ways you wish her to be.

Good luck and please, again, do not punch her or yell at her. This is considered abuse...and could end with you having the dog taken away. If you feel the desire to punch her, find her another home----a good home.
It will take time an understanding, but you can work with her and teach her to be as you wish her to be.

Answer 4

If it's a young dog then that sounds like normal puppy play and it can be corrected with training, if it is an adult dog I would suggest some serious obedience classes, adult dogs should not bite or nip and definitly keep the kitten away until the dog learns to respect it. She may also need some more activities to keep her more content try frisbee or going on a walk everyday, maybe it will help her calm down.

Answer 5

Never hit a dog... use voice commands. The dog is playing rough with you.You need to show it that it is not allowed. Maybe it needs to be exercised more ( long walks twice a day, play ball outside) get rid of that extra energy so it will be calmer in the house. When it goes after the cat tell it NO! It will finally get the message. Good luck.

Answer 6

My black lab pup used to do that, too. What worked for me is every time she would bite me I would yelp really loud and try to make her understand that she hurt me, then I would walk away and completely ignore her for a couple minutes. When she had calmed down I'd grab a toy and go back and play with her again until she bit me. Then I'd do it all over again. After a while she figured out that I wouldn't play with her if she bit me.

Answer 7

Dogs dont pop out ready to go. They require training. Take her to some obedience classes-theyll teach you how to deal with this.

Also look online for teaching a dog not to bite. There are tons of great sites for training, and quite a few bad ones. Lookup NILF-it is incredibly effective and does not rely on punishment to teach.

Answer 8

Um, maybe you should stop "messing" with her. If you keep bugging her and make her aggravated, you get what you deserve.

If she is biting during regular handling, consult with a trainer. Dogs, regardless of age, should accept petting and basic handling from their owners - and, ideally, other people.

Tell her "leave it" when she chases after the cat. If she won't stop, put her in a time out in another room for one or two minutes. You need to watch her closely. You should never allow her to get to the point of grabbing the cat's ear.

Answer 9

The key phrase is 'when I mess with her'. She knows you're playing, so she's playing back. You'll have to watch that.

She sounds like she might still be a puppy. She's going to be playful, and you will have to train her now- before it becomes a permanent habit.

Check out The Dog Whisperer for tips, if you're not sure how to go about it.

Good luck!

Answer 10

It just sounds like she's young and doesn't know better, you need to take her to obedience training. There are also some really good books out there on training your animals, invest in your dog, she's worth it!