# 9 month old cocker is biting...help!



## candyfloss (May 26, 2009)

Help needed....Toby (our 9 month old lemon cocker spaniel dog) is biting/ snapping at my 4 year old as he plays on his swing/slide in the garden. Toby snaps or clamps hold of his clothes as he comes down or tries to climb up the slide.

Yesterday he made contact with my sons skin and caused a minor abrasion. We've so far punished this with taking him indoors or shouting 'no' but obviously this is not working.

How do we nip this behaviour in the bud...it's not acceptable for Toby to think that it's ok to bite children, we have a 3 month old and I need to know that she'll be safe 

Toby is also a major chewer...he chews anything and everything and i'm beginning to pull my hair out. Dog toys are wrecked within hours, he's eaten numerous pairs of unguarded shoes, door frames, 7 dog beds!!! and the list goes on and on and on! :/

The trainer that I used when he was a small pup told me he'd grow out of it when he got his adult teeth, but he's had these a long time now and I don't know what avenue to try next???

Kongs are ignored, no matter how tasty the filling...chewy bones are buried within hours of having them, 'NO', being put in his bed or a smack are not making any difference whatsoever, any ideas...pleeeease?

One more thing, chasing cats??? Any ideas how to stop this? We've tried ignoring it (at which point he sits on the cat) and we've tried preventing it....his tail is always wagging, so I think it's meant as fun rather than dinner!! The cats have tried putting him in his place with a swift paw or biting him but Toby doesn't even flinch and this is another thing we're at the end of our tether with.

Any help, advice or ideas on any of the above are greatly received.

thanks


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## ad_1980 (Jan 28, 2009)

Tell him off when he's done it. say No or yell Ow. That's what i do and Mika gets the message that he's done something very bad.


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## Colliepoodle (Oct 20, 2008)

Read this for biting The Bite Stops Here

Maybe don't let your children and the dog out in the garden together if the dog is getting too excited by the kids running about. At 9 months he's still young and it's a big ask to expect him not to get worked up by kids running about and squealing, like they do. The more you let him practise the behaviour, the better at it he'll get so put a stop to it. TBH you should never leave kids and dogs unattended together anyway, particularly your 3 month old.

They often go through a second stage of chewing at around the age your dog is now - mine did. She is also a prolific chewer.... 

First of all, put EVERYTHING out of the way/out of reach that you can. No shoes left lying around, or else keep the dog away from them. You have to remember that, to a dog, everything is a chew toy. He sees absolutely no difference between your stuff and his - so please don't smack him  All that will do is make him not trust you.

What do you feed him? There is no reason why food should be fed in bowls - if it's wet food he's on, then stuff kongs etc with his dinner and freeze them. That will a) give him something to do and b) Soothe his gums if they're sore. I believe the jaws are still developing at this age so they may be achey. Feed him his dinner ONLY in kongs etc and if he's hungry, he won't ignore them 

If he buries his chewies/bones, then don't leave him in the garden with them


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## Fleur (Jul 19, 2008)

Great advice from Colliepoodle.
Only the other day on It's me or the dog USA Victoria Stilwell was dealing with a dog that got over excited when the kids were on the slide biting and trying to climb up. What she did was hold the dog on the lead and get it's attention on her with treats, the kid went down the slide, if the dog focused on her it got a treat if it lunged towards the slide she made a distracting noise 'shhhtttt' and walked the dog away ignoring it. She then bought it back and repeated. The family had to do this several times a day.
As Colliepoodle says when my dogs were puppies (and even to some extent now) the rule I taught my family is if you leave it on the floor then it becomes the dogs  put everything away until he has learned what is appropriate to chew, train him to drop so if he gets something he shouldn't have you can ask him to drop and reward him with a game with a toy he is allowed to chew. When not being supervised put him in a room where you have nothing you're worried about (mine are left in my conservatory the only furniture in there is old so if it gets damaged I don't really mind).
Mine love nylabones - they are the only chew toy mine really like to gnaw on.
Even if he is on dry food, you can soak it a little so it's soft then stuff his kong also get a toy such as a buster cube to put his dry food in that will kep him busy for a while.


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## Colliepoodle (Oct 20, 2008)

Fleur said:


> Great advice from Colliepoodle.
> Only the other day on It's me or the dog USA Victoria Stilwell was dealing with a dog that got over excited when the kids were on the slide biting and trying to climb up. What she did was hold the dog on the lead and get it's attention on her with treats, the kid went down the slide, if the dog focused on her it got a treat if it lunged towards the slide she made a distracting noise 'shhhtttt' and walked the dog away ignoring it. She then bought it back and repeated. The family had to do this several times a day.
> As Colliepoodle says when my dogs were puppies (and even to some extent now) the rule I taught my family is if you leave it on the floor then it becomes the dogs  put everything away until he has learned what is appropriate to chew, train him to drop so if he gets something he shouldn't have you can ask him to drop and reward him with a game with a toy he is allowed to chew. When not being supervised put him in a room where you have nothing you're worried about (mine are left in my conservatory the only furniture in there is old so if it gets damaged I don't really mind).
> Mine love nylabones - they are the only chew toy mine really like to gnaw on.
> Even if he is on dry food, you can soak it a little so it's soft then stuff his kong also get a toy such as a buster cube to put his dry food in that will kep him busy for a while.


Good point about soaking dry food :yesnod:

Mine will only chew a Nylabone as a last resort but that said, I think that is because I got the one for "Strong Chewers", reasoning that the harder it was to chew, the longer it would last. It appears though that part of the fun of chewing is actually the destroying part - she's had her tough Nylabone for over a year now and hasn't managed to bite any bits off yet, which I think she views as something of a failure


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## lemmsy (May 12, 2008)

Ok. First things first.



> Toby (our 9 month old lemon cocker spaniel dog) is biting/ snapping at my 4 year old as he plays on his swing/slide in the garden. Toby snaps or clamps hold of his clothes as he comes down or tries to climb up the slide.


Ok- this sounds very much to me like he is actually trying to engage in play with your son. He is not trying to be nasty but obviously the behaviour is inappropriate. Sounds like the motion of the swing or slide and the movement excites him. Personally I would have him on a house line/lead in the garden, the moment he tries to play rough or shows this behaviour I would take him into the house and put him in timeout for 15 seconds. Time out consists of taking the dog into an empty room and putting him in there-trapping the lead in the door inbetween you so that you can still hold the lead. You say that you have tried taking him indoors but the difference here is a withdrawal of attention. The message to him is: Inappropriate play=no attention. It may take time or no time at all but if you are consistant with him he'll get the message 



> Toby is also a major chewer...he chews anything and everything and i'm beginning to pull my hair out. Dog toys are wrecked within hours, he's eaten numerous pairs of unguarded shoes, door frames, 7 dog beds!!! and the list goes on and on and on! :/


Chewing can be a way of a dog expressing his boredum. This may not be the case here because some dogs are just born chewers, however, how long for/often is he walked?
What is he fed on?
How do you mentally stimulate him? (the reason I ask is cockers are very clever have you considered clicker training him tricks- a session of trick training every evening might help )



> Kongs are ignored, no matter how tasty the filling...chewy bones are buried within hours of having them, *'NO', being put in his bed or a smack *are not making any difference whatsoever, any ideas...pleeeease?


What exactly are you punishing him for? Burying his bones or chewing? Personally I would avoid hitting him. I know sometimes his behaviour must be frustrating (dogs eh) but I don't there is any need to hit him. Hitting a dog can in some cases cause them to be aggressive and he is only doing what he thinks is acceptable.



> One more thing, chasing cats??? Any ideas how to stop this? We've tried ignoring it (at which point he sits on the cat) and we've tried preventing it....his tail is always wagging, so I think it's meant as fun rather than dinner!! The cats have tried putting him in his place with a swift paw or biting him but Toby doesn't even flinch


Personally I'd use the time out technique for this too. Have him on a house lead and the moment he shows inappropriate behaviour towards the cats tell him "that's enough" and put him into timeout for 15-20 seconds.

Hope this helps and keep us updated


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## candyfloss (May 26, 2009)

great advice thanks. If we shut Toby indoors while our son is out playing he goes crazy! Scrabbling at the door, barking, howling, digging at the carpet etc. Another behaviour we don't want to promote??? I'll give the lead/ treat training a go while son is playing 
I've tried filling his kong with his dinner and other tasty treats also freezing it (trainer advised this too) didn't work either. He was on Burns but he stopped eating it, now we give him james wellbeloved.
I don't want to give him a smack, tbh this occurs when i'm just soooo cross with him and frustrated. Our trainer told us to remember that 'a dog will do what works'...how can this be if i feel like i'm constantly telling him off or saying 'no'?????


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## lemmsy (May 12, 2008)

candyfloss said:


> great advice thanks. If we shut Toby indoors while our son is out playing he goes crazy! Scrabbling at the door, barking, howling, digging at the carpet etc. Another behaviour we don't want to promote??? I'll give the lead/ treat training a go while son is playing
> I've tried filling his kong with his dinner and other tasty treats also freezing it (trainer advised this too) didn't work either. He was on Burns but he stopped eating it, now we give him james wellbeloved.
> I don't want to give him a smack, tbh this occurs when i'm just soooo cross with him and frustrated. Our trainer told us to remember that 'a dog will do what works'...how can this be if i feel like i'm constantly telling him off or saying 'no'?????


Oh adolescent dogs eh! Who'd have them?
He is 9 months so he is probably coming into the "little sod" stage. Just be consistant with him and you will get there. 
The only thing i thought is james wellbeloved is a good food but if you feel it is affecting his behaviour you could consider switching his diet to something different. In used to feed my dog on this as a young pup at first thinking-great it has no additives or added stuff etc... Spoke to our trainer who said actually there are additives, preservatives etc in the food so we swapped him onto naturediet (wet food) and the change was amazing.


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## candyfloss (May 26, 2009)

Right i'm off to the pet shop to look at hard chew/ treat toys, different brands of food and a clicker training book  wish me luck


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## candyfloss (May 26, 2009)

Training book is now in hand, the treats are ready, the food has changed and new toys have been bought. I hope this works.......


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## lemmsy (May 12, 2008)

:thumbsup: Which book did you get? Was it on clicker training?
Karen Pryor?

Have fun and keep us updated


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## Fleur (Jul 19, 2008)

candyfloss said:


> Training book is now in hand, the treats are ready, the food has changed and new toys have been bought. I hope this works.......


Best of luck - 
Don't forget he is a teenager in dog years so it will be 2 steps forward 1 step back.
Be consistent and be patient, you will get there.
Zipper was a nightmare for running off from 8 - 18 months and Lilly is a proper moody madam at 15 months but luckily in dogs their teenage years can be measured in months


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