# Dog mouthing hard and tearing clothes



## KRo (Sep 6, 2012)

Hello folks, I'm posting on behalf of a friend whose new rescue dog who is being a bit of a nightmare. The dog is jumping up and mouthing very hard, enough to leave bruises and has broken the skin. She also grabs my friend's clothes and rags them around whilst she is wearing them and has ruined lots of clothes.

My friend has been clicker training the dog to 'sit', 'down', 'give', and also tries to distract her with a toy and/or ignore the bad behaviour. The problems are the following:

1) If she ignores her when she rags her clothes, the dog just carries on doing it.
2) My friend has been leaving the room when dog does this, but this is sometimes difficult as dog is holding tight to clothes. Even when she manages to leave, dog just lies in bed and plays with toys instead (i.e., doesn't seem to be getting message).
3) When dog bites my friend on walks, it begins with dog jumping up and grabbing lead (she's not allowed off lead yet), and starting a tug of war. When my friend tries to get the lead back (using treats or swapping it for a toy), the dog is biting her arm. My friend obviously can't leave the scene when this happens in the park, so just tries to ignore the dog. But then the dog carries on biting. She's tried distracting the dog with a toy when this happens, but dog isn't interested.

My friend has been trying to identify what's setting the dog off, and it *seems* to be when the dog wants her attention. Because the dog is either tugging and ripping her clothes or biting her arm, it's very difficult to ignore it - she has to try and get the dog to stop ripping her clothes, or stop her from biting her arm. So if it is attention the dog wants, she always ends up getting it. My friend is finding she can't be in the same room as the dog at home unless she interacts with her. She's also a bit worried that trying to distract the dog with a toy when the dog does this is basically rewarding her with attention.

The rescue say the dog wasn't doing this whilst she was with them, so can't offer any specific advice about what worked in the past.

Final info: the dog was taken in as a pregnant stray, and had pups at the rescue. The pups had just been weaned when my friend took her, and was booked in for a spey a week later, but in the meantime (like, the day she got her from the rescue) the dog came into season  Could this be the reason for all the bad behaviour?

Can anyone help?


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## Janey D (Jul 27, 2012)

Hi, I am sure there are people around a lot more experienced than me but I would say you have got to work out why the dog is behaving this way. Our rescue dog is very barky in certain circumstances and it was only by having him assessed by a behaviourist that we found out that this was based on fear.

It really sounds like your friend needs expert help with this to understand whats going on with the dog and how to move forward. Have the rescue centre not offered any help or support? Bigger rescues tend to have behaviourists available to work with new adoptive families and they do have a responsibility to make sure your friend is getting on OK.

Hope you get something sorted, it sounds a nightmare for your friend.


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## Buzzard (Aug 10, 2012)

I think it may be a good idea to seek the advice of a dog behaviourist. Around £20 for an hour could be well spent. They can observe the dog and offer advice on how best to deal with it.


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## Rottsmum (Aug 26, 2011)

KRo said:


> Hello folks, I'm posting on behalf of a friend whose new rescue dog who is being a bit of a nightmare. The dog is jumping up and mouthing very hard, enough to leave bruises and has broken the skin. She also grabs my friend's clothes and rags them around whilst she is wearing them and has ruined lots of clothes.
> 
> My friend has been clicker training the dog to 'sit', 'down', 'give', and also tries to distract her with a toy and/or ignore the bad behaviour. The problems are the following:
> 
> ...


Could we have a bit more info on the dog? It may help people advise you better 

What breed is she?

How old is she?

How long was she in rescue?

How long has your friend had her?

How much exercise does she get each day?

What is she fed?

What was the rescue's assessment of her?


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## KRo (Sep 6, 2012)

Hello,

German Shepherd Cross (she's got quite a wide head, and the fur on top is slightly wrinkly like it is on top of a staffie's - not sure what that might indicate about the other side of her parentage. We wondered if she might be a staffie cross).

Between one and two years.

At least two months - she was picked up as a pregnant stray and had her pups in rescue. The pups had been weaned a week or so before my friend got her. She was due to be speyed on Monday, but came into season almost as soon as my friend got her home. The only other info we have on her background is that she came from Ireland!

Nine days.

She can't be let off-lead because she is too new and also in season. She has been getting around three hours of lead walking a day, and then playing games in the house. (I realise it's not a great idea to take a dog in heat outside the house, but she was bouncing off the walls indoors and biting constantly. The behaviourist at the rescue said to take her out and walk her around streets and watch for other dogs. This has helped to calm her down a bit.)

Royal Canin Sensitive (if I've remembered properly) - the rescue said she had a sensitive tum and this is what she was given by them.

The rescue said she was friendly and loves people. When my friend phoned them it turned out that she hadn't done any tugging clothes or mouthing the people looking after her at the rescue. I don't think the rescue really appreciate what she's like with us. She has to go back there on Monday for another vaccination and we're sort of hoping she'll behave badly there so they can see what's really going on and maybe help my friend.

I went round to see them last night to go on the last walk of the day. The dog looked like she was happy to see me (she knows me quite well as I've been on a few walks with them since she arrived). She was wagging her tail vigorously, and had her ears back and was smiling. But when I put out my hand to stroke her, she clamped her jaws around my forearm. Once in the house, she grabbed the bottom of my jacket and tugged that. And also nipped my jeans around my crotch. She's like this ALL the time with my friend.

In case you're wondering, I've had a dog for ten years. Whilst I'm by no means an experienced dog owner (I've only had the one dog), I don't think either of us are doing something weird or crazy that is making the dog behave like this.

My friend is getting a behaviourist in soon. But in the meantime, any advice or moral support would be much appreciated


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## Janey D (Jul 27, 2012)

We rescued our JRT 6 weeks ago. He is brilliant with our kids, loving and affectionate, fine when he is left on his own, perfectly house trained and loads of fun.

BUT he is also barky with visitors, terrible with other dogs and a nightmare with the dog next door.

When you rescue a dog you accept that there will be problems that you will have to work on but I have found it really hard at times. Through this forum I have heard of people who have worked through some really awful problems with their rescue dogs and slowly they have got there. This does give you the encouragement to carry on. Nine days is very early days for your friend although the dogs behaviour does sound quite extreme.

I hope the rescue centre or a trainer can give some advice soon.


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## KRo (Sep 6, 2012)

Thanks, Janey. The good news is that my friend had an intensive session with a behaviourist this morning, and there is already loads of improvement. Haven't spoken to her at length yet, but can feel how relieved she is.

Yes - she knew there would be issues to work through, but this seemed a bit beyond the capabilities of an ordinary human!

Good luck with your JRT.


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## sezeelson (Jul 5, 2011)

I rescued my dog at 5 months old and he to did what you have described in your post. I've tried all the leaving the room, ignoring him (he is a big GSD x staffie with very large teeth so this was never really an option!) saying 'no' etc. 

These are the steps I took to stop him.

First of all I needed him to respect me more, he was no longer allowed on sofa's or beds and was banned from the kitchen (he was obsessed with food). I kept a house line him and gave it a quick tug if he didn't respond straight away so he knew he couldn't just ignore me!

Second, I brought myself an electric scooter! It was cheap slow one, just fast enough for the dog to trot along beside me and I took him out first thing in the morning as his morning run seemed to have a big impact on his physical and mental energy levels. this meant he could run but was still safe on a lead.

Thirdly, I had to introduce a negative reinforcement to stop the behaviour. my dog is very sensitive so I had to be careful here. I tried a pet correction spray which lets out air with an unpleasant sound to the dog, it was always kept out of his sight. When he latched on I would press it quickly behind my back for half a second witch shocked him enough to stop the behaviour straight away. Don't give him eye contact, say anything or give threatening body language etc. just stay calm. You can then redirect his attention or simply walk away.

It took about 3 days? And the behaviour had completely stopped, often chucking a ball in my lap for attention instead and he was a lot more respectful towards me!


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