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Please help... At my wits end!!

JoanneF said:
When you soak up his urine, try taking the kitchen roll (or whatever you use) to a place outside. He might be prepared to wee on top of it. But really, you just need to be a step ahead of him and have him out before he wees, even if that means taking him out every 10 minutes, and waiting.

And in a pup of his age, it is very unlikely to be aggression. It is far, far more likely to be overaroused play.
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Yes we do this... He ends up just playing with the tissue, it doesn't seem to encourage him to wee in the garden. We will persevere though... I just don't get why he doesn't like weeing in the garden. I don't think he's weed in the garden once in two months.
 
JudyN said:
I'd steer clear of that article - I haven't read it all but if mentions the old chestnut 'dominance aggression'. Whatever it is, he's not trying to be 'dominant'.

Pups of that age can sometimes be 'proper' aggressive. When he bites, how much of a mark does he leave? Do you ever tell him off for things? If he's calm, i.e. not playing, does he ever enjoy being petted or stroked? Are there any games or toys he does like? When you give him a timeout, how long do you leave him for?

Also, what do you feed him (brand & variety)?
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He does bite hard, and he will latch on. He likes to bite clothing as well as skin. We are all covered in marks. He's very rarely calm, and unless he's really sleepy he doesn't appear to like being fussed... If you go to stroke him he'll latch onto you and start biting. He's got several toys but no particular favourite. As I said he prefers hanging onto us or our clothing.
 
Mrs S said:
Yes we do this... He ends up just playing with the tissue, it doesn't seem to encourage him to wee in the garden. We will persevere though... I just don't get why he doesn't like weeing in the garden. I don't think he's weed in the garden once in two months.
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It is just going to take time and patience. He has to wee sometime, you just need for him to do it so you can praise and reward. He is perhaps a little too young for scent marking but you could ask anyone you know with a male dog to wee in the garden (the dog, not the friend ;)) to see if yours will wee on top. Worth a shot!
 
I don't know anyone with a male dog... I wondered if that's why he sometimes wees on walks because he can smell other dogs? I'll get my hubby to pee in a tub and I'll throw some of that out there... Desperate times....
 
JudyN said:
That's what I was thinking, JoanneF!

I can see why Violet is seeing Border terrier, but some pics of 'malti-pugs' do look similar, e.g. The World's Best Photos of maltipug and murray - Flickr Hive Mind It's difficult to see from the photo how short his muzzle is.

Does he actually puncture the skin and draw blood?
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He's got a really funny face, his bottom jaw juts out.. Strangest looking dog I've ever seen lol. I'll try and get a side profile pic.
He hasn't drawn blood no, but he leaves bruises
 
Mrs S said:
I don't know anyone with a male dog... I wondered if that's why he sometimes wees on walks because he can smell other dogs? I'll get my hubby to pee in a tub and I'll throw some of that out there... Desperate times....
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I have heard of that being done too!
 
Oh and BTW with regards to feeding he is fed on butchers tinned meat and Harrington dry biscuits. This is what he was fed on when we was given to us so there have been no changes to his diet.
 
Violet Turner said:
that's a great food Harringtons! I highly recommend it! :)
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Is it?... Thats good! Tbh I'm not really clued up on processed dog food, our old greyhound was fed on raw... But we've kept him on food he's used to as not to cause more disruption.
 
What do you base your opinion of Harrington's, Violet?

According to the All About Dog Food website, Harrington's scores around 3 out of 5 depending on variety, and the main ingredient is usually maize which many nutritionists regard as pure filler. Butcher's gets round about 2.5: The Dog Food Directory - now listing 1775 dog foods! Personally I'd switch to raw. It might improve his behaviour but even if it doesn't it'll still be better for him in my opinion.

If he's not puncturing you, I'm pretty sure the biting is play plus overarousal rather than aggression (I'm not an expert though). A few thoughts:

Reward all calm behaviour. Really notice when he is doing what you want (even - particularly - if he's doing nothing!).

Find 'non-contact' games. 'Find the treat' might be a good one. Or target practice - put something like a carpet tile on the floor and say 'yes' and throw a treat whenever he puts a paw on it till he figures out what's happening. If you want to try clicker training this could be a good one - you click when you would say 'yes'. Also look for '101 uses for a cardboard box' on Youtube which is a similar idea.

Use treat balls, frozen kongs, snuffle mats, etc., to keep him busy - you could even feed all his meals in this way (can be messy with raw mince!). Or you could hide kibble in the garden.

He could be teething, so he might have a increased need to chew at the moment. A flannel, soaked in water, wrung out, and then frozen can cool his gums, can help. Or a carrot.

Look for a Youtube video 'It's Yer Choice' for impulse control and see if you can make progress with that. It's one thing him knowing what you want him to do, it's another for him to have the self-control to do it, and this will help him develop it.

Remember that getting his brain ticking is likely to tire him out even more than physical exercise, so the more training and games you can do - relatively calm ones that won't lead to overarousal - the better.

In the meantime, carry on being absolutely consistent with the timeouts. You only need to leave him in timeout for about 10 seconds. This allows for LOTS of repetitions and will be absolutely exhausting but it will work eventually.

I hope some of that helps:)
 
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That's extremely helpful thank you. He's learnt a few commands such as sit and 'give a paw'. Been speaking to my friend on the phone and she said a new tactic she's been trying today when he bites is to ask him to sit and once he is sitting quietly she'll reward him with lots of fuss and a treat.. Only once he has stopped biting and is sitting quietly. We are hoping if we consistently do that he will realise that not biting leads to nice things. Will try the 10 second time out thing too. As I said between us luckily we have plenty of time.
 
And yes I would like to switch to raw at some point as our old greyhound was brilliant on it but I don't want to disrupt his routine atm by changing his food.
 
I can't understand why violet "Highly recommends" Harringtons" food in one post and in her next post says that raw is better. I wonder if she actually knows the difference?
"Harringtons" is a mainly maize based food, maize is a grain and it is a known fact that grains are difficult for our dogs digestive systems to digest properly.
Raw feeding is such a natural product for our dogs to be fed on, it is easy to digest. Our dogs teeth are not designed to grind grains/corn, but they are perfectly designed for ripping and tearing the raw product "meat".
Feeding a raw diet is known to help with various behavioural problems.
As mentioned above by judy, if it does not help then it will have done no harm and potentially it is much better for him.

Before Violet advises on any further posts about feeding our pets maybe she would like to invest in some good informational books that will help her understand about feeding our pets.

Examples; "Honey's Natural feeding Handbook for Dogs" by Jonathan Self. An excellent and easy book to read, even I can understand what is being said.
"Give your Dog a Bone" by Ian Billinghust. I find this one "heavy going"!
"Works Wonders" feed your dog raw meaty bones. by Tom Lonsdale.
"Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats". by Kymythy Schultze. Easy reading.

JoanneF and JudyN have some very practical behavioural advice.
 
Thank all for the advice. Especially like the 10sec time out one as that's something we haven't yet tried.
 
So, you recommend it on the basis your dog gained weight, yes? The Harrington foods all seem high in carbs. My understanding (although not as good as @excuseme and @JudyN) is that carbs are metabolised into sugars. Could that contribute to behaviour?
 
All About Dog Food website's assessment of Harrington's and Butcher's: The Dog Food Directory - now listing 1775 dog foods!

I posted the wrong link in my earlier post - edited it now!

There's a very big difference between 'This food worked for my dog' and 'This is a great food'. I know someone whose dog only seems to do well on Bakers but even he will admit it's an absolutely rubbish food and wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.
 
Change his diet, diet can affect everything. It could be the food aspect of things with him being aggressive. I recommend that you switch to raw food as its much better and healthier than kibble.
 
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