How to stop her Biting the couch

We have been using the "yelp then ignore" strategy someone recommended and it has been working. Recently she wants to bite your hands and the couch. If she cant bite your hands, feet or clothing then she bites the couch. We have tried a strategy our dog trainer said would work which was to growl imitating a mother dogs disapproval and if this does not work then a soft tap of her shoulder whilst growling as a correction.

This just makes her more aggressive and even more determined to either bite the person or the couch. We then tried ignoring her as we thought it was attention seeking behaviour but this made the couch biting worse! We have tried removing ourselves from the room and her for 30 seconds and she forgets initially but often will return to biting the couch or person.

I have extended her exercise/play sessions to 45 minutes three times daily to see if burning off some energy works....... any ideas as I am running out of them!

Whenever Zeus bited my couch, which he did and still does when he wants attention, I simply shout NO! and remove him from the room as a punishment. I leave him in the kitchen for a minute or so then let him back in. I keep doing it until he gets the message, which he eventually does.

You can try that, or you can try a distraction technique and focus his attention on a toy. What works for me is giving Zeus his stag bar, I pull it to and from his mouth, as if I'm saying "come and get it", I increase his desire to get that stagbar and when I do give it to him, he'll sit down on and chew it for a while, solving the problem of biting my couch.

Hope this helps!

Here you go...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=bitter+apple+spray+for+dogs&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=16331710670&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=142733408622061910&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_33f3vpmqvv_b

Dan330 wrote:Here you go...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=bitter+apple+spray+for+dogs&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=16331710670&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=142733408622061910&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_33f3vpmqvv_b

You can go down that route but do you really want to smell bitter apple spray when you're lying down on your couch afterwards..?

goldie87 wrote:

Dan330 wrote:Here you go...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=bitter+apple+spray+for+dogs&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=16331710670&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=142733408622061910&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_33f3vpmqvv_b

You can go down that route but do you really want to smell bitter apple spray when you're lying down on your couch afterwards..?

At least there will be a couch to lay down on... >

goldie87 wrote:

Dan330 wrote:Here you go...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=bitter+apple+spray+for+dogs&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=16331710670&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=142733408622061910&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_33f3vpmqvv_b

You can go down that route but do you really want to smell bitter apple spray when you're lying down on your couch afterwards..?

Definitely worked for us and i didnt find the smell to be offensive. No worse than a staffy fart lol

Kuchar has a go at the sofa too. He destroyed one utterly and I had to dump it, which was a shame as it was a repro Victorian sofa I was fond of (see avatar). I was then lucky enough to get a a 4 piece suite in good condition from Ebay for 99p! Good job I didn't pay much - he has destroyed 2 seats cushions already. I've tried the bitter apple spray but maybe it doesn't work on fabrics.

Thank you- will make some up today and fingers crossed it is a deterrent! I will let you all know how it goes!