aggressive Play bitting from a juvenile

Hi All

I'm new to this forum but I must say that I am enjoying what I have seen so far.
Its a wealth of info and plain fun.

Anywayz, I adopted my dog Swag a few weeks back from the pound and find myself attached to the cheeky boy. he is guesstimated at around 6-8months and was posted as a staffy (though I suspect he is a X)
He has this thing about play bitting but he is slightly more aggressive with it. I have read a number of post here as well as you tubes and articles and I am just trying to see if the technique im doing is correct and its just a matter of time.

He started out with just around the ankles but now its just all over. He even jumps and nips!!
I dont know what the "yelp" sound is but I make a sharp "AAH" sound and say No firmly. I turn my back on him and try to walk away but he just follows and bites even more. makes it hard to get inside the house from the backyward. There are times when it is a pretty hard bite, not enough to draw blood but enough to bruise the skin and I cant help but pull on his collar to get him off me. The minute I do that he gets even more worked up and attacks even more. today was the worst as he was actually snarling at my foot, "fake bitting" or making that snap bitting sound and then would attack. It just felt like in the span of 3 weeks he has gotten worst when I am trying to make it better.

Should I be trying something else?
Sorry for this ever circling topic.

On a side question, has anyone ever bought the Chet Womach hands free dog training found on the web?

cheers

Ryan

Hi, Ryan, welcome to the forum. It'd be great if you could let us have an intro here....
https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

Can you tell me what you're feeding Swag? It sounds as though he's rather hyper!

Swag23 wrote:On a side question, has anyone ever bought the Chet Womach hands free dog training found on the web?
cheers
Ryan

I wouldn't touch him with a bargepole! He apparently trains dogs, parrots and, believe it or not, children. From what I can make out his training videos are very expensive & are based on positive reinforcement & you can get book/videos much cheaper (or free on youtube!) and possibly much better!

Hiya

yup sure, ill do that too. i wanted to post some photos of him. just havent transfered from my phone.

to answer your question, I feed swag just kibble.
he is a very dominant and active dog. I didnt realise it when I rescued him. either way, he gets walks in the morning and at night.

Thanks. Yes . I have been looking at you tube and reading some online material.\

Which kibble do you feed him? Which brand?

It's hard to say if he's 'dominant' as you've only had him for a short time - he's still settling in & finding out how far he can push the boundaries!

i give him Purina Supercoate Puppy

youre right. he could just be testing and trying out what he can get away with.
he does play rough and likes being on top of other dogs....even the big ones.

You are using the right method. It may take a little time since he likely wasn't trained before, is setteling in and likely going through the teenage phase. It's possible that he is also teething since the age can't be exact. Some frozen treats like ice cubes or a stuffed kong may help

Swag23 wrote:i give him Purina Supercoate Puppy

youre right. he could just be testing and trying out what he can get away with.
he does play rough and likes being on top of other dogs....even the big ones.

You're on the right track with what you're doing. Maybe you could also put him out of the room sometimes (just for a few seconds until he calms down) when he gets a bit over the top!

Purina Supercoat Puppy isn't a bad food, but for me it has way too much in the way of cereals in it. You could think about switching to a different make, taking into account the cereal content as well as the meat content?

Where are you? The only references I could find to Supercoat were in Australia?

Oswald was doing this too and yes was really hard to get back into the house from the yard without a puppy hanging off my pants. I posted here and it was suggested to make a distracting noise and it does stop him. I also cut down play time, I found the longer play time went on the more Oswald would get over excited so now we do short play sessions with a break then back for more.

We also have supercoat but Oswald is really not fussed on it. VIP has just brought out a grain free food that looks like it might be a good option but it is adult dog only so have been having trouble getting my head around buying it for an 11 week old puppy.

http://www.vippetfoods.com.au/home/0,27137,113732,00.html

I use to feed Steff this one it is available in Woolworths and quite cheap

http://www.vippetfoods.com.au/home/0,27137,113732,00.html

Kylie how much did you feed her daily of that one? It is the one I was looking at

At 11 weeks old it was a plastic kiddy cup ful (if you know what I mean) a smalllish cup 3 times a day, I never had any problems with that one and it is now available at Woolies and is affordable.. I still buy it as a treat for her and she still enjoys a handful through the day, but now her main meals are raw so a small bag is around $8 at Woolies and lasts me 2 weeks

I feed Honey Science diet puppy and it is not bad. Both the vet and trainer at puupy pre school recommended it as it is not cereal based and has all the nutrients she needs in it. My pet store does a deal buy 7 pkts and get 8th free.

Thanks Kylie I might pick up a small bag and see if he likes that better

Im from Australia (OZ)

Thanks for that. I would try it too.

I bought a massive 15kg bag of the kibble when I first brought him home.

I have also minimise my play time with him but its gotten to the point where i would just be sitting with him by the grass and he would start play bitting.
we havent even started to play around!

Ill try the big noise distraction as well.

What do you mean by Raw??

the vet that desexed swag was recommending me to feed him raw meat like rabbit, goats head, kangaroo etc.
even went gave me a brochure of how one vet study classified feeding your dog kibble to putting your kid on a Mcdonalds diet. =D

A lot of kibble is like feeding your kids Maccas all the time but if you get a decent one it can be great..

I feed Steffi raw like your vet said pretty much all raw meat and bones and organs

If you are interested Ella has wrote a very informative thread on the subject, all you need to know is there and if you don't understand any of it just ask and someone will answer any answer any questions you may have

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t14787-raw-diet

Nice
thanks for that Kylie.

Just budgeting wise though, is it more expensive to have them in a raw diet as suppose to kibble?

is it true that once you switch em its very hard to put them back to kibble?

cheers

No actually if you a freezer and buy in bulk it is very cheap But when I haven't been butcher shopping I can always pick up a reduced tray of some meat at Woolies for a couple of dollars and a bag of meaty bones from the butcher is only $1:50 per 2kg

As for switching back I haven't tried so sorry I don't know

You're on the right track, but he's probably just still settling in, getting used to everything and trying to see what he can get away with (he's a teenager afterall ), so just keep up with what you're doing, he'll learn in time.

If you do go raw, then it may well be hard to switch back. Dogs get used to the flavour/texture & I think a bit more satisfaction. Plus, raw meaty bones keep their teeth clean!

I notice he's already been neutered? What was he like before that?

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions

I just tucked him in bed now but not till he tried play bitting again.
its a bit hard to say a stern NO when its 1:30 in the morning. hehe

I am not sure what he was before. its a rule here in australia that all adopted pets must be desexed before being claimed.

I didnt see the hyperness in him in the pound but then again, he might just be depressed.

Im gonna seriously think about feeding him raw.
Had a read through the thread posted for raw and it was very interesting. just wish there was a youtube vid of it so I know the mix she was referring to.