is slapping a pup a bad idea??

My pup is very bitey and nothing seems to be working when i shout no and ignore him he keeps coming back to bite again, after three times i put him out for 10 minutes and bring him in again and the same thing hapens. I no its only playing but it is sore what should i do?? He was the dominant pup. People say tap him on the nose, others say its bad... What do you think??

No dont slap a puppy, you must be patient, when he does it, shout NO really loud and turn away and ignore him , keep doing this and he will stop. It will take a little while, but you get there in the end.

lynne wrote:No dont slap a puppy, you must be patient, when he does it, shout NO really loud and turn away and ignore him , keep doing this and he will stop. It will take a little while, but you get there in the end.

Agree Patience, he'll learn soon enough Xx

I agree totally with the above. Had the very same issue with Bella, I used to make a loud yelp noise and totally ignored her, and seemed to do the trick.

Agree! If you tap a dog on the nose you will make him head shy. Imagine how awful it would be if every time anyone put their hand near his face, he shied away?

When you say no & ignore, turn right away from him & don't even make eye contact. If he carries on, don't say a word (you've already said no) just pick him up & put him outside until he's quiet.

Thats exactly what i thought but new a few people who has trained quite a few dogs and they said a tap on the nose will do him no harm but i disagreed but thought id ask. Hes now 4 months and iv herd they should have learnt ny now...

I did a loud BAH !! at Winston when he was a pup...Mind you I felt like giving him a smack sometimes..but never did!

In all honesty, I know what you are going through, as Max was the big boy of the litter, and was/is the most spirited bull breed I've owned, and he got to the stage that he was nipping and trying to bully (specially the kids who are 16 & 18yrs) ... it WILL pass, and retaliation ISNT the answer, even when you are tempted give them a back hander in the heat of the moment ... bloody hurts dosent it

Hes brused a cuple af us already lol Hes a real wee skitter. I realy hope it passes cuz when hes nice hes a class wee pup but the biting is real sore. He grabs your leg when you walk and pulls on the shoe lacers. What age do they stop???

Do not slap his nose.

The best thing I can tell you to do is squeal loudly and highly pitched (his siblings would have done this) and turn away and ignore him.

Some puppy books will tell you to nip them back or even bite them back.

I am a firm believer that you should not have to retaliate to train your dog.

stick with the squealing and ignoring him and he should quickly learn its not fun as he dosent get to play

If you need more pointers im here to help

Claire xx

Awww just when you think your puppy isnt learning all of a sudden it just happens and they get the message there is a saying that nothing plays harder than a stafford puppy thats very true

alot of people say tap nose or pin them down by doing you just going make and problem dog.

I agree steamy. Hes just playin and he doesn no it hurts. He was ok tonight until my girlfriend walked in then he startd. I fink hes a jealous dog lol

Well it would appear that my opinion/experience of this goes against the opinion of most.

So anyway, when Tia was younger (now 7 months) she was pretty bad for biting/niping/playing??? whatever you wish to call it.

When Tia did the above, I would pin her down on her back and just hold her there. This worked with out a doubt and it didn't turned turn her into a "devil" dog lol.

I did try the whole pretend your a puppy and yelp thing, she looked at me oddly and carried on lol, maybe depends on the dog.

My 2 pence lol

Thanks

Ty was very nippy. I did the loud NO and ignored him but my wife and children did the yelp. It worked but took a bit of time. Stick with it he'll learn.

Conan is a cool name to btw. Are you an Arnie fan?

pinning a dog down is an disgrace also if i saw anybody doing that to an dog i would take the dog off him/her!!!

I agree with the ignoring method. It takes a bit of time but it does work. If you tap the nose it can make them wary of people putting their hands near the head which will make grooming difficult

Steve wrote:pinning a dog down is an disgrace also if i saw anybody doing that to an dog i would take the dog off him/her!!!

Really depends on what you mean by pinning, what i did was more holding her in a position to show that the behaviour is not acceptable.

Watch dogs and that's what they do to show disapproval at behaviour.

But I'am not saying I'm right or wrong, just that it worked for Tia.

pinning an puppy down to the floor that what i mean.

slapping a dog is always a bad idea

When two young dogs play together they will bite each other.

only when one of them yelps, will the other stop for a second, thats how they teach each other what is too hard.

give off a yelp yourself, or some other way , like ouch, very loud, pull your hand, foot or whatever it is away, and ignore the dog for 10-15 seconds.

the biting should get softer, maybe followed by a lick, and eventually as you keep doing it, its gets softer and softer until it stops..

thats the theory.. seems to have worked with bode, who very raely bites now unless she is over sexcited, but still the yelping stops her instantly.

hope that helps as well as the others advice

Yea arnie films not bad lol. My father had a staff near 20 years ago of the same colour and caled him conan and i cudnt think of any others names, lol

AzzynCav wrote:Really depends on what you mean by pinning, what i did was more holding her in a position to show that the behaviour is not acceptable.

Watch dogs and that's what they do to show disapproval at behaviour.

This theory is based on the pup's dam pinning it down for a second or two when it gets out of hand. The problem with this is that we are not dogs & they know we are not dogs (this is where the whole 'pack leader' thing falls apart). More often than not, if you keep pinning a dog down it will grow to resent you & that, eventually could lead to adult snapping, especially if you have a dominant natured dog.

I've yet to find a method that works better in the long run than the "no" and stopping all interraction immediately, turning away and not even making eye contact. It takes a while sometimes, but it gives much better results in the long term.

It's quite interesting, all the difference ways of teaching/training dogs.

Nothing like a good debate lol

AzzynCav wrote:It's quite interesting, all the difference ways of teaching/training dogs.

Nothing like a good debate lol

Pinning a dog down is not a disgrace or cruel, but if done correctly it prooves to be very useful.

This is due to the fact that if the dog lived in a pack situation ie in the wild etc, the dominant dog of the pack would pin the naughty dog down. This then making the naughty one submit.

By submitting the dog is learning who is in charge and above them.

Pinning has to be done correctly and also depends on the dog itself

I think i may have asked a question on a touchy subject lol to pin or not to pin that is the question lol il c how it all goes. Il just use pining as a last resort. What you think?? I apreciate wer every1 is coming from, the dos and the donts.. so i take onboard all comments so thanks alot

surely be resolving the issue, pinning down wont be needed?

At times I need to physically pull Bode off of our other dog who doesnt want to play at the time, but thats when she is over excited.

I wouldnt want Bode to assume that by me holding her whilst she is laying on her back she is in the wrong, thats how i stroke her belly, and often how the kids play with her.

The last thing I want is the dog to think they are punsihing her and snap at them

Like I said, if pinning has to used as a last resort it needs to be done correctly and not in any similar way to how she is rewarded or petted so that they know the difference.

If the problem can be resolved with out the need for the pinning that is far better. Pinning should be a last resort.

I just made loud noises also.
They say to do this because they will think its hurting you, because the litter would make a loud noise to show if they were getting hurt.
(Sorry if that doesnt make sense) lol

i agree with the no slap comments. have you seen a dog that has been abused how they shy away and cower. even though you are not abusing the dog with a gentle tap you will get the same result. just gently push him away shout NO and ignore him for a while. training takes time and you must have patience although i know we have all probably been on the edge but you must control yourslef

My mother in law who thinks she nos it all about dogs told me that when Cairo was a puppy i should tap her nose and that will learn her not to be a puppy basically needless to say i ignored her advice..A firm no is all it took.

well, I'll be controversial and say that I pinned my current dog down while a puppy and I think it worked for her. I think it all depends on the reason the handler does it and believe its ok if it is for the dog's benefit rather than to avenge anger.

the first thing my current dog did whe she came to my house was to go to my youngest child then 4 and bite her foot to take her sock off I believe. the more my daughter screamed and pull her foot the more Lucy pulled while her milk teeth drew blood in seconds. I pinned her down, without using any force or anger might i add, and she settled right away. I did that twice more i can remember now, both when she got so excited her brain stoped working and I felt she needed time out.

I'm on my mobile and I can't edit my last post so will have to add another


@ krik1690, I see you have a few special moments with your puppy....


Can I suggest while playing with Conan you teach him a good leave, drop and no, while rewarding him with his favourite treats. teach him that during play he would drop a ball that you would throw again for him to touch while leave and no would be quite similar and it means get away or stop whatever he is doing. On the back of this you'd be able to let him know what he is doing wrong with regards to nipping or biting.

i dont believe in taping, smacking or pinning a dog down for what ever reason, but everyone has there own methods..in my eyes in doing so your just teaching the dog it is ok.. River is hand shy still you have to use really slow hand movements around her if you want to stroke her head, neck, shoulders etc..its probably the result of such acts...just last week my son went to stroke her moved a little to quick for her to assess whats going on, so she jumped right across the room into my arms.. which i am aware i shouldn't comfort her when she is scared. i agree with the yelp and ignore method.. except i would say when he does it yelp push him away with the back of your hand in a firm but gentle movement then ignore.. if you need any more help rather than resorting to pinning down i can recommend someone who can help. i dont know if i am allow to put others website son here, but you you want i can email you the website...fantastic they are

CMR wrote:well, I'll be controversial and say that I pinned my current dog down while a puppy and I think it worked for her. I think it all depends on the reason the handler does it and believe its ok if it is for the dog's benefit rather than to avenge anger.

the first thing my current dog did whe she came to my house was to go to my youngest child then 4 and bite her foot to take her sock off I believe. the more my daughter screamed and pull her foot the more Lucy pulled while her milk teeth drew blood in seconds. I pinned her down, without using any force or anger might i add, and she settled right away. I did that twice more i can remember now, both when she got so excited her brain stoped working and I felt she needed time out.

pinning a dog down is wrong and no need for it, would you pin down you kid?

i dont want people promoting it on here!!

@ Steve, Even though I always had strong bonds with the dogs I've owned I never considered my dogs to be like my kids.

I get your point about giving the wrong message and I shall keep that to myself in the future.

no one said you should treat your dog as kid but you wouldn't do that to your kid why would you do it to a dog, They is alot easy to bring up than a kids with the right training & love.

CMR wrote:@ Steve, Even though I always had strong bonds with the dogs I've owned I never considered my dogs to be like my kids.
I get your point about giving the wrong message and I shall keep that to myself in the future.

Please understand that we welcome all input. Nobody is saying that you did wrong with your dog, and in your situation. However, under normal circumstances pinning a dog down will often be more counter productive than useful. In your situation (and I've been there!) I would have been more inclined to hold the dog, tell it "no!" in a low, long voice, and taken it away from your child. I understand that at the time you will have been more concerned with your child's safety than anything else.

No, dogs are not like children. However, if you have children you will understand that physical force is not always the best way to put a point across; the same with a dog - pinning a dog down, even a young one, is putting a strain on the relationship. Dogs do not look on humans as their littermates/mother & so we should not react the way those littermates/mothers would act.

Sorry, I've been here two days and managed to upset the admin and a moderator. I totally agree with you on methods of keeping happy dogs, just wish you were there when I did it and the image of a dog suffering or struggling for freedom would be squashed by the very different reality. It's not something I advise ppl to do, I admitted to having done it. One thing for sure, it wasn't premeditated and it was far from a violent affair.

can't go on about it anymore as I'll get accused of promoting it which is not my intention at all

lmao you haven't upset us

CMR wrote:Sorry, I've been here two days and managed to upset the admin and a moderator. I totally agree with you on methods of keeping happy dogs, just wish you were there when I did it and the image of a dog suffering or struggling for freedom would be squashed by the very different reality. It's not something I advise ppl to do, I admitted to having done it. One thing for sure, it wasn't premeditated and it was far from a violent affair.

can't go on about it anymore as I'll get accused of promoting it which is not my intention at all

Whoa! Don't think you've offended us in any way! Sorry if it came across that way. Everyone has different ways of dealing with things & what works for one person won't work for another. I don't advocate pinning because it can be counter productive, but you did what you thought best for your child - no one can fault you for that!

but alot of people read the forum and if they see pinning dog down is ok and they do it all the time they a accident could happen.

Just reading through all these post, whether people will admit it or not alot of people do think of there dog's as kids and seem to think that what would upset a child would equally upset a dog.

My friend has a 7 year old staffy, who can only be described as mental. Not aggressive but has been allowed to please himself sence he was pup. All this purely because "oooo he is my baby and I dont like shouting at him or pulling his collar hard".

It is a dog.

Yes. It's a dog. BUT. If you wouldn't pin a naughty child down on its back, why would you pin a puppy down? You teach what's right & what's wrong.

That's what we mean. Not treat your dog as a child.

Well my naughty child (and I do Have one...well she is sometimes lol) has a better grasp of english than my dog does.

I guess everyones approach to this is different, just like most things.

you should treat your dog as close a family member but remembering he is only a dog, if you didn't why have a dog? i also think this is the mean reason we have a HUGE dog problem becasue people dont they think they are throw away toys..

I would also say that this happens because the "cute" little habits puppys do tend not to bother people, however when the adult dog does the same due to the lack of discipline as a pup. Its not quite so "cute".

Steve wrote:but alot of people read the forum and if they see pinning dog down is ok and they do it all the time they a accident could happen.

Good point

you mean when you have let your dog get away stuff when you should of been conisitent when he was a pup like you bring up a kid, if you let your kid get away with everything or tell him off once and then let him get away with it the next you have a problem kids like you would get a problem dog...

demanding a dog to be good is not the right way of training your dog!