need advice please

My son is 12 years old . Bought Trouble loads of toys the other day .. a squeeky hamburger and a squeeky and a ball
(it is these toys that seem to trigger this behaviour the most). if he has them out to play and my son gets up from the couch he will immediately go over and start biting my sons feet , he has never broken the skin but has marked him. Now the strange thing is Trouble will get the toy go and drop it in my sons lap but as soon as my son goes to pick it up he will go and bite his hand as a warning so why put it in his lap if he doesnt want him to touch it ? ..of course Trouble is corrected sent to his bed and the toys are taken away . we are somewhat confused by the behaviour , we have told jake (son) that he needs to start being assertive and to start telling Trouble off if he has crossed any lines to keep him in line of the pack but jake is now a little scared of him .Just a note Trouble is nearly four and we have had him since he was 9 weeks old , jake is never left on his own with him as Trouble is my shadow and if i am not there then he follows my daughter around so i really dont think my son as done anything to warrant this behaviour

Trouble is a dog being a dog, sqeaky toys can often have this type of effect on dogs especially terriers, take the sqeak out and this should stop.

A short play with a sqeaky toy can be a reward to a dog when training him, but they can over excite a dog which may be what is happening with your dog, they do bite when over excited.

There is no point in correcting Trouble when he does this, he doesn't understand that he is being punished for doing what dogs do, it is up to us as owners to make sure that these things don't happen.

We are not members of a dog's pack, dogs know we are not dogs. I have 5 dogs, I don't have a pack, I have a group of dogs that live together, a pack is mum, dad, and off spring just like our family. Mum and dad teach the pups to be dogs, the older pups help out with the younger ones and when old enough the pups are kicked out to fend for themselves. Hands up who would love to kick out their teenagers? There were many times I would have loved to do that with mine.

Your son will get better bonding and control of Trouble if he taught him to do things, under and over his leg and arm, through his legs, figer of 8 through his legs etc. Also you son could take Trouble to agility.

I don't have squeaky toys because they can cause problems, breaking up a fight over a squeaky toy is not very nice especially as I live on my own.

yes we have encouraged Jake to play with him to build up his confidence if anything as well as bonding , Agility is out of the question as Trouble is unpredictable around other dogs ...it is just strange behaviour recently ,he has a kong squeaky and he doesnt have the same reaction . as far as i am concerned his teeth should not even touch my sons skin . what i find strange is that he takes the toy to him so what is that about ?

Sounds like he's just getting over excited and hasn't been taught the rules of the game.

He's taking the toy to your son as he wants him to play with it. His play biting your son is just another attempt to initiate play from the sounds of it.

If I were you, I'd play with the toys with Trouble. If Trouble touches your skin with his teeth, end play and ignore him for a minute. Then teach your son to do the same (supervised of course).

The biting has become part of the play. Trouble is getting thoroughly over excited & the result is the nipping.

I agree with galadriel's last paragraph - that seems to be the best way forward.

Someone once told me that squeeky toys from a dogs point of veiw imitate the sound of a injured/dying animal and this is the reason that sometimes they become obsessive, destructive and focused on them. Maybe your dog is asking your son to join it in the kill/ destruction but when it comes down to it not wanting to share if that makes sence.
I know if it happened in my house then simple they would be banned and your right that behaviour isnt acceptable so sit stay leave would be good for your son to work on with your dog

Cyril baby wrote:Trouble is a dog being a dog, sqeaky toys can often have this type of effect on dogs especially terriers, take the sqeak out and this should stop.

A short play with a sqeaky toy can be a reward to a dog when training him, but they can over excite a dog which may be what is happening with your dog, they do bite when over excited.

There is no point in correcting Trouble when he does this, he doesn't understand that he is being punished for doing what dogs do, it is up to us as owners to make sure that these things don't happen.

We are not members of a dog's pack, dogs know we are not dogs. I have 5 dogs, I don't have a pack, I have a group of dogs that live together, a pack is mum, dad, and off spring just like our family. Mum and dad teach the pups to be dogs, the older pups help out with the younger ones and when old enough the pups are kicked out to fend for themselves. Hands up who would love to kick out their teenagers? There were many times I would have loved to do that with mine.

Your son will get better bonding and control of Trouble if he taught him to do things, under and over his leg and arm, through his legs, figer of 8 through his legs etc. Also you son could take Trouble to agility.

I don't have squeaky toys because they can cause problems, breaking up a fight over a squeaky toy is not very nice especially as I live on my own.

Great advice

Yes, squeaky toys do imitate the sound of some animals, mice, rabbits, yes they do have a very high pitched sqeal even very young babies which is why a dog shouldn't be left along with one. The 2 Rotties that attacked a 5 week old baby it is suspected that the baby woke and started to cry, the 2 dogs had been left with him.

Cyril baby wrote:Yes, squeaky toys do imitate the sound of some animals, mice, rabbits, yes they do have a very high pitched sqeal even very young babies which is why a dog shouldn't be left along with one. The 2 Rotties that attacked a 5 week old baby it is suspected that the baby woke and started to cry, the 2 dogs had been left with him.

Yes you are right with the baby cry I agree with that, and also with the case of the rotties I beleive the baby was not attacked its beleived as the owners had moved out furniture the dogs heard the babys crys and in there panic tried to pick the baby up behind the neck like they would there own so sad that.