She bit me, again!

It seems we can have no fun whatsoever with Louby!

The first time she bit me was because i playfully ran away from her so she would chase me, i put a post on here about it, and was told she saw me as bait, so my fault and havent done it since.

We can't play fight with her as she gets too rough and starts getting bitey.

Her only friend in the world, my brothers dog, she decided she didnt like anymore and went for her.

Then this weekend, we though we would get the hosepipe out and play with her and hope it cools her down abit. She went crazy, was catching the water in her mouth, we werent blasting it out neither, was only a gentle stream of water. Then she was hiding behind me on the decking so my husband was hitting mwe with the water, at which point Louby jumped up and but my leg, hard. it hurt like hell. I have a massive bruise and she broke the skin abit too (not sure if i need a tetanus). I know she was just going for water, but its like she has no filter with her playing.

I seriously think she is just crackers. We can do nothing with her without us getting upset wth her cos she takes things too far. My husband isnt thrilled that we got her in the first place, and he just thinks i keep making up excuses for her.

I know its down to training but we found her as a stray, and its just not easy at all, any time.

However, on the upside, she did save my life on saturday, by killing the biggest spider in the world. x

Darcy has bitten me a few times during play were she has mistaken me for a toy and caught me, I just see it as me not being quick enough and it is accidental, accidents happen. And she has saved your life on one occasion. I think you need to go back to basics and teach louby what you find acceptable during play, darcy gets very excited but working on when I say 'enough' she stops. It takes lots of time and patience. Good luck.

Great advice from Hayley above, also they do tend to get rough during play, Rocky is the same, and he is 6 months, we are still trying to teach him when enough is enough, I would go back to basics and keep trying! Good luck

Thank you to you both...it is just so frustrating though isnt it? Especially when i keep sticking up for her to my husband, i want her to be a good-ish dog so that he can see she has some redeeming qualities - the spider episode would do it for me, hands down. He is good with her in that he will walk her etc, and he would never be bad to her, but he really does not want us to have her, and when she is being less than gracious, it just confirms it to him.

We are starting a training class on friday, for 6 weeks. Im dreading it, but i do hope it really helps us.

Pixee can get over excited in rough play and gets carried away. She was also found a stray and taken to the blue cross. When we brought her home, she did tend to bite in play, with patient, firm no bitting comments and igorning her when she got over excited has worked. All staffies like their rough play, they have to learn when enough is enough. Ours work now by saying, now calm down, she does. Back to basics I say too. You will get there in the end.

We can't play with hosepipes when Dempsey's around at all! He goes berserk, and has a tremendous bite on him with no inhibition at all once he's thoroughly wound up.

You really need to read her body language, especially her eyes. Once you see that crazed look coming on, stop the play & calm her down! I've always found that gently stroking the soft skin at the top & inside of the thigh works wonders!

Well done Louby for killing the spider, that gives you Godly status in my book  

I'm sure the training classes will be of benefit, are you both going with her ?


(I think Caryll may be getting Demspey confused with her husband   

" I've always found that gently stroking the soft skin at the top & inside of the thigh works wonders!" )   

Kathy wrote:Well done Louby for killing the spider, that gives you Godly status in my book  

I'm sure the training classes will be of benefit, are you both going with her ?


(I think Caryll may be getting Demspey confused with her husband   

" I've always found that gently stroking the soft skin at the top & inside of the thigh works wonders!" )   

 

Kathy wrote:
(I think Caryll may be getting Demspey confused with her husband   

" I've always found that gently stroking the soft skin at the top & inside of the thigh works wonders!" )   

   Don't let my oh read that, he might get ideas!

I guess its the commands we need to be learning and teaching her...

Im going on my own this week, as my husband has a Rhinos season ticket, so he is going to the game, but he should be ok for the next 5 weeks.

He only lets me keep her becuase he knows how much i love her and want her. Plus he knows there is technically nowhere else for her to go. x

Maybe once your hubby gets involved with training things will click for them both. Sounds like they need a bonding session    

Yes definitely. he does try with her, but she does spoil things by jumping up at his face, and he loses patience with her..x

During play i basically expect to be bitten, so i stop before she gets to that "point" of excitement. Play for 5 mins, rest, 5mins, rest.

I am forever having to reminf Daisy about bite inhibition! But she is more of a nipper than a biter, luckily!

She does nipping too, sometimes they hurt more than an actual bite, where they nip a wee bit of skin. playful biting is 'fine', dont condoned but she isnt going over board.
The incident on saturday with the hose, it was an actual bite to my leg, she was expecting, i believe, to by chomping down on a mouth ful of water, instead she got a mouth full of cellulite ;-)
x

Ouch :-( your poor leg x

They are so excitable they do seem to get carried away easily!

ouch sounds painful  ,thats why i let my oh be sash's play thing,he knows he's going to get a least one nip  ,sash has no doggie friends either,may sound sad to us but she just does'nt like other dogs,she has so many human friends to make up for it thou  ,the hose pipe she goes nuts for,attacks it and every thing,you will get there with lou  

well i have now bought a paddling pool from ebay, its coming tomorrow. is there any way that she could hurt me with playing in that? or upset my husband? x

Surely not  

I'm just wondering if Louby is related to Katy, she's also a biter. I have tried the yelping & timeouts, she is improving but gets overexcited. She can bite me for no apparent reason, when we are at work she bites my ankles thankfully I have steel toecaps on but can still feel the pressure!! I don't know what triggers it but would also like to stop her, I put her on her lead & give her timeout in the car  

hunt mode on, glazed eyes, mention the s word (squirrel, shhh dont say it out loud) and marley will come back to me for guidence and bite/pull at my arms to get me to follow him to the prey. 99% of the time he has a soft mouth that could carry eggs but when in that state he doesnt realise what he's doing. its a work in progress too for me as its so hard to get through when in that state. thing is he never does it to anyone else while he is like that, he will only lick and squeek/howl at my ex and other dog walkers get ignored as do dogs...looks like its my privaledge...

Sazzle, i shall let you know -there could be danger in filling up the pool with water, and it just sitting there in the garden..x

How is the paddling pool going?

It hasnt arrived yet!!! Blooming delivery companies...x

Daisy hates water so I'm not getting one but my sister bought one at the weekend for grace, she sent me pictures she loved it :-)

Still hasnt arrived - it will be cold again by the time it comes x

When i use the hover mower Duke goes nuts  it becomes a tug of war  he grabs the mower and tugs it i pull the other way of course i  let go of the button so it switches off , yes he gets rough during play as do most staffs i  taught him to sit  very early on using a clicker , i now just click my fingers when he  gets to mouthy and he sits straight away , hope the training goes well all the best .

Saying we dont have any fun with Lou, we did have a good morning today - went to the park this morning as usual, Lou is usually on lead as she cant be trusted if other dogs around, she may go for them, she may not. But if ther isnt anyone around i will let her off for a bit. So today i had just got her off lead when i guy with a boxer came in to view, so i put lou back on her lead and his dog came running over. I do let Lou meet other dogs, have a sniff etc but then i kinda keep on walking, well she seemed ok about this dog, and the guy said to let her off, if she bit his dog it wouldnt retaliate and it could handle it!?! so i let her off and she had a lovely little play session with the dog. Then it was time to go and i put her on the lead, walked round the corner and there were 2 dogs that came running over, and they literally flanked her, i thought here we go, but she was fine again, i kept her onlead though, but she was really friendly and playful.

I just dont know with her. But i dont want to just assume she is ok now, at all.

But it has been a lovely easy friendly morning for both of us. x

Aww how lovely well done louby you lil star

Brilliant  

The paddling pool has finally arrived, but im in work until 12.30, half day today, yay!
So i shall be rushing home, filling the pool, and stand excitedly watching Lou....stand there looking at it, going aaaaand......

I'm thinking i shall just put a bit in the bottom, maybe up to her ankles, and go from there...?

I wont hold my breathe though...im expecting barking and then indifference.

Lucky you finishing work early!

I'd fill the pool ankle deep and go from there Make sure to take lots of piks!

Sounds like you had a lovely walk today. The Boxer owners attitude probably put you more at ease and Louby would definately pick up on your calmer attitude. Not to mention the bitch/dog thing - she is more likely to tolerate/get on with a male dog.

Looking at your profile Louby is still only young (just over a year) and still finding herself with other dogs - 1 to 2 years of age is a defining period in how your dog will end up around others. It's around this time you may start to notice DA.

With regards to her biting you - I would also put that down to her age and not being able to control her excitment and or fear at times. I'm sure it is something that a. training will help dramatically & b. she will grow out of. I think it's key to still have lots of fun with her but make sure she knows if she has over stepped the mark. Staffies are smart dogs I'm sure she will work it out. It doesn't sound like she is really trying to bite you but it does sound like she has found what she thinks is an aceptable level but sadly one that for obvious reasons isn't for you lol. You and Louby just need to rework the levels

Then she was hiding behind me on the decking so my husband was hitting mwe with the water, at which point Louby jumped up and but my leg, hard. it hurt like hell. wrote:

Sounds like she may have been afraid of the hose and the water. Is it possible that she may have bitten you out of fear?

Bacon is terrified of the hose and if I was chasing him down with it, I know he would eventually bite me. I can tell when his afraid as he wanders around frantically with his head down and tail between his legs. This is my cue to stop whatever i'm doing and reassure him that things are ok.

Also, on the flip side he can get excited and start nipping and biting also. The best way I have found to deal with it is to stop and freeze along with a "NO". That usually does the trick. I'm always working on impulse control with him and I'm sure I'll be working on it for a long time! 

I'm assuming with a dog that wasn't with you as a pup, it must be much more difficult. Good luck and keep at it!!!

What was your reaction when she bit you hard? Did you tell her off? Your reaction in that second is very important. I agree with above regarding going back to basics - i.e. very gentle play and as soon as she starts using teeth then it's "enough". It could be that she was taken away from her mum/other pups too soon: sometimes when that happens a dog doesn't learn bite inhibition as they don't understand that it hurts (because they never got a chance to experiment with their brothers and sisters, who would normally bite back as pups if there was any agro). So I suppose you have to teach her - I am not an expert in this and I would listen to those who have had and overcome the experience. I did foster a dog once who bit me in a sort of frenzy when she thought I was abandoning her (i.e. playing hide and seek or when I went swimming in a river once and she felt left behind). I found it scary and she wouldn't stop. She even bit my chest. I didn't know what to do about it and I can understand your concern. Let us know what happens and how she is. I think also that dogs are basically predictable - you will see a pattern and you will start knowing what will set her off so you can work on those scenarios or go through them step by step. Get her used to the hose etc. and get her to understand that if she bites she is in trouble. Staffies basically seem always to want to please and it upsets them if they don't (say, by biting).

Well she managed 2 front paws in the paddling pool and that it. And that was to get on her toys out of it. we threw them in so she would go in and get them. we shall keep trying.

Yes the boxers owner was very good, and much more trusting of Louby than I was. But I think that's down to him trusting his own dog too, and being able to read their body language.

When Lou bit me, I think I said ouch and shouted her name, but I was in too much pain and shock that she had done it. I went upstairs to run the bath and she followed me up. She laid outside the bathroom door with her head down looking up at me, so she knew she had done wrong.

Thank you all for your feedback, I do realise she did by accident. its not like she tries to bite me like that when im just stood or sat watching tv. xx

Last night was our first training class. When we got there and the other dogs started turning up she was barking at them, so I walked away until she calmed down, then walked back towards them , but not too close, then she would start barking again, this went on until we got inside the hall. There were about 8 other dogs there, and she carried on barking at them, so I was distracting her bits of cheese.

We started off by having 4 'stooge' dogs in the middle of the room and we had to walk past them while distracting her with the treats, we only managed to do this one exercise, as one of the trainer ladies came over and sat with me n Lou, talking to me and finding out about Lou. She came over cos she saw how stressed I was, and was holding Lou's lead quite stiffly. she was really lovely and made it a nice experience for me, which probably made it better for Lou.

So although we didn't exactly join in with the rest of the session, she was really kind and helpful and hopefully next week we can join in.

When I first began fostering her, Biscuit would hang onto my arm if I got her even slightly excited and I ended up with lots of bruises and little nips. Took a while but with lots of impulse training she learnt to play nicely and not use her teeth before her brain!! She hasn't nibbled me for over a year, but she's caught my OH a few times when he's wound her up too much.. that's his own fault though.. I tell him to play nice! He can understand english.. she cannot! Lots of training but it's so worth it! Sounds like you've done wonders with her so far!! Don't give up!  

Had another lovely play session this morning with the boxer on the park. the owner saw us, both dogs were on the lead, and he said to just let her off to greet his dog. i didnt want to do that though, Lou was ok last time but theres no saying she would have been ok this time. So i made them meet while on lead to make sure lou was ok. and she was!! The guy said that next time just to let her off, but im scared to do this.
Am i right to be wary? especially as she was such good friends with my brothers dog then one day she decided to go for his dog...

The more you relax, the more she'll relax.

If the other owner is happy for you to let her off, then go ahead - just make sure you're within easy reach in case anything untoward starts. Watch her body language - if she starts to stiffen, or the play starts to get too rough, make your apologies & stop the play. Pop her back on lead for a few minutes to calm down.

I always put Dempsey on a lead when there are new (or previously disliked) dogs near. But if there's one I know he's ok with & waive & let him go. I always make sure I'm withing shouting distance, though, in case the other owner doesn't want them to play for any reason.

yes i definitely think its mostly down to me, when we went for our first training class on friday, one of the trainers came over and sat with me, and the first thing she did was make me relax the lead in my hands.. and she did it a couple more times while we were sat there.

I just can't trust lou to behave, but im sure that will come with time. She is still young, and the trainer said she hasnt been socialised properly and that her problem is she wants to be too sociable whereby she does jump all over people and will jump all over the other dogs too, she has no manners.

That's the thing - she has no doggie manners! It's full on "I'm playing rough so you'd better play rough" attitude!

If you feel yourself tensing up, just take some really slow, deep breaths and start to sing - any song you like as long as it's one that doesn't irritate you!

Yes, you'll look an idiot, but you'll realx & so will she. 

I agree with above that you're transmitting your nerves to Louby. They all have their 'moments' - just don't let it put you off. Sometimes I'm so ashamed of Chloe but more often I'm very proud of her. Lola is just an angel. Chloe has a few issues but they're getting less the more dogs we meet. It's hard though sometimes isn't it? x

First off, It's so wonderful that you have taken her on and given her a home! Well done there. I know how difficult it can be and Gwen also gets carried away with play at times and just loses control. It's something we are working on but it does take time. I think the best thing would be to go back to the basics. Thats what we are doing with Gwen and we are seeing progress now. Stay positive and be consistent..it will get better!!

Thank you for your comments. Yes it is so hard at times, but my tolerance levels are quite high so that helps. We have training class again tonight, so hopefully we can just join in this week.
We are definitely trying. Thats the ONLY thing we can do. Rehoming her isnt an option, even if someone did want her, they wouldnt be good enough as far as im concerned.
Perseverence is the key!

Hope you enjoy you class tonight and you can join in it's nice to hear rehoming isn't an option nor will it ever be you'll get there  

I've said it before and i will say it again - its a good job i love her!!!!

Maybe she can sence your husband doesn't really want her, marley always sences when i am angry, upset or afrid of him because if am afrid he will keep away if am upset he will come rest on me and if he knows am angry he will go lie in his bed untill he knows am calm again.

Marley sometimes bites when hes play fighting but he always gets told to stop and he puts his head in between his paws.

Good luck

Ignoring her really does not work, i think it gives her more of a challenge. This morning something got her excited while i was getting dressed for work, she started rabbit running all over the house then when she got to me she was jumping up and biting me, i was semi dressed at this point. she did it a couple of times then i closed the door on her so she couldnt get in to the bedroom. But she was in such an excited state that she would have hurt me.

oh and an update on our 2nd training class last friday - not much better than the week before.
she was barking at the other dogs again, so we were feeding her sausages to keep her looking at me, rather than the dogs to then bark at them.
Then the big white dog that she took a dislike to last week came in late, this set one of the other dogs off barking, which made lou start barking, but then she started going off on one, barking really aggressively, so we ended up on the stage out of the way. so once again we didnt get to join in the session.
waste of money much?