[kimberly]

PLEASE HELP!

Hello, I have a 10 month old husky/germen shepherd mixed. He’s a wonderful dog and we see him as our own child, but we are having problems with his aggressive behavior. Now, he doesn’t attack people or fight dogs. He’s problem is that he plays way too rough with dogs at times, and all sizes at that! He’ll bit them too hard or his worst habit is biting down on a dog and shaking his head/body as if he was a shark to where the other dog begins to cry in pain, an which Tex(his name) doesn’t stop. I’ve tried everything in my power to stop this horrible habit but nothing works. We have tried putting him in a cage, spanking him, sitting him down hoping to chill him out, talking to him firm and everything else you can think of. He also bits me and my husband when we are trying to play with him, which has left multiple burses on me and he has also made me bleed. Now when he is playing I can tell he’s not trying to hurt me or my husband, but he doesn’t understand his limits. He walks everyday and also goes to our local park every other if not every day. He is a very active dog so I do not understand this behavior. Please let me know what I can do to stop this. We are not able to have other dogs in our house or even get another to become part of our family. Again please help me out any way you can. Thanks so much.
- Kimberly

[Lunareclipse]

When he does that, quit playing with him. Stand up and turn your back to him. Put him in another room. Take him away from situation. Don't wait until it gets too rough, either. Set limits and stick to them. If he's getting too rough with the other dogs "bite" him with your hand either on the neck or the muzzle and take him away from the situation. Make sure your dog knows that you are the boss around your house. If he won;t stop, sometimes a knee in the chest works. Not too hard, but hard enough to let your dog know that you are upset with him and it's not a game. You need to reward him for behavior you like too. If he is laying down all nice and calm, drop him a treat. Lay down and cuddle with him. As soon as he starts to play, get up and walk away. As the boss, you decide when he gets to play, not him. If he innitiates the play, don't play with him. Wait until you are ready to play before playing with him. Until them, ignore him or seperate him. We put ours in a kennel outside when they get too hyper in the house.

[DoggieVogue]

A knee to the chest and ignoring rough play have both done my lab wonders. She is a 90lb lab, sweet as can be, but when she was younger she needed some reminders of who is boss and how to play nicely. Make sure you don't allow any type of biting, even for play, having plenty of toys around can help end the biting by occupying his mouth. Other than that, I agree with Lunareclipse!

[jillroberts]

"he doesn’t attack people or fight dogs"

That behavior is WAY too aggressive and the shaking of his head is how dogs kill animals. Most dogs, IF THEY ARE ONLY PLAYING, will stop biting when another dog cries out. It's how they learn not to be too aggressive. The fact that your dog is not stopping when this happens, means that he's probably not playing. I would consult with an animal behavior specialist if this was happening to me. At some point a disaster will happen with another dog.

[lange]

Are you having any other problems with him? Does he listen to or ignore your commands? If he's not listening to you than I would think he's lacking discipline over all & is being a little bully. He's young, the sooner you handle it the easier.

I would work on establishing your position as leader & never slacking on it. Play when you want, stop when you want, or even better, don't play at all until you get a better handle of his behavior. 'Playing' is likely highlighting & emphasizing his lack of discipline. There's no point in encouraging that temperament. He's already over excited even before he bites you. So you should have stopped long before it reached that point.

I'd also reinforce all obedience, take him to obedience class if you have to. You eat first> He must work for his food by following ~fill in~ command. You walk out/in doors first. You lead on leash. You give him treats/toys when he is behaving. His attention on you. Always leashed when other dogs are around if you can't control him; Its only fair to the other dogs.

I know there are many people who get turned off by Cesar Millan's style, but this scenario sounds like it fits his motto perfectly; "Rules, Boundaries and Limitatons". Good luck Kimberley.

[CorkyMax]

I agree whole-heartedly with Lange. Will quote you what it says in my breed book on the German Shepherd: Note that this breed requires firm, consistent handling by a strong adult. They must be firmly trained to obedience from an early age. I quoted this from a 'breeds' book I have. Here is a link on more info on the German Shepherd: German Shepherd Dog Information and Pictures, German Shepherd Dogs-----Please be sure to read the part on Temperament!