[Coco Poco]

I have a GSP cross that my family adopted 2 years ago. She is a big dog(85#), & she plays too rough. I went outside & played with her for an hour this morning. I brought her around to the front of the house so the housecat could watch us play. She got really excited to play again. I wasn't looking at her when she lunged at me. She bit(didn't go throught the skin) my arm & dragged/pushed me to the ground. Understand that I am not a little person. I am at least 5' 9" tall & weigh about 150 lbs. I told my mom about this, & she told me my dog was on one month probation. If she pulls this again, we have to return her to the HS. My little sister has a hard time around this dog. She is overly aggressive. We practice NILIF, but it doesn't seem to work. I am afraid that if my dog goes back to the HS, she will be PTS. There isn't a lot of leeway around here. If a dog bites, & doesn't even cut the skin, it will more than likely be PTS. There aren't many families that want a dog that bites. I really want to give my baby a chance, but I don't really know what to do. Any advice?

[vennagar]

I'd like to help, can you tell me a little more about your family,. Your age, sisters age and if you parents have had much experience with pets.

I don't know what you mean by NILIF? Can you explain?

If a pet plays rough it is important to let it know that the behaviour is not acceptable. Is there a room you can isolate your dog in? A garage or shed (be careful there are nothing in the isolation room that your dog can hurt itself with). Remember being in this room is a punishment, if your dog uses a crate don't use that.. use soemthing else.

1. When your dog "plays rough". DON'T SAY ANYTHING!
2. Put his lead on, and drag him into the isolation room. It very important you do this with a minimum of fuss. It isn't always easy just do your best. The less fuss you make the more likely he will think bad play means "in the room on your own".
3. You don't need to isolate your dog for more the 60 seconds. At most 2 minutes. Any longer and you've lost the point.
4. Let him out and pretend the whole thing never happened.

This worked very well for my dog. He used to harass me in the main living room. I walked out and shut him in for 60 seconds. I then came back in and sat down as if nothing happend. He bugged me again (biting my sleeve and so on), again I walked out. He stopped bugging me then.

I had to repeat all of that about 3 or 4 times over the next week, and a few times since. I haven't had to do it for a month.

[Eric5604]

Don't know what a GSP is but I have had Saint Bernard puppy, Airdale Mix, Dalmation, and Great Pyreneese. One thing for sure is to not punish her too long, not more than 2 minutes or you have lost her attention and she just feels left out. Try to not play very rough with her. When she begins to get over-excited tone down the play and distract her to another activity. If you begin to train her properly she will not have to be PTS but dogs who bite people, like your little sister, cannot be allowed as a family pet. Good luck and keep your patience.

[Woof Woof]

This is a very tricky and difficult situation.

There is no point keeping a dog in an environment which may bring harm to the dog or a person.

Might it do well with another dog for company?

Maybe the dog needs more exercise or open space to roam around?

Without know the characteristics of the dog, it is difficult to know what to do.

[SeeSpotRun]

First, you might want to remember that it is a dog, and that's just how big dogs play. Almost all dogs have a moment where they forget their own strength. I had the nicest Cocker Spaniel, and she started playing with a wild rabbit in our yard and accidently killed it. She was really sad about it. You just need to calm your dog down and train them to be more careful. The time out idea sounded like a good punishment. You might also need to let the dog work out its aggression through more running time, or you might need to be sure that you don't get it that excited.