Dog biting when being told off

I'll finish by encouraging you to work on 'negative markers' with your dog. He’s a Border Collie, so there's no reason he shouldn’t understand boundaries. I imagine 'No' is the most common command used for this. Personally, I use a sound—a 'Tschht'. I also have other commands that mean 'no' but are more specific. For example, I have one to tell him to keep all four paws on the floor; that basically means 'No, don't jump up on that person'. Your dog **must** understand you at all times and in every situation when you don’t want him to do something. If he’s biting you right now when he realises what you're asking, it might be that the way you're teaching him he can’t always get what he wants is a bit too abrupt. Maybe even too negative. You should build this into specific training sessions. With time and practice, these concepts—which have nothing to do with 'telling the dog off'—really start to take shape. Here’s the kind of session where I teach 'No' (starting from the 1:00 mark): [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NorAGvEnT0o] Here’s a very recent clip where I apply this to two very difficult situations. First, around 1m15 I think, I stop her from veering off to her right. She would have gone to find a family of kittens being protected by their mum under a balcony (a nasty 'recall fail' situation from earlier that morning). Then, at about 2m40, comes the ultimate test: resisting the temptation to jump on a 4 or 5-year-old kid, who’s only a tiny tot and dressed in bright colours. You can clearly see in both cases that the 'No' and the 'Tschht' work: [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTjan5r1Cwg] I can use the same commands to stop her from picking up a chicken bone off the ground. It takes focus and it's a long-haul job, but it’s the only truly rewarding way to progress with a dog. Over time, and after hundreds and hundreds of repetitions, these bad habits fade away and the dog reacts better and better to boundaries. Keep in mind, though, that if your dog is constantly hungry and you aren't carrying any treats, you're fighting against a very powerful survival instinct! I’ve put together this short article about general control: https://wamiz.com/chiens/forum/vous-trouveriez-pratique-d-apprendre-a-calmer-votre-chien-59513.html

I’m not a big fan of the idea of "scolding" because it usually involves negative energy. If possible, I think it’s best avoided. I prefer to correct. The best example, which I deal with every day, is when her recall fails. My correction is always the same and doesn't involve raising my voice. I go and get her—she wears a back-clip harness—and I lift her front paws off the ground. We just stay still. She ends up paddling in mid-air like the little brat she is for disobeying. Is that scolding? I don't reckon so. It's the only way I can teach her not to ignore me. If I scolded her, I'd just be adding negative energy, and it's just not worth it. Basically, I’d suggest that you should never scold for things that are going to happen on a regular basis. If my dog bit my kitten so hard that she broke a leg, believe me, by the time I’d finished shouting my head off at her, she’d be wary of me. The whole thing would be such a negative experience that she’d think twice before losing control of her jaw again. But that’s a hypothetical, one-off event. In that case, scolding might be okay. So, I’ll put the question to you. Is scolding in your situation really the best way to sort the problem out? Personally, I deal with this myself (obviously, a Shiba Inu *is* a hunting dog, her main goal is to sniff out "treasures"). I never go out without a treat pouch. If I want to stop her from eating rubbish, I stop her and then reward her by offering something much better.

My question is, am I taking the right approach? Based on your experience, is there a more suitable way to handle this? I’ll turn that question back on you, once I’ve explained the following: Take the great example of those "treasures" your dog sniffs out while you're on a walk. I think that hits on one of the greatest joys a dog experiences every day. We humans have our own things, those little treats that make us happy. Coming across a great scent or a tasty morsel while out for a walk is, for a dog, the equivalent of finding a £10 note. Being told off because they’re just following their nose would be like being told off for trying to pick up those ten-pound notes. You have to admit, it’s not easy for a dog to understand what the problem is, right? I think that for anything that annoys or worries us, where we want to step in with some training (and it’s up to everyone to decide what those things are), we need to make sure the dog actually understands what is expected of them. Telling a dog off before that stage seems counterproductive to me. In other words, I don’t believe scolding "to teach" is any more effective. Putting on pressure or projecting negative energy doesn't, in my opinion, speed up the animal's learning process. On the contrary, I think we should look at our own ability to understand the animal and to be understood, and stay calm and patient until we’re certain we’ve got the point across. After that, we have the option to scold them—or not—when they've disobeyed. Honestly, I think you know you've reached that stage when it becomes obvious that, at heart, a dog has good intentions. What I’m saying is that the more effort we put into understanding and being understood, the more we realise, "Oh! There’s no need to apply pressure, my dog seems to have such good intentions!!"

Um, @Louisem, Super Nanny's advice isn't suitable for dogs. To me, that’s just animal cruelty!! And @Isa_belle, stroking your dog after he's stopped growling at you just encourages him to do it again. What you should do is tell him "go to your bed" and ignore him; if he gets out of his bed without being allowed, you have to send him back until he understands that you're the one calling the shots. The problem is that I'm out on a walk. And when you're out for a walk, sending him to his bed is impossible... :/ As for stroking the dog when he stops growling at me, that's what I was advised to do at the dog training club.

I’m not quite following the initial circumstances. Is he on or off-lead during the walk? I reckon walks should go like this: * Off-lead where the dog isn't in any danger, and there you just let him do his own thing and sniff to his heart's content: there’s no conflict possible there. * On-lead, at heel, with a short lead held vertically, making it impossible for him to get his nose to the ground as soon as free walking isn't safe: there shouldn’t be any conflict there either if you learn how to handle the lead properly. I didn’t quite get what your dog’s "naughty behaviour" consisted of during the walk, nor why you were doing "down" exercises mid-walk. Sorry, but I couldn't really picture the situation from your description. - Regarding people staring, just decide once and for all that you don’t care; that’ll be one less thing to worry about. - If your dog has bitten you, it’s no longer the time for analysing mistakes, but for making it clear that things aren't going to go that way and that you're the boss. So yes, holding him firmly in a submissive position until he calms down seems essential to me. I walk my dog both on and off-lead. It depends on where I am: the woods or the town. Here, I’m talking about when my dog is OFF-lead and he eats something bad or even dangerous and I try to stop him. The result: he bolts, growls, and bites. Every time, I try to get ahead of it with a "drop it" command, but it doesn't work every time, and then he runs off with whatever he’s found and swallows it. He eats anything lying around: old food, horse poo, etc. That’s what I mean by "naughtiness". I don’t constantly scold my dog, but in this case, it can be really dangerous for him. I don’t do "down" exercises as such. It’s the "down" position I ask for when he starts growling at me. I tell him "down", wait for him to calm down, and then I praise him. Obviously, I don’t stroke him if he’s just bitten me. If it gets as far as a bite, it’s a firm "no" and I hold his head to the ground to force him to stay in the down position, then I release him, wait a few minutes, and put him back on the lead for a bit of the walk. My question is, is my approach right? From your experience, is there a better way to handle it? Because even doing this every time, I’m not seeing any difference. Maybe, like @Irisea14 said, I should put him back on the lead until the end of the walk when he bites me, rather than just for one stretch of the path.

I don’t quite understand the initial circumstances. Is he on or off the lead during the walk? I think the walk should be handled like this: * Off-lead in areas where the dog can’t get into danger; there, you should let him do his own thing and sniff as much as he likes. There’s no potential for conflict there. * On-lead, at heel, with a short, vertical lead that makes it impossible for him to get his nose to the ground, as soon as letting him roam freely is no longer safe. Again, there’s no room for conflict if you learn how to handle the lead properly. I didn't really understand what the "misbehaving" involved during the walk, or why you were doing "down" commands mid-walk. Sorry, but I’m struggling to visualise the situation from your description. - Regarding the stares from passers-by, just decide once and for all that you don’t care; that’ll be a weight off your shoulders for a start. - If your dog has bitten you, it’s no longer the time to analyse mistakes. You need to show him clearly that it’s not going to go down like that and that you are the boss; so yes, holding him down firmly in a submissive position until he calms down seems essential to me.

Personally, my take on this probably won't be very popular, but I would've grabbed his muzzle and held it shut, then given him a smack on the backside. Walk over. I'd have put him in the corner and wouldn't have let him move until I said so. Mind you, I don't know what breed the dog is, but you can't let your dog dominate you, otherwise there’ll be trouble. You have to be firm to show them who’s boss. And even when you're fed up, you need loads of patience with a dog, so just keep at it. I trained my two GSDs that way; they’re doing great, they’re really affectionate, but they know exactly what they can and can’t get away with (: Actually, that’s exactly the kind of advice that can be dangerous. If a dog is aggressive, hitting them is only going to make matters worse. Violence just breeds more violence. And ending a walk as a punishment won't help them understand what they've done wrong, as they probably won't even make the connection between the two. Mind you, stroking the dog after they’ve bitten you might make them think they’ve got permission to bite :( I think when you go out for a walk, you should let your dog behave normally, but as soon as they misbehave, give them a bit of a telling-off. If they try to bite or don't listen, then they stay on the lead for the rest of the walk. Eventually, they’ll realise that they're back on the lead because of their attitude and understand that it’s not okay :)

@Doggylovie, each to their own; I respect your point of view even if I don’t agree. The day that dog hurts her or a child, the consequences will be serious. I’m not saying you should beat your dog with a stick like some people do. Holding their mouth shut isn’t abusive. At some point you have to realise that you can’t make a dog understand things just by giving them treats. When my dogs misbehave I am firm; when they do the right thing, they get cuddles and kisses. My dogs have never growled at me, and they’ve never tried to bite me. Despite me being firm, which is only natural, my dogs never leave my side, they protect me, and they’re very, very affectionate. In any case, I hope @Isa_belle finds a solution for her dog because it could be dangerous.