At my wits end!!!!

[linda giorgi]

I am at my wits end. Morgan has turned so mean since she was spayed. We could be watching tv and playing with her and for no reason she will start to bite us hard. She squeezes my husband so hard it makes blood. We tell her no, put a toy she likes in her mouth and if she still bites we put her in the crate. First we have to catch her.It's not fun. She is 7 months old.I know she is trying to be the pack leader but there isn;t anything my husband I do that phases her. I do not know what happened to her. We still love her to death but this is unacceptable; Any suggestions before we call a trainer. There are times she is so sweet. She does sleep with us. Maybe we should stop this. 

[Adina P]

Sorry, that's frustrating!

First I don't think the trainer needs to be a 'last resort' -- a good trainer is invaluable and can help you implement correct training.  Have you been through any obedience training with Morgan?  Obedience training is such critical foundation work to do before you have real problems that it almost seems backwards, but she definitely needs obedience training.  However, obedience training isn't a quick fix.  It's a long term way to look at things.  Obedience gets you working together and creates a bond between you, the leader, and her the attentive and loving doggy.  Without good obedience under your belt, most solutions are just bandaids.

But in the meantime, until you've got that good obedience training accomplished, google "Nothing in life is free" and implement that.  And you have to stop thinking of her as 'sweet or naughty.'  She's a dog with needs and needs leadership from you.  She might even need a job or something to do to keep her mind occupied (obedience will come in handy there too).

[Nicole and Teddy]

Oh my goodness, Linda! We had a very similar experience with Teddy. I seriously started doing research and asking myself if maybe he was aggressive. He would often bite (mostly while playing or trying to get us to play) and draw blood. I don't think he knew his own strength. He is 1 1/2 and he still sometimes gets a little wacky. The key was really consistency- stop engaging when he bites, replace with acceptable toys, and even a small timeout (we put him in the bathroom for 10 seconds or so). Sometimes we would do several timeouts too until he got the message. I also played with him with a chew toy while he was leashed and as soon as he bit I would walk away for a few seconds and then come back and reengage. All these tactics, along with other dog play, seemed to FINALLY do the trick. I think playing with other dogs is key too- as other dogs won't stand for any funny business. He also played with some dogs who were a bit rougher and I think he quickly learned that he didn't like to be bitten hard, so why would we? Ha! Be patient- she'll get it eventually! Good luck!

[linda giorgi]

Adina she did go to ot and the first two weeks she was a star. After that even the instructor had trouble with her. I will not give up and I will get a trainer to come to my house. thatnk you for your help 

[Cynthia Shoe]

When we first got Beau, he would growl, snap, and bite really hard. It was more than play biting and we were actually considering giving him back to the breeder. It was a terrible couple of weeks and I cried every day. We stopped putting Beau in our bed, and tried to stop doing things that made him more aggressive, like tug (which we only do in limited fashion now). But really the thing that put him in his place was going back to the Breeder for a week. We had a trip planned and they had offered to watch him. The other dogs and his mother quickly put him in his place and we have honestly not had any issues in 2 months with him. I know that is not an option for you at this point, but perhaps doggy day care will allow Morgan to socialize with other dogs and re-learn her bite inhibition? I watch Beau play at day care now with dogs, versus when he first played with dogs and it is SOOO much better. Even the day care told us he has been learning better social cues by playing with other dogs. Good luck! 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

1.Get her a thorough physical - something may be wrong and she might be in pain.

2.  Consult a trainer - whether in a class or private or on-line like Doggy Dan.  Her behavior is inappropriate and it might be that you don't know how to correctly curb the undesired behaviors.  This is NOT a slam on you, it may be that she is a dog that needs more leadership than many others do.

[linda giorgi]

Thanks for the advise. I am getting a trainer and sending her to doggy day care. I will keep you updated.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Sorry you and Morgan are having such a tough time. A good trainer (not the one that couldn't handle her either) and obedience training are always good ideas.

In the meantime, I think you have unwittingly trained her to do exactly what she is doing:,trick: bite, reward:receive toy, next trick bite again, next reward: play chase.  She is neither mean nor trying to be the leader, she is just smart.  Don't feel bad about this, you are both learning a new language,  nearly everyone except professional trainers train in a few unintentional behaviors. It is extremely easy train a trick or series of behaviors without knowing you are doing it.

You are thinking "no bite", she is thinking "new game - I get it"

To break this cycle you must switch your reaction to her bite.  I suggest a loud "ow" like you are mad, turn away, walk away.  Try to start play with her before she starts it with you.  Also at seven months with this behavior I would still have Morgan on a long ( 10-15 foot) leash all the time she is out of her crate.  Tie the end to something near you or to you.  This prevents the chase game from ever starting.  Since Morgan already has trained you to play chase, to stop it you must not chase her.  Therefore the long line, rope or leash. If Morgan runs off without you just before she hits the end of the leash call in a low firm voice "Morgan" as if you are warning her of something.  Immediately turning your back to her, so when she turns around you are facing away.  In a short time, while leashed she will be trotting right to you upon hearing her name.  This gives you a head start on teaching come.

Be patient, remember puppies talk a lot of your time, but the end result is a great dog you will love for a long time.

[Tracey & Spike]

This is basically exactly what our trainer told us. The long line saves lives! So simple. So cheap. So brilliant!!

[Tracey & Spike]

I agree with the masses. A trainer should never be a last resort. They are your best friend. We went through something very, very similar with Spike. Our trainer has saved our family. Literally.
In our case she had us put a drag line on spike that he wears at all times. Except at night. Or when we leave the house. It's something so simple to do. We literally went to the dollar store and bought a couple of cheap leashes. Then cut the loop handle off.
When spike was/is bad the key is to never chase them. This turns everything into a game and in sense rewards them.
We were able to use the dragging leash leash to calmly escort Spike to time outs. And we are now able to do a quick couple of pops on the leash with a firm "knock it off". The brilliant thing is with the leash it keeps our hands out of the danger zone. We aren't long into the process and we are already seeing a huge difference. He's back to our little dude instead of little demon!
Without our trainer we would never have known this. I don't even want to put into words what would have happened to our family if we didn't have her in our lives. I could never in a lifetime repay her :)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I did put a response on your front page discussion, but I'll also comment here.  I totally agree with how important a trainer is at this age.  We mentioned the Doggy Dan program in the other discussion, but if you can find a good local trainer that may be even better for a little while to get you back on track with Morgan.  She will need to "unlearn" some of the behaviors and replace them with new ones.  I'm wondering if this is your first dog....if so, then it becomes even more important to have someone to guide you through the process.  "Nothing in Life is Free" was mentioned.  Here's a link to some information on this program that will explain how it works http://sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/alpha.htm.  I would implement this as soon as possible.  Basically you need to show Morgan that YOU are the leader....YOU make all the decisions.  For now I would not allow her on furniture.  You must stay calm and not allow her to "practice" any more of the biting or over excited behaviors.  The leash and crate will be your best friends as you implement this program.  I don't know how much exercise she's getting, but she needs a LOT right now.  When I was going through this with Murphy I hired someone to run/roller blade with him to get rid of some of the puppy energy.  At that point walks just wern't enough.  Please keep us posted and good luck.