Question:

My 2 year old female (spayed) maltese is having some issues. One is with her food. She will growl while eating and she eats very fast. I have tried a large object in the bowl to slow her down, I have tried feeding her by hand, I have tried putting small amounts in the bowl at a time, I have tried holding the bowl and letting her eat a few bites at a time, but she still swallows it whole, and when I put the bowl down she will growl. She sometimes growl when she is waiting for me to give her a bite. I feel I have exhausted everything. She is also “moody”; she will want to cuddle and play one minute, but sometimes if my husband or I go to pet her she will lower her head and growl. I don’t know what happened along the way, but I want this stopped. As a whole she is very sweet, but I’m getting very frustrated and impatient with this behavior. Please help!

Tonya

ANSWER:

Hi Tonya,

I am not surprised you are losing your patience with your girl – you have certainly tried everything to bring her around. Have you had her since she was a puppy? And if so, was she always like this or is it something that developed as she aged?

Normally guarding behavior develops when pups are still with their littermates and ‘survival of the fittest’ means you gobble as much food as you can as fast as possible. Once away from the litter, however, most dogs stop protecting their food although they may still continue to gobble it whole.

You may not like my suggestion but I would take her to an obedience class with a trainer that understands small dog mentality and aggression. Many small dog owners forget that their dog is actually a dog – just in a petite package. They let their dogs get away with behaviors large dog owners cannot tolerate just because their dog is big and cannot be picked up if it misbehaves.

Your dog thinks she is the boss and that by growling she can get her way. And so far it has worked! Obedience class will help you to be the boss and put her in her place in a way that she will understand. Find a trainer and class that is not about teaching your dog the perfect ‘sit’ but instead focuses on manners and behavior.

Let us know how it goes!
Ann

Question:

Hi. We have a 14 week old rough collie (dog) and although we have managed to house train him and he is generally very bright, he nips and bites everything including us.We have tried ignoring him and shouting at him and pushing him away but nothing seems to do the trick. We understand he is teething and we supplied him with many toys to chew on. we are sad that we cannot seem to get cotrol of this and thinking a muzzle may be needed however we do not want to do this. Please can you give me some advice.

Many Thanks
Jonathan

ANSWER:

Hi Jonathan,

I have worked with a few herding dogs in my life and what you are describing seems to be a common problem. Anyone else have any similar experiences? Any herding dog pros out there that can offer some advice for Jonathan and his Rough Collie?

First off, shouting or pushing him away will only excite him – makes it all part of a big, fun game. There is the ‘yipe!’ method that sometimes works but it depends on the puppy. This method involves giving a loud ‘yipe!’ or ‘ow!’ whenever the puppy’s teeth touch your skin. In doggy language, this is how littermates teach each other how hard they can bite during play. However, I know one Australian Cattle Dog that would pause, look at you inquisitively, and then bite even harder and with greater relish! As I said, it depends on the puppy.

For very sensitive pups, ignoring problem behavior while praising good behavior can teach them manners. However, it is very hard to ignore a puppy set on biting you or your clothing. The very act of walking away makes a herding dog react by chasing you before clamping down on your heels! How is this teaching the pup anything?

What I find works best with most puppies is to give a firm ‘no!’ and take your hand away. Then offer him a toy with the other hand and, when he takes it, praise him for being a good puppy. This is a combination of reprimand, distraction, and reward that works well for the average pup.

What works for me with the insistent or frenzy biters was to use a spray bottle. I do not like using spray bottles for training as I find it can make a puppy head shy. However, nipping and biting is completely inappropriate and sometimes harsher methods are required to put a stop to this behavior.

Spray bottles do not hurt the pup, only startles them enough to distract them from biting and back onto listening to you. Once he stops biting, praise him to the ends of the earth and hand him a toy to bite on instead. If he tries to bite again, say ‘no!’ and show him the spray bottle. If he stops, wonderful! Praise him thoroughly. If he doesn’t stop, spray him again, preferably before he actually makes contact with your skin. When he pulls away again, praise him and give him a toy.

You will probably find that after a couple of sessions he no longer attempts to bite you when you have the spray bottle. Try to keep it or a small water pistol with you during play sessions or anytime he normally gets himself into a biting frenzy.
Once he has matured a bit more, you will find that the biting behavior stops unless he is really excited about something. At that point, however, he is old enough that ignoring him will work better or distracting him with obedience commands such as ‘sit’, ‘down’, and ‘stay’ will snap him out of his frenzy and back to being his reasonable self.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for Jonathan?

Good luck!

Question:

HI..me and my family just adopted a 2yr old cocker spanial. He has just been neutered but jeeps humping peoples legs. It is very hard to get him to stop. What is the best way to stop this and will he ever stop doing this???

Please help!
Thank you
Melissa

ANSWER:

Hi Melissa,

How frustrating! And I bet he is the life of every party…!
Humping is usually a learned behavior that we unfortunately and unintentionally encourage. Like children, often any attention is better then no attention for a dog and by our reacting to the humping, we are teaching our dogs that it is one way to garner a whole lot of negative attention.

There are two ways of retraining this behavior – one is stopping it before it happens and the other is called a body block.

Dogs tell us exactly what they are going to do before they ever do it. You probably already know what his movements, body language and facial expressions are when he is thinking of humping someone so put a stop to it before it happens. This derailing of his thought process is the most vital time for stopping an inappropriate behavior. It is also the easiest time. As he starts to sidle up to someone’s leg with the look of love in his eyes, say firmly ‘Fido, No!’ or give him an ‘eh, eh, eh!’ noise. If he stops, call him over to you and give him a treat. This is both retraining and distraction training – a great combination!

If he doesn’t stop, however, it is time for some major attitude adjustment in pure canine body language. Have the person walk into him or, if they are sitting, stand up and walk away while seeming to entirely ignore his actions.

Picture the alpha wolf coming home tired from a long day at work. What happens? All the young wolves and pups run up to him, licking his mouth and letting him know how happy they are to have him back in the fold. He walks right through them to go lay down in his King Wolf spot and relax.

In dog training lingo, we call that a body block and it is something only the top dogs do to reestablish their position amongst the pack. We use it on dogs that jump up on people, we use it for dominant dogs that use their body to block our way, and we use on dog aggressive dogs to physically block their view of another dog. In short, it works for humping because it is a language they already know without giving them the attention they are attempting to elicit.

To speed up his retraining process, give your doggy friends a call and ask for their help in training your dog in exchange for a cup of tea, a beer, dinner – whatever bribe they require. Before they arrive, explain to them what is going to happen and what their reaction must be in order to help retrain

Have them go through the process several times until your dog no longer attempts to hump their leg. Then have another friend come over and then another friend. Eventually he will learn his place in the pack and no longer bother to even try to hump anyone.

Good luck and remember to tell new guests as they come over what it is they are supposed to do just in case he decides to test the boundaries again!

Ann

Question:

Hello
I hope that you can help us. We had 2 rescue staffy bull terriers (both de sexed) from a rescue foster home, but the male one came with a warning that he had some temperment issues and needed a firm hand. After 9 months his aggressiveness was getting worse not better so on advice from our vet he was put to sleep. The bitch (Juno) seemed to miss the company so after about one month we have a new rescue staffy (Dover) he is a desexed male about the same age and very gentle. On advise from the rescue home we removed all toys etc so the two dogs wouldnt fight, however, Juno seems really withdrawn as she loved to play raggy and chew balls and bones. We have tried to reintroduce a raggy toy but Dover (normally a very submissive character) got very possessive and snapped at Juno – who let him have it. Now if toys are shown she will go and hide in her crate. I cant leave out nice marrow bones for them when I am out at work as Dover will not allow Juno to share. This is a bit of the behaviour of our old staffy which we wanted to avoid to have a happy pair of dogs – what can we do to introduce bones and toys so they can be left without fear of reprisal. We are not showing favour to either one of the dogs and Dover has shown he is quick to learn new things – it has only been a very short time and I appreciate that we will have to wait a while before we can leave them together with things like this but I dont know what to do to bring this type of stimulus back into the home. Your help would be great – thank you in anticipation.

Leona

ANSWER:

Hi Leona,

Thank you for rescuing these Staffordshire Bull terriers! Staffies make wonderful pets but unfortunately suffer from much of the same bad press as pit bulls and American Staffordshire terriers. Utter garbage but you have all heard that rant so I will not bore you by stepping back onto my soapbox. Advice time.

Until these two dogs become lifelong buddies, I would not leave toys or bones out when you are not able to supervise. I actually take it one step farther and do not leave two dogs alone together until they have developed a strong bond so you are already ahead of where I would be under the same circumstances.

If these were my dogs and I was living under these circumstances, I would find an obedience trainer who specializes in aggressive or inappropriate behaviors in dogs. Where I live, we are fortunate to have Monique Anstee and Naughty Dogge. She is amazing! She teaches owners to be the boss of their dog through mutual respect and communication. I have attended quite a few of her classes, with or without a naughty dog, just to learn how to better interact and understand the canine mind.

Visit Monique’s site and see if you can find someone similar in your area (there are also has some great articles about aggression on her site). Any obedience class is better then none so even if you cannot find someone who specializes in naughty dogs, join a regular class. It will help to teach you about canine communication and how to keep order in your household.

If the problems continue, find an animal behaviorist in your area to come to your house and work with you and your dogs. Aggression is not worth taking any chances as you know.

I hope this helps! If you need a hand finding an appropriate obedience trainer, email me at ann@ohmydogsupplies.com with where you live and I will help you find a class.

Ann

Lisa sent in a three part question last week about her 5 month old, high energy Labrador asking for help. Her third question is about car rides!

Lisa wrote:
My third problem is the CAR!! He hates the car, I have him in a harness with a doggie seat belt I bought from ohmydog and well he is not real fond of the backseat. I think it is being restricted that he doesn’t like. any thoughts?
Other than that Levi is the sweatiest puppy ever.

Hi Lisa,

Although many dogs love car rides, it can take a bit of time for a young dog to adjust to the motion and overwhelming stimulation! Think about the amount of visual, audible and scent stimulation that is pounding in on your young dog and how fast his brain is trying to register it all. Then there is the restriction of the seat belt – another new sensation. All of this is putting your pup into a state of complete overwhelm and who can blame them?

My first suggestion would be to crate him on car rides until he learns to calm down in the car. Crates give a dog the feeling of security and do help to limit how much stimulation they absorb. They also keep both him and your car safe until he is finished teething!

Crate training is easy if done properly. Click here for more information. Most dogs adjust to it quickly.

You will probably find that as soon as you take away some of the stimulation overload he is suffering from right now, he will adjust to car rides quickly. If not, email me again and I will send you some info on how to turn it around for him. Make sure that when you take him out in the car there is a fun stop or two along the way. Dogs love to be with their humans and car rides are a wonderful bonding time.

When he is two, reintroduce him to the seatbelt. By then car rides will be fun and he will have calmed down a smidge or two!

Take care,
Ann

Lisa wrote in a three part question about her five month old Labrador Levi:

“My second problem is he will not stop jumping up at you, I think he thinks you have a treat for him, What is a good way to stop the jumping. I have tried turning away but he just jumps on your butt, and I have tried kneeing him, (I don’t like that one ) but even that don’t work he just comes back for more like it is a game, any suggestion at all will be appreciated.”

Hi Lisa,

Dogs jump on us to show dominance and because they have gotten away with it in the past. In many cases, we have actually encouraged the behavior when they were little by petting them when they put their front paws on us – why wouldn’t they continue the behavior as an a naughty teenager?

The best thing is to walk into him when he jumps. Keep it simple and do not make it aggressive or playful otherwise he will do the same thing that he does when you knee him (I don’t like that one either – very old school training method although it does work on some dogs). It takes a bit to get used to doing as it feels wrong or like you are going to step on his toes but it works.

It is a form of body block and if you watch dogs or wolves interact, you will see that the alpha dog or wolf is never asked to move by a member of the pack. Instead, the dominant dog will either turn into the other dog, shoulder check him, or block his path completely. It is up to the subservient dog to walk around or move for the alpha. By walking into your dog, you are showing yourself as alpha because it is up to him to move for you. Simple doggy psychology.

Remember to tell visitors to do the same thing or put him in a down/stay until he is calm as the last thing you need is your grandmother or your two year old niece to be the ones he jumps on next!

See you Thursday, Lisa, for part three of the Case of the Crazy Lab!

Question:

I have a 5 month chocolate lab puppy that I have had since he was 6 weeks old. , I have just learned about this great website Ohmydogsupplies… well Oh my dog will not stop biting on the leash when I put it on him, he bites, tugs, pulls, flips around, all the way to the street, then he stops and walks like a perfect puppy. How can I stop him from biting the leash.. I have tried no bite sprays, I have tried harnesses verses a leash on his collar. Help !!! My neighbors think my dog is vicious! He really is not but when he sees that leash , watch out CRAZY dog appears!! My Sister has his bother and he does the same thing, is it genetic, I truly don’t remember my other two dogs doing this.. Help me!! I am desperate, I will do anything, if it helps !!

Lisa

ANSWER:

Hi Lisa,
Sounds like you have your hands full! I am going to break your question into three parts so come back over the next few days for the full answer!

Leash misbehavior in young pups is common but it is easy to stop with the right training.

My first suggestion would be to wear him out a bit before the walk – play fetch with him for a few minutes in the backyard or anything that will let him expel that first burst of energy before you put him on a leash.

Next, do not give in to his silliness. Make him sit/stay while you put the leash on and do not start to walk until he is calm. Use quiet, calming tones that encourage him to be calm. If he starts to jump around, just stand there until he is calm. Once he does calm down though, give him a huge ‘good boy’ and start your walk. If he steps out nicely, keep walking but if he starts being a crazy pup, stop and stand still until calms down again. Repeat. It may take you thirty minutes to get down the driveway the first time but once he knows the only way he is going to get out onto the sidewalk where all the new smells are is by behaving, he will quickly come around!

Come back Monday for Part Two of the Case of the Crazy Lab!

Question:

I have an 8 year old beagle, we bought him a new comfy bed and now he lays in it and licks the entire bed every night, we also have a throw blanket we leave on the floor for him and he started licking it too.

Lazarus

ANSWER:

Hi Lazarus,

How odd although I am finding out not that uncommon. Did you happen to notice anything else that coincided with the new bed such as a change in food or an increase in thirst?

My first instinct is to have him checked over my your vet, especially his mouth and teeth. Infections, gingivitis, and growths can all lead to lick behavior in dogs but normally it is not reserved to just one or two items.

If he comes back with a clean bill of health, you may have to look at other options. Have you tried washing the bed since you bought it? It may be something it is treated with that would make it taste good. Remove the bed for a night or two and replace it with a different blanket. Does he still ‘wash’ his bed?

To stop the licking, pick up a bottle of Bitter Apple from your local hardware or pet store and liberally spray the bed. Most dogs do not like the taste and are discouraged from inappropriate licking or chewing.

Does anyone else have any suggestions on why the dog is licking the bed?
Let us know what the vet says and if he offers any other suggestions.

Ann

Question:

I rescued a 1/2 springer pup at six weeks. She is wonderful with my family,kids,friends and other dogs she knows. She is aggressive towards anyone she does not know and will raise her hackles,bark, and has nipped at people such as delivery men and will not stop even if I call her down. I am really afraid she will really lay into someone. She is 2 years old. Is she a lost cause? She will not be detoured with treats. I have tried to get her to stop barking and being agressive towards our one neighbor when she checks her mail and she still barks and is aggressive towards her. Is there anything I can do besides get rid of her? My kids love her.

ANSWER:

Hi Beth,

Dog aggression is a scary problem and I understand your concern. The best answer I can give is to contact an animal behaviorist and begin to retrain her. Aggression is a problem best handled in person and by a professional. I know, not the answer you were looking for but it is the only real solution.

Contact your veterinarian for a referral to a behaviorist or let me know where you live and I will find someone for you.

Everyone: aggression in dogs is not something to take lightly and is best dealt with immediately! Always take it seriously and find help as soon as possible as early behavior modification can make all the difference in the world.
Good luck and email me with your location at ann@ohmydogsupplies.com.

Ann

Question:

I have a 2 year old Corgi/Shepherd mix who loves to play with large hard plastic balls.  Buddy especially enjoys herding the ball at high speed.  When playing outside everything is fine for a short period but, after a bit, as he lowers his head to move the ball, he’ll suddenly start yanking up tufts of grass and throwing them off to the side before pushing the ball again, stopping every few feet to grab more grass.  He does it regardless of the height of the grass.  This is a disaster for the lawn.  We haven’t been able to figure out how to stop the grass snatching.  Any suggestions?

ANSWER:

Hi Tricia,

You stated your dog likes to play with a hard plastic ball and then eats a lot of grass. I am wondering if you have checked the ball for pieces of plastic missing. Does he chew off any of the ball? Have you checked his stool? Are there pieces of plastic in the stool?
I ask these questions as often dogs will eat grass when their stomach is upset. Instead of a hard plastic ball, I would suggest that you get a soft ball at the pet store. They have many different types that resemble soccer balls. If the ball has a squeaky noise maker do not leave your dog alone with the toy as often they can come out of the toy and the dog can swallow it.

If none of the above is occuring and your dog just likes to eat grass………………….
One suggestion would be to mark off a certain area of your yard for the dog to graze and train him to stay in that area. You could use wire mesh that can be bought at the hardware store to mark of that area or use an Xpen.

An X pen is made of the same material as a wire crate only there is no floor and allows the dog more movement. It is sort of like a playpen for dogs.

Before marking off a certain area with mesh fence or getting an X pen, I strongly suggest that you check and see if your dog is biting off pieces of the hard plastic ball.
Hope this helps.

Nancy