# Snappy dogue de bordeaux help please!!!!



## xmashx (Sep 14, 2007)

well ive had my puppy dogue de bordeaux Bailey for a few months now but he likes to bite people and their clothing.
Ive noticed he does this more with certain people in our house than others. 
weve tried all sorts. weve asked the person at the puppy classes, my mates who also have mastiffs and nippy dogs. and it only seems to be working out for certain people. 
some people have said that he should grow out of it because its puppy behaviour and it just seems worse because hes a huge puppy.
is this true? and do u have any sugestions on what we can do at home.

p.s we did try loads of behaviourists with one of my boxers and it didnt make a blind bit of difference.

xmashx


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## royal_girly (Apr 14, 2008)

hiya, what sort of things have you tried already? 

And dont panic this is totally normal puppy behaviour... :lol2:


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## xmashx (Sep 14, 2007)

my boxers never bit quite like this tho. i had a hole in my arm from when he decided he was gna bite me lol. maybe it just seems worse because hes alot bigger than they were

and weve tried the scream and ignore tactic. weve tried dominating him. distracting him. taking him out of the room so he doesnt get any attention. 
and thats worked for a few of us. but i dont know what it is but some people in my house he just has this compulsive need to attack them as soon as he lays eyes on them. 

xmashx


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## midori (Aug 27, 2006)

It is perfectly normal for puppies to bite. They explore things with their mouths a bit like human babies do. However, obviously it's not acceptable for them to continue doing it forever. 

Read this article and put it into practice. 

How to adopt a Weimaraner from Tri-State Weimaraner Rescue

You need to be absolutely consistent or it won't work. I suspect someone is inadvertantly rewarding the pup with negative attention when it play bites/nips, and so the behaviour is accidentally re-inforced, and the pup carries it on. You need to make every person do the same thing, and depending on how much the play biting has been re-inforced already (I am assuming pup is at least 5 months old as you've had him for several months) it could take quite a while until it stops. Do persevere, it absolutely will work if done consistently.


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## royal_girly (Apr 14, 2008)

midori also posted that article when i asked a very similar question with my Bull Terrier baby, he's now improved 100%, still not completely there yet but we can now have family barbeques with multiple people/children present without the worry of him nipping anyone. :2thumb: He's 16 weeks old now.


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## xmashx (Sep 14, 2007)

thanks for the help.
hes coming up to seven months soon. 
but trying to get everyone co-operating and doing the same thing is gna be a challenge as there are so many people in the house but well worth it. 
does anyone know why he only picks on certain people in the house. is it something they are doing wrong or is he just picking on them?
xmashx


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## LisaLQ (Jan 29, 2009)

As you've already probably noticed, the dog is probably incredibly confused by all the inconsistent training choices. You cant chop and change every couple of days/weeks, you need to find a method and stick to it.

As for "dominating" him, I'd probably bite someone who tried that on with me too - poor sod.


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## midori (Aug 27, 2006)

royal_girly said:


> midori also posted that article when i asked a very similar question with my Bull Terrier baby, he's now improved 100%, still not completely there yet but we can now have family barbeques with multiple people/children present without the worry of him nipping anyone. :2thumb: He's 16 weeks old now.


 
Glad it's helped someone! Ian Dunbar is a fabulous behaviourist/trainer. 




xmashx said:


> thanks for the help.
> hes coming up to seven months soon.
> but trying to get everyone co-operating and doing the same thing is gna be a challenge as there are so many people in the house but well worth it.
> does anyone know why he only picks on certain people in the house. is it something they are doing wrong or is he just picking on them?
> xmashx


 
Yep, it's more about training the humans than the dog! :lol2:

Dogs do not pick on people. If you work on the principle that the dog is doing whatever (in this case biting) because it gets something out of it then you'll find it easier to work out why a dog is doing something. In this case, I would imagine that the people involved are making a lot of nise/fuss/waving their arms in the air etc when the dog bites them. Or maybe saying/shouting 'no!' or 'sit' or similar. Perhaps, if it is children, screaming/getting frightened etc? So, the dog then thinks 'whoopee! all those others ignore me when I bite them, but this person gets excited and it's really great fun' Basically, the do gthinks it's a game. 

Most puppies also think it is great fun when humans attempt to 'dominate' them by pinning or holding down.


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## PinkSnake (Sep 1, 2006)

Would you like me to put you in touch with a trainer/behaviourist that specialises in DDB??


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## xmashx (Sep 14, 2007)

weve tried each one for about a month at a time and he doesnt seem to improve.
and thats what i cant work out why he just goes for these people. because they dont shout, they dont wave their arms. and he doesnt wag his tail when he sees them he just runns and then latches on to whatever he can on them either clothing or flesh they then shout we get him off and then hes left on is own for a bit. but hes a persistant little beggar.

and i tried dominating as thats what my friends have done with their mastiffs and it seemed to work. but he just always saw it as play fighting. and would get really excited. 

and thanks for offering help finding a behaviourist but hes technically my mums dog (even tho we all pitch in). and ever since we tried it with my boxers i dont think shes that keen. but i dont know. 
xmashx


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## midori (Aug 27, 2006)

xmashx said:


> weve tried each one for about a month at a time and he doesnt seem to improve.
> and thats what i cant work out why he just goes for these people. because they dont shout, they dont wave their arms. and he doesnt wag his tail when he sees them he just runns and *then latches on to whatever he can on them either clothing or flesh they then shout we get him off and then hes left on is own for a bit.* but hes a persistant little beggar.
> 
> and i tried dominating as thats what my friends have done with their mastiffs and it seemed to work. but he just always saw it as play fighting. and would get really excited.
> ...


 
There is your answer. He bites, they shout. The biting gets a reaction, so the dog continues to do it. He is nto attracted to them becaus ethey are randomly stood there shouting and waving their arms around, but because he knows when he bites them, it gets a reaction. 

The problem you have is that this has not been nipped in the bud whilst the puppy was still young enough to not do much damage or really hurt, and so getting him out of it will be harder now, as it s going to be very hard for people to stay silent when he does bite them. 

You need to ensure that people only give him (any sort) of attention when he is nicely sat. If that means keeping the dog away from people who visit, then do it. Or keep him one side of a stairgate (you can get tall dog ones) and allow people to pet him from the other side, but only when he sits nicely and doesn't nip. Then, if he starts to get excited and bite, they simply stand quietly, not making eye contact until he sits quietly again, immediately giving him attention when he does so, and immeidately ignoring him again when he is biting/getting excited. That way, the dog learns it can only get attention by sitting nicely.


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## xmashx (Sep 14, 2007)

cheers. its nice to know im right for a change. i have said all this to my mum as she owns the dog. but she wouldnt listen to a word i said. thats why we ended up trying different things. because she would say its not working. 
its also difficult getting a large house hold to cooperate.
hope it works as we have students in and out of the house all the time so i dont want him biting them. 
thanks for a ll the advice. hope it works.
xmashx


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