Bite and Growl

[kavon]

Bella and I are not on speaking terms this morning

I was cleaning something off the kitchen floor this morning with a paper towel. Being a puppy she wanted to see what was going on. She took a piece right out of my hand-to stop her from eating it i chased her around the kitchen. Finally she stopped and i went to grab it from out of her mouth-BAD IDEA!???? She growled and snapped and bite me, it seemed like a few times in all of about 30 sec. So now i had to do what I've never wanted to, spank her butt. I also yelled from the top of my lungs 'NO BITE' -

Well she stopped. I just don't want the spanking as an option-HELP.

john

[wags]

Wanting to eat paper is typical cairn behavior. To our horror we caught Wes chewing a Q-tip and couldn't get it away. All we could do at that point was to call him a PIG!

After a while we got Wes to trade the paper towels, newspaper, and toilet paper for cheese. All we have to do now, is yell trade! And most of the time he will comply. On very rare occasions, he continues to eat the paper and then come in for his cheese. We call him PIG then too.

Wes now realizes other stuff tastes lots better than non-food and he is beginning to forego the garbage.

This too, will pass. (In more ways than one )

Good luck

[Guest Guest]

Try not to get upset, this is VERY normal. You can't have a paper towel in your hand or a plastic bag and she'll grab it out of your hand.

I swear I'm going to write to the company that makes the Swifter dusters. She absolutely LOVES that thing and jumps up like there's no tomorrow in order to grab it. Now if I could only teach her how to USE it to dust for me.

[kayharley]

Oh yes....the dusters!!

I can't even open the door to the closet where it hangs without Madison right on my heels. When she was a puppy she'd sit on it and try to pull the strings out while I'd be trying to glide it across the hardwood floors. That and the little portable vacuum will drive her crazy. Just too funny these Cairns are.

Madison will growl when she gets excited over something but has never really nipped me...not out of aggression. I think you did the right thing and she must have understood because she stopped.

What's nice about the Cairns is that they are sensitive dogs. It doesn't take much to discipline them.....sometimes just a harsh sounding voice saying "NO!" can do the trick....then again, sometimes not!

[Guest webstar]

Bella and I are not on speaking terms this morning

I was cleaning something off the kitchen floor this morning with a paper towel. Being a puppy she wanted to see what was going on. She took a piece right out of my hand-to stop her from eating it i chased her around the kitchen. Finally she stopped and i went to grab it from out of her mouth-BAD IDEA!???? She growled and snapped and bite me, it seemed like a few times in all of about 30 sec. So now i had to do what I've never wanted to, spank her butt. I also yelled from the top of my lungs 'NO BITE' -

Well she stopped. I just don't want the spanking as an option-HELP.

john

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Guest webstar]

Oh yes....the dusters!!

I can't even open the door to the closet where it hangs without Madison right on my heels. When she was a puppy she'd sit on it and try to pull the strings out while I'd be trying to glide it across the hardwood floors. That and the little portable vacuum will drive her crazy. Just too funny these Cairns are.

Madison will growl when she gets excited over something but has never really nipped me...not out of aggression. I think you did the right thing and she must have understood because she stopped.

What's nice about the Cairns is that they are sensitive dogs. It doesn't take much to discipline them.....sometimes just a harsh sounding voice saying "NO!" can do the trick....then again, sometimes not!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i'm not to sure how to reply but i'll try.

molly is 2 yrs. old and still goes wild for tisues. to get them away w/out a fight i just rattle a potato chip bag, or a small plastic bottle that i keep her treats in and she drops anything to come see if she can get a treat.

[Guest posting as: derecskey]

OUR Bella used to like the swiffer cleaner pads too, and paper towels when we were cleaning up after a mess she had made. One of our cleaning solutions was simply vinegar. After a quick mist to the nose of vinegar on three or four occasions, she learned to watch from a little distance whenever we had paper towels.

This is really one of the only instances of negative reinforcement we've ever used with her. Everything else has been redirection or positive/praise. Of course, there was a period of time, only a few days, where I had to establish us, the owners, as alpha with a few "alpha rolls". We've never had to do that again.

[Guest posting as: Milopup]

My pup is a year old and he still is alpha in the house.

Any suggestions on how to execute those "alpha rolls"? When he bites, I put him on his back and look in his eyes. He looks away first, but then continues to nip. Ugh......

[bradl]

I have to admit I'm not a big fan of alpha rolls. I suspect they can backfire and 'harden' some dogs. While we struggle to think like dogs and act like dogs, we are not dogs. We are, however, able to excerise complete control over almost every aspect of their lives: we control their food, their reproduction, the furniture, the room, their toys, our attention. Approaches like NILIF (nothing in life is free), tethering (leash-to-belt) and strict, consistent structuring of the environment seem ultimately more positive and likely to be safer for the greatest number of dogs and owners. This is not to say that alpha rolls have not been successful for some people and some dogs. I do not wish to discount anyone's experience. JMO.