Dominant Oscar

[Guest]

We have two male Cairns that are a year old. Both are family pets and have been neutered. Oscar has assumed the alpha dog role, and is dominant of his half brother Felix. There are times when Oscar becomes upset and vicious. If he is woken by petting, he'll first growl, and if the petting didn't stop he bites ... hard. If we pay attention to his brother first, and then try to pick him up ... he bites hard. Last weekend, everyone in our familiy was bitten at least once. Usually, his biting is predicatable, but not always. He is becoming a big liability. Help!

[Guest]

My question is also about biting. I have a 2 1/2 year-old neutered male who has just begun to growl viciously when I try to take something out of his mouth. He bit me for the first time this weekend as I tried to take something away from him. Overall, he is very good-natured and gentle. I could really use some advice on how to handle this problem.

[Posey]

when I read these two posts.

If a little animal is in pain-by being unknowingly injured-he is going to change and bite to protect himself because of pain. Before I did anything else, I would take these little Cairns to my vet and get them checked out physically. They know pain points and could tell you if the little guys are injured or diseased somewhere.

Posey

[Guest]

When I was having similar problems with my cairn, I took him to positive reinforcement behavioral training. I was told to hand feed him both meals every day for two months. So we sat on the floor and he ate from one hand while the other dog ate from the other. The idea behind this is that if you are the one in charge of the food, he will quickly learn that you are the alpha dog and listen to you better. I also made him sit, speak, etc. before each handful of food. I know this sounds like a huge pain in the behind and it is time consuming but it works if you stick with it. Just remember, he does not eat unless he makes you happy and does what you want him to do. Do not feed him other ways. He won't starve and he'll catch on when he gets hungrey.

The other thing I did was to make him do something for me any time he wanted something. For example, if he tried to get on the couch, he had to sit first. If he wanted to go outside, I would make him sit at the door before letting him out. This is a great behavior modification technnique that also worked wonders.

Good luck!

[Guest]

Thank you for the advice. I am going to start feeding my Cairn by hand and see how it works.