Biting and Jumping

[Alfiesmomma]

Hey everyone, just joined the forum, first-time cairn mommy and looking for some training advice! My little Alfie is ten months old, we just neutered him a few weeks ago, and we are having trouble getting him to stop biting us whenever we play with him. He isn't really aggressive, but when we are sitting on the couch together, he will start biting our hands and barking DIRECTLY into our ears to get our attention. He also jumps directly into our faces and bites. Whenever we have people over he goes crazy and jumps all over them, also getting in their faces and nipping at them a lot. 

We try flipping him over and holding him down until he calms down, or put him in his crate for time-out, but those are temporary solutions that aren't helping him learn to behave better. Is it just because he's a puppy? I'm afraid of him growing up with behavioral problems if we don't crack the whip now and start teaching him to behave.

What can we do?! 

[Idaho Cairns]

Probably just typical pup behavior--Cairns can be difficult as youngsters.  We just try to teach and reinforce that multipurpose and most useful "NO!" command in the first few months.  Have used the "alpha-roll", on their back, with a hard "NO!" with some success and we also have grasped the muzzle, forced eye-contact with the command but be careful with this tactic as the pup might see it as playing, not discipline.
Using the "no" command and shunning, refusing to acknowledge after unwanted behavior, normally will do the trick but some Cairns are more persistent than others so there are no guarantees.  Be of good faith tho, as they mature, they become much more easy to live with.

[hheldorfer]

Welcome to the forum!  Sounds like typical adolescent Cairn playing/challenging behavior to me.  Yes, you are right to want to nip this in the bud now.  We have lots of members who have dealt with similar issues and will probably  have good suggestions.  In the meantime, try looking through the 'Behavior and Health' section of the forum.  Lots of good info there.

We'd love to see a pic of Alfie when you get a chance!

 

[Hillscreek]

Hello Alfie you young rascal! Agree with above. Pretty typical young cairn behavior. Saying No and shunning worked for Angus and me. He just hated to be put away for a few minutes. I found I needed to do something firm immediately the behavior started. And repeat over and over again. He did learn eventually -it took a while.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Hillscreek

[pkcrossley]

definitely classic. different things work for different dogs --holding, shunning, scolding, time-outs. it is doubly complicated because you cannot assume too early that something you are doing is NOT working. cairns don't give up until the last possible hope is gone, so don't expect results in a day or a week. if you find that all your strategies fail (after the requisite test time), do a double-check of your household: it is likely that your cairn has found a weak link or two, and doubts the resolve of one or more members. he thinks he will outlast you. be totally consistent, very calm, and convince your cairn by your demeanor that he will NEVER get you fussed or defeated. when the last hope of getting his way --and only when the last hope-- has faded, you will probably begin to see his behavior change pretty quickly at that point. cairns are amazingly determined and optimistic, and they start out with a pretty low opinion of human stubbornness. but when you have proved beyond a doubt that there is no way to get around you, they change pretty fast --they are practical above all, and don't waste time on things that they KNOW will not work. 

if your cairn is bitey, it may be because he doesn't know it hurts, so make clear it does with exaggerated ouchies and so on. but he may also be testing to see if anybody gets intimated. don't allow your dog to think it is ever okay to touch you with his teeth, even by accident, and make sure that nobody flinches. be outraged at the behavior and make that clear, but don't let him think that he has found a way to get to somebody by flashing a bit of tooth or trying out a bite. make it clear that nobody is going to tolerate being touched by teeth, but nobody is going to live in fear of it either. the bites do hurt like the dickens, so if somebody is starting to get anxious about it, there are ways of dealing with that too. learn to be stern without seeming like a bully --cairns respect authority but they hate a bully and nobody likes living with a cairn who is running an underground resistance movement against oppression. 

finally, cairns need an all-round disciplined environment (which is not to say a grumpy or grousy one). you mention biting and jumping, but alfie needs to know that he is always under the lens. it never hurts to train a young cairn to sit for his meals and sit down any time you greet somebody at the door, not guard his toys, wait for permission to get into the car, etc. when in doubt, they will always try to seize the initiative and establish their own rules, so don't leave a lot of areas of his life unstructured. when he is a bit older he will relax and you can too. but just now, he needs to know that he is not in charge (except maybe in his crate). he will be happier when he is convinced that his humans are strong, brave, fair, consistent leaders. 

enjoy! the terrible twos are just ahead. 

Edited September 20, 2016 by pkcrossley

[Malcolm's Dad]

Hi. Welcome to the forum. I adopted Malcolm at 1 year old. He is the most vicious dog I have ever seen. I had to lock him in the back hall because he kept biting me. It took six months of shunning until he learned biting is not ok.

I don't think this will be the situation with Alfie. Malcolm is not like any other Cairn on this site. Alfie will learn quickly if you are consistant with training. At six years old the NO command works like a  charm so I strongly advise you follow the advice above. Alfie will come around but it will take some effort on your part. Once he learns you are the boss and not him you will have a wonderful dog.

Oh have to mention Malcolm was in the yard chasing a bee. I told him NO and he stopped. Thank goodness. I don't need him eating a bee. Another good reason to teach NO for their own safety.

[Corn Niblet]

     Sounds exactly like my Rocky.  He is now also 10 months old. I am pretty sure I went around with band aids all over both hands for the first few weeks we had him. Every time he would bite we would let out an exaggerated "yelp". Eventually he figured out we humans have delicate skin. Sometimes he seems like he doesn't like our face in his face and on occasion he has lunged for our nose. We just keep working with him. Obedience classes have helped him a lot! He started with 6 weeks of puppy classes, then 6 weeks of intermediate classes and next week we are starting advanced classes.

[pkcrossley]

"Sometimes he seems like he doesn't like our face in his face and on occasion he has lunged for our nose." probably don't want to get close enough to make nose a target. i think the instinct to protect their faces is very deeply bred into all the scottish terriers. protecting their faces, and especially eyes, is a matter of life and death for them, and it can trigger an instinctive reaction that can be pretty violent, even if largely involuntary. they seem to be react more strongly to a face near theirs than to a hand, and if you think of them being bred to fight badgers face to face you can see how it would work. eyes looking into your eyes... go nuclear. my cairns never liked anything but a friendly hand near their faces, though when really mellow they would lay on a bed face to face with me. my mother had to put down a scottie whom a visitor --who had been warned repeatedly-- got bitten after sticking her face in the dog's face. 

[Sam I Am]

I don't think it's wise to ever put ones face near any dog or animal for that matter, unless you are 100% sure that nothing will happen. I think it is considered a threatening move for many species, as the throat isn't far from the face. Plus constant eye contact can be read as another threat. Both our Scotties have always been very gentle and I never worried about any kind of biting. A nasty, Untrained Scottie is a powerhouse as their biting strength is that of a German shepherd's and can do a lot of damage. After all they were bred to kill badgers.

My DH, who was lying on the floor, teasing Jock, got a bite on the cheek that drew blood. It was of course totally unacceptable behaviour from Jock, and I would have never imagined him doing that, but he did. Only that one time, but Richard never got into Jocks "face zone" again. It does and can happen so fast . Something triggered Jocks behaviour, was he protecting me, was there some body language from Richard that set Jock off...who knows.  I always cringe when I see small kids and babies lying on top of a dog. You love and trust your dog, but they are not humans, read us differently, think differently and act instantly.

I agree with other posts that have suggestions to stop Alfie from biting.  Don't ever get rough with a Cairn and most other terrier breeds, you will often make matters worse, and create a dog that is hell bent on beating you to the top of the pack.

[Rylee's mama]

welcome to the forum! I would love to see some pics of Alfie. I agree with all the above posts. My little cairn puppy, Rylee, is a little bit nippy but I reprimand him when he does it and since it first happened I have seen much improvement. I have also used the command "no" for many other things as well such as playing when it is time to potty or when he is chewing on something he isn't suppose to be chewing on.

Edited September 21, 2016 by Rylee's mama

[LindaMC]

Welcome to the forum!  Lot's a good advice given and agree with this being typical Cairn puppy behavior.  My girl Maisie use to bite a lot when she was little but we just kept saying "NO BITE" and eventually she stopped.  It was gradual at first and then slowly she began getting better at it. It was a game to her.  When Alfie goes to bite you, say NO and give him a toy or a ball so the focus will be taken away from the biting.  

Good luck and another vote for photos!

 

[_whits_]

Far more experienced Cairn parents than I have already responded! But I wanted to make sure to welcome you to the forum! Good luck!

[kieiras mom]

Keira is nearly 7 years old,and within the past 3 weeks when I play with her, she grabs my hand or feet, not biting, but the teeth are sharp. Do you think shunning will work with her?

[bradl]

Some dogs respond well to training for a softer mouth. I use a hotdog segment (about 1/4)  hidden within my hand, opening and closing my thumb and forefinger to expose the very end of it. At first they lunge and bite at it — "Eh! Eh!" or "Nope! Nope!" When they inevitably switch to sort of nuzzling/licking trying to reach the hidden hotdog or at least the exposed end surface — "Easy! Easy!" and slightly open my hand to let them get more. The minute I feel a tooth — "Nope! Nope!" The minute I feel a tongue or soft touch — "Easy! Easy!" and give them more access.

If they are careful with their teeth they will eventually cause the gate to open and get some big bites. Again, inevitably they will get overexcited and the gate crashes shut with a "Nope! Nope!"

After a few sessions of teaching Easy! I can usually hand even a dog with a naturally "hard" mouth a treat in my fingers as  long as I prepare them by warning them before I give it, "Easy!" Dogs with hard mouths often have to be reminded frequently to mind their teeth.

Some relatively few dogs  have naturally soft mouths and they are a treasure   I'm speaking of Cairns. I suspect bird dogs may have softer mouths on average than terriers, although that's just a guess on my part.

 

[kieiras mom]

thanks Brad, Keira already responds to Easy, have used it quite a bit.