Introducing Khawaja

[Carina]

Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Carjna, Khawaja’s Mum. He is 9 months old now and generally things are going well.  I do have a few questions though. Khawaja for some reason has started to attack our 16-year-old son. We wonder if it’s because he is wearing shoes  with laces. When he engages in this behaviour he suddenly starts biting my sons ankles and growling at him. He occasionally also does it to my husband but never to me. It’s very frustrating because it makes us all a little bit on edge when we are around him. Khawaja has a great life, he walks daily and goes to the oval and plays with the ball. He also has long beach walks and I don’t believe that he is socially unstimulated. We are going to dog obedience training where the primary method used is positive reinforcement. I just wish I understood this behaviour a little bit more. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[hheldorfer]

Welcome!  Khawaja is a handsome lad!  That's a very interesting name - does it have a particular meaning?

There are lots of threads in the Behavior and Health section dealing with puppy biting behavior.  The bottom line is that everyone in the household needs to be consistent in terms of correcting this type of behavior.  He is a Cairn and wants to rule your household (which is totally normal); you and the other humans in the house need to make it clear that *you* are in charge.  It can be an epic contest of wills but you will win if you persevere.  

 

[Carina]

Hi, 

Thanks for that. Khawaja is the name of  an Australian cricketer who emigrated from Pakistan. He’s a great player and my son loves cricket. I’m not sure if you’re from Australia but we are cricket mad here. We are considering getting his sister next year whose name will by Zshi Zu, which is another Name from Pakistan. Thank you for your help. 

Carina

[Idaho Cairns]

Carina, welcome aboard!  Beautiful pup, classic Cairn.  As far as the ankle biting goes, it isn't important that you understand the "why" of the behavior, because we humans will never understand the dog's reality to the point that we know what motivates the dog.  What is important is that the behavior stops before it develops into something more serious--biting of any kind, even play biting,  needs to be completely terminated.  What is a positive reinforcement for an ankle bite?  Cairns need a firm hand and a real understanding of the "NO!" command--if you have a Cairn behavior that you want stopped--reinforce the "No Bite", "No Jump", and "No Bark" with physical contact--make the dog look at you as you repeat the command, make him "understand" what you want.  We have always grasped our Cairns by the snout, held their gaze and repeated the command--what ever it is, until the dog understands what we want--it is done gently but firmly and can be reinforced by putting the dog on its side if necessary.
Those early years are critical in creating a Cairn that is civilized, sometimes it takes repeated and frustrating actions to get the dog disciplined but if you, your husband, and son are persistent with little Khawaja's training in "NO!" things will straighten out for him quickly.

[LindaMC]

Hi Carina and welcome to the forum.    Khawaja is an adorable Cairn.  I don't have any advice regarding the ankle nipping but would like to say that our Cairn gets upset when my husband leaves the house for work in the morning and will attempt to bite at the back of his ankles to stop him from leaving.  This is an ongoing issue that we are dealing with by being firm with her and telling her NO.  I believe that if you are consistent with your training, all will work out in the end.

[Hillscreek]

Hello and welcome. Your cute little boy is right at the age when he really, really wants to be in charge. Agree with above.  he must learn No bite. Biting is a power play. With my Angus when he was doing that I immediately said no bite and put him away by himself for a minute or two. At first I had to do this over and over. It seemed no sooner did I sit down than he was at it again. But as you know cairns are very smart and after a while he knew I meant what I said, then I just had to say no bite and eventually he didn't even try. Since persistence is a strong trait in cairns it can take a while to convince them of anything they don't want to do. Angus hated to be put off by himself so shunning worked well for me.

If you read the threads on biting you will see how typical this is and you can get tips on what works for different people and different cairns.

 

 

 

[Carina]

Thank you everyone. It was really lovely to wake up to find that I’m not alone in this. Khawaja really is a great little dog and as others have stated, so intelligent. Just a quick cute story.... he was running around with a pair of socks the other day which he was not going to give up for anything. I had just prepared my lunch and he sat there looking at me obviously wanting food. (I was just about to pop him outside whilst we had lunch).When I wasn’t quick enough to give him any, he went into the lounge room to retrieve the socks to offer them to me as an exchange, dropping them at my feet.!!!!😂😂. He brings us so much joy. 😇😇.

[sanford]

Who is training who?😍

[Carina]

Oh I know. Don’t you love it?? 👏👏. I love his spirit 💞💞

[hheldorfer]

I loved that story, Carina.  So typical of a Cairn.  They learn negotiating skills early in life.

[Carina]

Yes, luckily for me I’ve raised three children one of whom was an extreme negotiator. I’m not surprised that I’ve ended up with a cairn 😉..

[kieiras mom]

Welcome!He is a real cutie. We humans must be strong or these Cairns will be in charge of the world.!

[Sam I Am]

He is adorable. Having our six month old Cairn Sam, the no bite command is on going. He is learning as licks usually follow the reprimand.

[Dempsy's Mom]

Love him!  Welcome!

 

[lindasue]

Pegi is 8, and would do this all the time.  In fact if anyone in our house runs she will still do it. It’s a cairn thing!