Aggression and Biting

[ejwebb]

Our Cairn is 7 weeks old and she has been with us a few days. She was very sweet and seemed happy to be around people when we chose her but her attitude seems to have changed. We have read a lot and are trying to do all the right htings to crate train her and house train her.

She has been relatively good on the house training - only a few accidents. Our concern is the biting. She wants to bite and nip whenever playing which I understand is pretty normal for a puppy. However, she is exhibiting some very agreesive behavior - growling and biting hard when corrected or picked up outside or when a toy (or the leash) is removed from her mouth.

Our concern is that this aggressive behavior is more extreme with her than what is normal for this breed. While we know we can train to reduce the behavior will the tendencies remain? Is there a risk that she will attack someone maliciously?

Everything we have read says these are happy playful dogs that are great with kids and families but we are seriously questioning our choice. We have young children who are not enjoying their first puppy experience because they are afraid of her and we are unsure how she will react with them. Any advice is appreciated.

[Guest]

I remember OUR puppy days. There were times I just wanted to give up! I remember the nipping and a trainer said just yell "Ouch" every time because he doesn't know how hard he bites.

I also read about grabbing the snout. And putting a gentle pressure above the snout on other, friendly occasions- because that's what a doggy mother would do.

It DOES get easier.

[Guest]

Hi! My cairn is now almost 6 months old and continues to nip and bite but not as bad as he was - - I have only raised golden retrievers and never encountered this problem - - I think the cairn is a little bit different. I find that if I yell - - NO BITES!!! - - very loudly when he tries to bite me - - that he backs off with a puzzled look on his face - - I continue to do so until he modifies his behavior or backs away completely.

Also - - putting him in his crate or outside for a "time out" also seems to calm him down. I have been assured that he will mellow as time passes. He is losing all his "baby" teeth right now so that may be a reason to bite. Good luck - - this can be a trying time!

[Guest]

Our female cairn is seven months old now and when we first got her (6 weeks) and took her to the vet for him to check her out he put her on her back and was looking her over and she didn't like it one bit. He then held her on her chest with one hand (not hard but gently) and told her No! He said we were the proud parents of an alpha female which means she wants to be the boss even more so than your average cairn. He said we would really have to show her who the bosses are in our house or she would wind up running the show!! She really nipped and bit alot in play only but I guess she thought anytime was play time because she would constantly bite or nip at my feet and especially if I had on house shoes. The point I am making is perhaps your little girl is an alpha female. I just cannot believe any cairn would ever harm any one on purpose. It just is not their nature. Now that Darcy is seven months old, she has really calmed down a lot but she still wants to nibble on fingers. Usually it is when I am on the couch with her and not playing per se but trying to pet her around her face (ears, nose, head). She takes this as an invitation to nibble on my fingers. I just say No Bite and for about 2 seconds that will do the trick. Then I usually get her a chew toy or sock (her favorite thing to play with after we have gone and spent $$$ on toys) and just spend a while playing with her. They are very high energy dogs and demand a lot of play time. I hope this helps. Sandybug32