pup biting other dog when running

[skycat 6,174]

The biggest problem with very excitable (high drive) pups is that if they learn to get away with that sort of behaviour when young, they are more likely to turn on another dog in anger as an adult. Many adult dogs, depending on their drive and temperament, won't tear into a pup for misbehaving. We call it the 'puppy licence'. Problem is that once certain pups feel that they can use their bite on another dog it can lead to more serious problems.

 

I've seen it myself on numerous occasions with Saluki type pups: their drive and need to bite is out of all proportion to their age, but they don't have the social skills to control themselves and temper their bite to suit their play mate.

 

Much better to direct that kind of play on to a tug item where you control the game and the pup isn't put in a situation which can go bad.The need to grab, bite, kill is then safely in your hands, but the pup still gets to expend its energy in a way that satisfies it. And only let the pup off the lead when there are not other dogs running about loose.

 

Once I know what sort of pup I'm dealing with I can control how it develops. Some pups are fine to play and run with other dogs, others are not.

[Casso 1,261]

hi all bought my son a 3/4 greyhound 1/4 saluki he is 17 weeks old and generally pretty good apart from biuting the other dogs when running off the lead , today he actually put a small hole in the whippets side . in the house they lay down and sleep together with no fighting at all and get on fine

any suggestions on how to stop him doing this please

its a perfectly normal action for an excited canine, its not personal, i try keeping a pup separated from adult dogs until they reach some sort of point of reason, because up till that stage they are attracted by more force than their body can handle, meaning they are attracted when excited to situations they are emotionally unable to handle, manage the pup as best you can without letting him get into too much trouble,

 

pups get themselves into situations and get spanked by a dog which may look harmless enough at the time but will only manifest itself when its temperament settles at 2/3 years old , emotion in equals emotion out, eg, pups attacked by a certain type of dog are drawn to the same type when older as a way of redressing the situation by way of conflict,

 

 

what you said about pups attacked by a certain type of dog my mate has a bull x and when was a young pup a black lab barked at it, the pup jumped back from the lab and got hit by a cyclist, still to this day she is shit scared of all labs and hides behind you when she see's one lol but fine with all other dogs atb

 

The main difference in how a dog reacts to a situation is temperament, a lesser tempered dog would act in that fashion and implode , whereas a hard tempered animal would use the meeting up with his aggressor as a chance to explode ,

 

i try keeping pups out of situations where they can get themselves in trouble because even the less direct softer tempered dog will fixate on some aspect in its environment to vent emotion through aggression,

 

its like when we had a hard day from the boss, we absorb his emotion his anger is channelled at us likewise we then need to vent anger on something else , often the wife and kids or whatever all we need is a trigger, its the same with the dog emotion in = emotion out, suddenly one day the mutt does something aggressive out of the blue could be a once off or a regular way of releasing the valve but with a dog time is irreverent but its usually when the pup matures,

 

i try to not let pups make their own mistakes,

[iceman001979 1,316]

Do people not think the older dog should put the pup in its place????Have brown bitch here now and she used to bit hard was sake off death trying get her to stop.So l just let her do it until black bitch had enough and put her in her place.Now when there running play she knows how hard she can go

[skycat 6,174]

Like I already said, it all depends on the temperament and type of the individual dog or pup. There have been sad cases where the owner didn't realise that the pup was driving a very tolerant adult dog mad, until the day it cracked and killed the younger one. Alternatively, an over-the-top pup, which is not mature enough to control itself, can have its behaviour forever altered ... for the worse ... if it receives what it perceives to be an unwarranted thrashing from an older dog. It can either become over submissive and fearful, or very aggressive when it matures.

 

Take Chance for example: Saluki bred pup. Very bitey, very grabby, always wanting to neck the other dogs and rag them, even as a young pup. And he very quickly realised which dogs he could bully, even as a pup of 5-6 months of age: and he would have been unmerciful had he been allowed to get away with it. I didn't tell him off then, he was too young, and I needed to get a really good relationship with him as he is so high drive: he needed to see me as the best place to be, not as someone who was always shouting or hitting him for doing what his instincts told him to do. So I just kept him on the lead if there were other subordinate dogs loose playing around.

 

Chance actually tried to kill Cricket, my Whirrier, when he was 7 months old!!!! I'd made the mistake of letting them both off the lead together: Chance ran and grabbed Cricket in hard play, Cricket snapped back and caught Chance on the leg, and the next moment the 7 month pup had the Whirrier by the neck and was shaking the life out of him: scary. Actually made holes in Cricket's neck.

 

They can work together now : ferreting, bushing: but I have NEVER let them run in fun together since. Chance is the second dog like that I've had in my life: the other was a very good bitch: both have short fuses and massive drive: their need to kill overrides everything else, and if put in the wrong situation a dog like that can turn in a millisecond from play to kill mode.

 

Chance isn't a lunatic, and he's dead submissive and properly behaved around other properly behaving dogs, but if he felt that another dog was being aggressive towards him then he'd turn in an instant.

 

So I guess it's all about knowing your dog, and how its mind and instincts work, and always being observant, watching the interaction between them, and that sort of knowledge only comes from years and years with dogs, and even then a young dog can catch you off guard: like with the first time it catches, and another dog tries to take its catch: only takes an instant for things to go wrong.

[robwelsh 354]

I just think you shouldnt let any pup play with an adult dog. Infact, I don't let my dog off with any new dog to start with, even.adult dogs. She's very dominant and big built. And her playing sometimes doesn't come accross as playing. Very serious dog..as with most lurchers are bred and built to do one thing, an one thing only like sky cat has said. Even a whippet will damage a pup if got in the way when it was running, just not worth the risk. IMO

[Casso 1,261]

This is the way i see it icey, whatever situation your pup gets feedback from, effects how it sees the world good bad or indifferent

 

why do you think lads hold pups back from encounters with charlie, because they know exactly there are big chances of a pup receiving negative feedback , nothing new there and its the same with every interact a pup has , its no different with dogs cattle people chickens etc,

 

our childhood stays with us forever , dogs are exact ally the same i want to give the pup as many positive interactions as possible and if i expect hes going to get f**ked up by another dog who he could be annoying i just dont put him in that situation, thats all it is

[ol26 2]

Interesting post, have had a similar problem with my pair. Got a saluki whippet bitch that was about 3 when we got a pure saluki dog. Always played rough, than at about 15 months the dog pushed the bitch a bit too far and she took a chunk out of him.. Ok for a while then it happened twice more. Now she's muzzled when playing with him, but all good working together. She's fine with other dogs as long as they are well behaved with her. The dogs got about 10 kgs and 3 " on the bitch, buts she's still the boss! Manages to still put him in his place with a muzzle on!

[pappabear 128]

thanks for all the replies , we have been walking the dogs together but letting them off seperately the pup still tries it on but is slowly getting the message , i have to walk off leaving him with my wife or son and we take turns calling him otherwise he just sticks like glue to our side whereas the older dog goes and does his thing .

anyone have any advice on him being so greedy he wont chew his food just swallows and always trying to rob from the shed or bin , he is fed on skinners ruff n ready ?

[skycat 6,174]

Get some real meat into the pup: most of what you are feeding is cheap cereals, stuff to bulk out the food, with not really enough good nutrients for a growing pup. I've sent you a pm.

[pappabear 128]

thanks skycat , have sent reply