Shih Tzu out of control

[Guest Anonymous]

Help, I have a new shih tzu puppy and I need advice. He bites all the time. It's really bad when I try to brush him or give him a bath. It's almost like he's being mean! I know he doesn't like to get a bath and he won't sit still for brushing but it has to be done. Any advice on how to handle it? If I try to hold him still it makes his biting and wild streak worse. I don't want to make him mean. Holding his mouth is impossible he wiggles so much. Do I put gloves on to brush him? I'd appreciate any advice at all. I hope I don't have a mean shih tzu!!!

[imported_Kat]

Hi there what age is your pup?

Your little dog right now knows that he can get away with chastising you, so that needs to be changed. Be stronger with him. I know he is probably small and hard to be firm with but if you can't crack this when he is a pup, then you will have serious problems later in life. Regardless of whether he likes it or not place him on your knee firmly keeping two hands on his back clasped around his abdomen. Hold him so he faces away from you then release him onto the floor saying nothing, not even a praise word. Leave him a few mins then do it again, and again say nothing at all when he is on your knee and on the floor after being released. After a few attempts of this, pick him up and face him on your knee holding him for about 30 secs and release him. Again say nothing. Repeat this again holding him towards you for a few times and ignore whatever behaviour he is displaying be it growling or snapping or tail wagging.

After you have done this a few times pick him up and when you hold him, stroke him one long drawn stroke starting at his head above his eyes and down to his tail tip, then release him. Slowly build this up and if he remains quiet during the stroke , then praise him lightly after you finish the stroke.

A lot of peope will talk about the alpha roll and a lot of people launch straight in and assert dominance over their dog. In my opinion and from what I have gained from training dogs, rushing in never works.

Repeat this stroking behaviour followed by praise for a few days and the start to put him on his side very slowly still on your knee. If he resists and growls don't tell him hes a bad boy or anything else. Just ignore him. Go back to the stroking and try again until he is quiet when you are rolling him onto his side. Eventually he will learn that you are asserting dominance over him, but you aren't forcing it upon him and he will be fascinated by this new role and as long as you are persistent and strong with him, he will enjoy the reassurance that is derived of knowing his place in the "pack".

Good Luck and congrats on your new pup :wink:

[Sanvean]

It sounds like your puppy wasn't socialized or handled enough. Where did you get him from?

I would contact a behaviorist or trainer ASAP to get his or her advice on this. If you don't nip this in the bud, he's going to grow up to be a holy terror!

[Guest Anonymous]

My first suggestion would be to teach him not to bite hard, then work on not biting all together. If you do that way, should he not learn right away to not bite..it won't be so hard. It's a good thing to teach any dog, I did with all of mine, and they all have soft mouths now..but wouldn't use them!

There are two phases to training Bite Inhibition:

Step 1: Practice several times daily for 3-4 weeks. (Best for pups up to 12 weeks of age but if you've never done bite inhibition exercises, this step can be used for older pups who have varied mouthing pressure) Allow pup to mouth/playbite. When he exerts slightly more pressure than usual, say "Ouch!" just loud enough that he stops in surprise, and immediately stop playing for a few seconds. Now allow him to mouth again and repeat the "Ouch!" and stop playing steps several times until he ONLY mouths softly. If your pup is not responding to the "Ouch!", simply skip it and just stop playing and/or get up and move away for a minute, then start again. Your pup will quickly learn that fun ends when he mouths too hard.

Step 2: (Only after Step 1 has been practiced for a MINIMUM of 2, and preferably 4 weeks) Now, any and every time his teeth make contact with human skin, say "OUCH!" and immediately stop playing. Get up and leave, and/or ignore the pup for a minute or two. Your pup should now start to believe that humans are very sensitive and cannot stand the incredible pain of any tooth contact to their skin. The point of these bite inhibition exercises is to first teach your pup to have a "soft mouth", and then to teach him that the instant his teeth touch human skin, play time is over. Remember, if your pup doesn

[Guest Anonymous]

Thank you for your replys! My puppy is 14 weeks old. I will try your suggestions. We do tell him No and even say ouch! He will somtimes stop but most of the time he ignores us. Maybe we're not being forcefull enough. He can be sweet at times so I know there is hope. I think we should have named him Taz. He wants to chew on the furniture so we watch him constantly. He has plenty of chew toys but seems to like everything but his toys. We'll keep working at it. Thanks again!

[Shannon_C]

[color=darkred]Your puppy is at the teething stage where he will try and chew anything in his site, you have to work on him to stop this before he gets into the habit.
Teach him to play with his toys, something soft so it doesn't hurt his gums......it is very painful for a puppy to go through this and they will try anything to stop that awful pain.
You could try applying a little bit of bonjela over his gums with your finger to help him...you can get it from chemists.

Good Luck[/color] :D

[ferky1]

Hey Mugs, fellow Shih Tzu owner here. My first piece of advice is to sign onto this forum for real, you won't regret it. As soon as you do that, post some pics of your pup, few things in life are as cute as a Shih Tzu puppy.

Couple of questions for you: the pup is 14 weeks now, how long have you had him? did he come from a breeder/pet store/rescue/other? do you have any other animals in your home? have you ever had a Shih Tzu before?

You say that when he bites, "it's almost like he's being mean." A 'mean' 14 week old pup is a serious and uncommon thing and if he is truly being mean and aggressive, then I would follow Sanvean's advice. More than likely, the little guy isn't being aggressive, but he is playbiting and teething and also using those teeth to express his displeasure when you do something he doesn't like. Speaking of which, it sounds like you have tried to bath him a few times; how often are you doing it?

Some poeple will disagree with the advice I give below, but it has worked with Miles and I stand by it. Kat had some good advice, your puppy needs to know that you are the boss and that means you control where he goes and what he does. I suggest handling and holding him as much as possible. Pick him up and hold him, when he squirms, nips or tries to get away, hold him tighter (you can also say 'settle' in a firm voice). When he settles, give him some verbal praise and loosen your grip a bit. This will show him that you are in control and squirming and writhing about will not bring about his desired result. Only when he is calm and collected will you let him go. Remember, it isn't about what he wants. Just because he wants down and will freak out in order to get there doesn't mean you will let that happen. Ignore the squirms, whines and bites (except to say 'settle'). He will give up.

As for the biting, the best times to teach the puppy not to bite is when he is doing it in a playful way. These are the times when he gets most excited and energetic and wants your attention. By all means give it to him and get playful, but when he bites, THAT'S IT! When he bites, you yell 'OUCH' and end the play session. He needs to know the negative effects of his actions. If you stay around playing, then he won't associate the biting and you yelling 'ouch' as anything bad. There have to be repercussions. Most current training methods are all about praising a dog for doing good and never scolding, scaring or punishing. I agree with this to an extent, but sometimes you need to assert your dominance and show the puppy that his actions bring about results, and they aren't always good. Don't be afraid to raise your voice. A loud 'ouch' or 'no' that scares the puppy does more in terms of getting him to understand than a softly spoken word.
A quick story: The last time Miles bit was about 2 months ago. We had gotten control of his nipping and playbiting and he knew that it wasn't an acceptable form of play. He still opened his mouth when we played and occassionaly went for a nip, but they were soft and I could tell that he was trying not to do it, but sometimes he just got so excited and was having so much fun that he lost control. One of these times we were rough-housing and rolling around and I got my face in his and he lunged. (sometimes this is a serious issue with dogs, but I know for a fact that Miles wasn't scared or aggressive, he was playing at his highest energy level and couldn't control his excitement) Anyway, when he lunged he ended up cutting me inside my nose and drawing blood. Well I lost it! I screamed 'No', pushed him away, hard, and gave him a smack on the nose. (before anyone freaks out, I do not advocate hitting and I had never done it before or since; but I was pis*ed!) Well I got his attention! Miles felt so bad and got really scared. For a full minute I switched between tending to my bleeding with my back to him, then I would face him and stare him in the eyes (not lovingly). After about two minutes, I let him off the hook, I layed down, called him over and we made up. Maybe it was the yell, maybe it was the smack, whatever it was, Miles has never nipped or bitten again. He learned that it was unacceptable and would bring about negative consequences.

Wow, this post got long. I have more to say if you have further questions. Good luck.

One final thing, about chewing on the furniture. Get bitter apple spray, it works. You see him gnawing on something he isn't allowed, a stern 'No' or 'leave it,' pull him off and offer him a toy. He'll learn.