Not good...

RoyalRaccoon · December 2010

I've already posted about having trouble with him barking all night long(which I've been working on), but tonight Prince bit me. It's not normal for him at all. We've always told people, and had people tell us that he's an extremely affectionate dog. He'll go right up to unknown people and dogs like he knows them. He's never once showed any aggression towards another person or dog in any way, shape or form. I was bent over with my hand pressed against his shoulder/side to keep him from running off while I got the door to the mud room open, but when I went to open the door he turned around and bit me really hard on the hand. I pulled back, and he went to run, but I didn't want him to run off again, so I put my hand on his chest, and he turned, and acted like he was going to try to bite me again, but just snarled at me. I scolded him, and he let me pick him up, but when I went to put him in the mud room for his dinner he acted like he was going to go after my family's other dog. She's rather dominant, so she snarled right back at him, and he stopped, but it's still shocking to see him act that way. What scares me is that he didn't just nip me like I've had dogs do for easily explainable things(like accidentally tugging a knot while grooming). He out right bit me very hard. My hand throbbed for 15 minutes, and I think that if I wasn't wearing mittens he would have caused me to bleed. To make it worse he acted like he was going to do it again when I went to let him out for a bathroom break a second ago. I picked him up to carry him outside, and he snarled, but that's it. I don't know what is wrong with him, and why he's behaving so bad. I switched his food to a better brand, changed his sleeping arrangements, I've been trying to thoroughly exercise him whenever the weather permits it, and I've been reinforcing his training, but it seems like he's misbehaving more. I know that he's probably frustrated with being cooped up due to the weather, and I 'm trying to being understanding, but can that frustration really lead suck a huge flip in personality? Do you think maybe he's got something mentally or physically wrong with him that I can't see? He's due for shots in mid January, so he's already got an appointment for the vet, but what should I do until then?

Alabama · December 2010

Is he an older dog? What breed? Some dogs can also react very negatively to changes in environment and to lack of exercise or mental stimulation. I would suggest continuing to work on training to rebuild your position with him with positive reinforcement. Asking him to sit/stay, heel or any other commands he knows randomly and reward for complying. Or teach him these commands. Since the bite seems to have originated with him not wanting to wait for you to open the door, sit/stay would be a good one for him to learn or to be reinforced. If you think the problem may be because of frustration from having pent up energy, try finding things/toys to engage his mind, if not physically engage him.

WhisperingCecile · December 2010

Sound not too fun. You can try having the dog walk,jog on the treadmill. I have found that others have found great success with it and that the dogs love it. Also if the dog is getting older, he might have arthritis and react badly out of pain? Also you can try to establish more control at the door by either putting a leash on, or using verbal commands to slow him down. What breed, and or size is he? If it is a smaller breed, as many of us dog groomers say, have little dog syndrome, where they have the mindset that they will and can do whatever they want. Some of the customers have helped this problem by using a leash and a little bit of training. Good Luck!!

RoyalRaccoon · December 2010

Alabama wrote:

Is he an older dog? What breed? Some dogs can also react very negatively to changes in environment and to lack of exercise or mental stimulation. I would suggest continuing to work on training to rebuild your position with him with positive reinforcement. Asking him to sit/stay, heel or any other commands he knows randomly and reward for complying. Or teach him these commands. Since the bite seems to have originated with him not wanting to wait for you to open the door, sit/stay would be a good one for him to learn or to be reinforced. If you think the problem may be because of frustration from having pent up energy, try finding things/toys to engage his mind, if not physically engage him.

He's somewhere between 8 and 10 years I believe. He came from a shelter, so I can't be sure. He's a pomeranian, which means he's probably half way through, or over half way through the average life span for a pom(12-15 years). His age is beginning to show in his face, and he started to gain weight, which is why we switched to a better brand of dog food. I also heard a bad diet can lead to behavioral problems, so I had also hoped switching for his health would also help his behavior, but it hasn't. He knows sit and down perfectly, but he's hit-or-miss with stay. He has to know he's getting an edible treat to actually stay for a reasonable period of time, or else he won't listen to "stay". Whenever he comes in the house from outside, even if he was only out for a minute or so to pee, he gets excited and runs about for a couple minutes. Normally this isn't bothersome, but he was all wet from it pouring outside, so I didn't want to take the chance of him tracking water all over the house, which is why I put my hand on him. Short of letting him run around in the rain, I don't know what else to do for him until this storm leaves. I've given him toys, which he doesn't play with, and I don't want to give too many treats since I just got him down to a healthy weight. They(all 3 of my dogs) get to come out and play in the living room with me throughout the day to stretch and get some attention, but then they are bored after 15 minutes or so and go back into their room to play with each other or nap. It's hard to physically engage Prince inside, because he's not small, nor graceful when bounding about.

Rubien wrote:

Sound not too fun. You can try having the dog walk,jog on the treadmill. I have found that others have found great success with it and that the dogs love it. Also if the dog is getting older, he might have arthritis and react badly out of pain? Also you can try to establish more control at the door by either putting a leash on, or using verbal commands to slow him down. What breed, and or size is he? If it is a smaller breed, as many of us dog groomers say, have little dog syndrome, where they have the mindset that they will and can do whatever they want. Some of the customers have helped this problem by using a leash and a little bit of training. Good Luck!!

My mother suggested that, but he's afraid of the treadmill. Any tips on introducing that to him? Arthritis is something I haven't thought about, so I'll definitely write that down to talk to the vet about. I know cold weather can affect humans with arthritis, so maybe the current cold weather has made him sensitive. The only thing is that he hasn't lost his energy, and doesn't appear to have any problems running or jumping about. Maybe it's early arthritis? He's a pomeranian, but he's uncharacteristically large(about twice the average size), and behaves like a large dog, so that's how we treat him. I've definitely had dogs with "little dog syndrome" but I really feel Prince doesn't, since no one has ever really looked as him as being a little dog that needs to be treated like a baby. Nonetheless, I do use a leash on him a lot when in the house, especially lately, since I've been working on his behavior problems, which seemed to be helping, but in the last week he's not as responsive.

NickelbackLuver · December 2010

When he goes into the vet I'd definitely have them check him for arthritis or other reasons he could be in pain. Tucker pulled a ligament and the first thing he did was react to anyone touching him (he whined...but I'm sure pain might trigger biting in other dogs). For the treadmill, just use positive reinforcement like you would anything else. I'd say train him just to get on it at first. When he gets on it, reward him. Then perhaps turn it on, and reward him for walking around it while it's on and not being afraid of it. You can distract him from it by having him sit/lay down/etc. I personally have never used a treadmill, so I wouldn't know for sure how to train it 100%, but I do agility and have had to train my dogs the teeter, of which they were both terribly afraid of. I started out just having them go on it flat, which is the equivalent of a turned off treadmill, I suppose xD Tucker was afraid of the noise of it, too (the agility place we went to had hard floors and a horridly loud teeter that scared him), so I banged it down with him around and kept him occupied with other things, he grew out of that really fast. Just a suggestion. Of course, I always say contacting a trainer would be the best for learning how to deal with that sort of thing. I don't know your dog, so it's hard for me to know how to go about training it. As far as treating him goes, we buy special treats for Tucker since he has a sensitive stomach. They're all natural something or another.. I can't remember. But, I break them off into super tiny pieces. My trainer years ago even commented on how my dog didn't get to indulge xD But, Tucker works just because he likes to work, so the treats are just an added bonus. I not only don't want him gaining weight from them, but I also don't want to go through tons of treats, either. While he's cooped up, I'd say working on new tricks and obedience is the best route to take. Still keep it down to small sessions, of course, so he doesn't get bored of that as well, but work on teaching him something new. Tucker's on house arrest for a month due to that pulled ligament, so I'm going to be facing the same issue of keeping him occupied

Silly dogs. Oh, and have you ever tried Hide & Seek? It's Tucker's favorite indoor game. I have him sit/stay in one room (you could have someone hold your dog) and I go and hide somewhere, and call him once or twice for him to come find me. He's always super excited when he finds me xD Gets him a nice workout as well. After about the 4th time or so he's too excited to sit/stay properly. I catch him peeking >.> xD

RoyalRaccoon · December 2010

The only time I tried to get Prince near the treadmill with it just barely on, he took off down the hall, and I swear I couldn't have tempted him back in the room if I had a steak dinner in my hand. He'll need a lot of work, but I'll start desensitizing it to him. I think it would be absolutely great if I could get him to use it. Thanks for sharing your experience, even if it's a little different. Hopefully I can be as successful as you. My family got some bad news, and so we are financially unstable until summer. I can't afford a trainer until then, and I first want to talk to the vet. If it's something physical, such as arthritis, then some medication and treatment could be all he needs to deal with discomfort. If it's nothing physical, then I can use the money I would have spent on treatments/medicine to get a trainer for him, because I'm clearly not doing something right. I've been thinking about making my own dog treats. Does anyone have any recipes? Particularity ones that are healthy, and low fat.

Garnet · December 2010

Bama has a point. My chihuahua has always been affectionate towards me (hates strangers) but she turned and bit me about a month ago. shes about 6-7 years old now. She left two scars on my middle finger on my right hand. She turned and licked me right after though so.. It may just be the age..

iluvdogs111 · December 2010

I agree, keep on training and excerising him. And definatley take him to the vet. For the treadmill, start slow. Bring him in the room with the treadmill and distract him by giving him commands and rewarding him. Then start putting treats close to the treadmill, and work your way up to putting them on it. After he's confident with going near or on it to get the treats, turn it on while he's not on it, then put a treat near it. Keep trying this until he's confident around it while it's moving. Finally, while he's on it, distract him with treats and praise and keep him walking towards you and turn it on very, very low. If he get's scared, keep trying to build up his confidence more. Once he is able to walk on it slowly, build it up little by litte. I got these tips from Victoria Stillwell on some episodes of It's Me or the Dog where she introduces dogs to items that are scary to them. Good luck!

Kazuko · December 2010

You can feed dogs small amounts of aspirin and such for arthritis. We did for our flat coated retriever. See if that puts him in a better mood? You can google amounts for his size I'm sure. ^^

danae11 · December 2010

I would take him to the vet get them to check his thyroid levels and any pain responses. 8 isn't very old for a toy dog but if he's starting to show his age a bit it could be something like arthritis. I would hold off on the treadmill or any heavy exercise until you are sure he doesn't have arthritis or any other joint problem. Liver cake is good as a treat there are lots of recipies online that's what I use. Pomeranians are smart dogs start doing some fun training with him even stupid tricks like paw, spin etc it will help build the bond between you

DiamondPuppy0809 · December 2010

Arthritis is a reasonable explanation, agreed. My mom's friend had an older Rhodesian Ridgeback mix with bad arthritis and he led to nipping and unfriendly behavior around the times he was in more severe pain than normal. Cold weather was a major play in his arthritis pain.

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