How to stop a puppy snapping?

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welshcobnewbie

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hi all.

After a very sad end to last year having to have my beloved hairy thing put to sleep,due to a forced move into temporary accommodation and being unable to re-home him due to his temperament .

I now have a new house and a new doggie. Not a planned dog put still.

He is a christmas day reject, a friend of a friend had got him for christmas then two weeks later said pup was apparently attacking her other dogs (an akita and a wolf dog thingy)?? and needed to go. So i now have a 11 week old malanois shepherd x malamute...

He is very quick to pick things up but we are having a huge problem stopping him from snapping at faces when he wants to play. Biting hands and things stops with a quick NO,but he goes deaf when it comes to snapping.

We try pushing him down/moving away from him but the toad carries on . We have tried the NO, and distracting him with toys.

Any ideas of what else we can try?

Thanks in advance i may not be able to reply till later on.
 
Wow, that's some mix.

As soon as he is old enough, please get him enrolled in a very good training class aimed at working dogs, a common or garden pet puppy class will only get him so far - he will need a lot of socialisation and when he is older, a lot of stimulation and a 'job' to do - he is a mix of one breed that *needs* to work in a certain way and one dog that *needs* to work in another way and it won't become apparent until he is a little older what type of 'job' that will be, but it will involve a LOT of running/jogging/brain exercise/mental work by the time his joints have matured at 12 months.

How many people are in the house and are you all being consistent? To be honest pushing and depending on your tone of voice when telling him off, might actually be interpreted by him as part of the game.

It's hard to know without actually seeing him in the flesh and seeing your reaction and he is a mix of very high octane dogs, but hey, he's here now! So I would be seeking out a good trainer in your area. PM me your location if you like.
 
Ditto CC re training. (that is some irrisponsible breeding right there) main thing is u have the pup.
I also have a puppy guide that covers mouthing, biting, if u think it would be of use PM me your e.mail addy.
It's pretty normal puppy behaviour, more in certain breeds, the way forward is how best to deal with it, and calm the behaviour.
 
B was a right little sod bit snapping when she was teeeeny. She thought it was all play, we tried every suggestion including a smacked bot but she just hightened play mode.

We ended it all quite quickly by locking her outside / kitchen on her own for as long as it took for her to calm down.

She doesnt snap at all now (10 months) and mouthing was never really a problem because we gave her plenty of chew/ toys / anything other than our hands!

Good on you for taking the poor little thing on, sounds like you will have your hands full!
 
EAST KENT said:
That is some hot brew for a pet dog!.......
Click to expand...

Yes, exactly.

I promise you one thing, OP, ignore it, and it will not go away, it will only get worse.

I hate to say this, but I suspect that you've bitten off more than you can chew. A puppy which needs re-homing at a mere 11 weeks, should be an indication that you may very well have ended up with something which needs a specialist approach.

I have never really understood the mentality of those who use breeds, with existing question marks, and then throw them into a boiling pot, to produce dogs which, generally the experienced owners of PD dogs, wouldn't give kennel room too.

Correct PD work, is difficult enough with those breeds which would be considered amenable. What, in God's name, is the point in breeding puppies from different breeds which are, or should be for the specialist, and then offer them to the unsuspecting and generally ill equipped public?

Your puppy needs to learn to respect you, but I can assure you that you wont manage that with toys.

I'm sorry that this is such a negative response. I'd like to be positive. I wish you luck.

Alec.
 
The problem with doing PD stakes would be when the Malamute part of the brain starts to kick in...no offence to anyone that has them, but they are bred for a certain job and it isn't the type of dog that a Maligator...sorry :p, Malinois is bred to do.

OP, you've got a dog that *might* excel in heelwork, protection work, agility, or *might* like to run and run and run and chase and chase and chase, will be the size of a brick outhouse with above-average intelligence too, and if you don't give him enough exercise and stimulation, will eat the house, or himself.

I am talking tongue in cheek to a certain extent, he might work out to be a dream, but you will have to put a lot of work into him.

That's the problem with mixing breeds which are essentially polar opposites, you really will have an unknown quantity. But he's here now and you must do your best for him.

I do agree with Cayla though, air-snapping is puppyish behaviour - how come he is getting so close to people's faces? Are you cuddling him or bending down to him?
 
Aha CC!! but one of the very best working police dogs was a bloody great big Malamute cross GSD. He was called Kilo and won many of the Police working trials. The original dog was a cast off from an American serviceman.
 
Thanks for your replies.

There is only two of us in the house so consistency isn't really the problem. What i say goes when it comes to the dog .

Alec i appreciate your input, having had a slightly erm idiotic mix breed before i appreciate how much hard work he could potentially be, the hairy thing who had to be put to sleep was husky gsd x saarloos wolf dog who i go at 18 months old and
unfortunately had never been socialised as a pup to people or dogs having lived outside chained for pretty much the full 18 months of his life,hence the reason why 4 years after getting him i had to have him put down instead of rehoming him he was to much of a liability.

CC he ends up so close usually when we are bending down for something, or i spend a lot of time sorting out junk to be thrown away at the moment so end up sat on the floor.
He doesn't get cuddles and isn't allowed on the sofa.

He is extremely quick to pick things up, and i understand he will need "something to do" that isn't just being a pet.
In the week he has been here he has already grasped sit, and is currently getting the lie down. He knows that NO means stop whatever he is doing.
 
That was just the GSD half coming through :p can't say it's common though?

I would get him a few ball-on-a-rope toys and get his ball drive started ASAP and also crate train him so he isn't always in your face when you've got work to be getting on with.

Also, and had this with my own dog, if his name ends in an 'o' sound, then get a word that isn't 'NO'!
 
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Maybe! I do remember Bev ,his handler,saying what a pig he was to grasp tracking...ending up with Bev immitating sniffing along the line himself before Kilo twigged. Or of course Kilo may have been having them on.:D
 
Well that would have been the malamute side. :p Seriously OP, lots of good advice, you obviously realise it is a cross that is going to need a lot of work and sound as if you are prepared to do your best, hopefully you will get looks of good advice on here. I wonder where the rest of the litter ended up.:(
 
yes lots of advice.

MM god knows where the rest of the litter ended up.

the sad thing is the person i got him from was going to phone the dog warden and say she had found him straying, she couldn't even be bothered to rehome him.
 
Sorry to hijack this thread - but could someone explain to me what PD training is? What does it mean and what does it entail? It sounds like hard work, whatever it is - and something for dogs that do work...whereas mine are all cute fluffy lapdog couch potato sorts and daren't do any sort of work lest they break a nail or damage their pretty hair! LOL
 
Thanks MM - that's sorta what I thought but didn't like to assume. So what sort of things do the dogs have to be trained to do? Again, I can imagine but probably not correctly! LOL
 
Here is a report on a recent PD stake, as you can see its not for the faint hearted.
http://www.workingtrialsmonthly.co.uk/2010 KCC PD.php
If you read through it all you will see one of the helpers broke his collar bone, I have been told this was done when a dog "took him out".

Protection dog is more structured as handlers follow a fairly standard test, but again involves finding and detaining a "criminal".
 
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Lotsa collies? Am surprised, would have imagined dobies or gsds to be the main dogs. Hmmm...maybe my border terrier would be able to participate? LOL...actually my Minpin would have been better about 12 years ago!

So what does the courage part entail? Lots of dogs failing on this according to that report link?
 
It varies from one discipline/sport to another but the basic principle is that the dog must find, disable/disarm and guard a criminal, under complete control and with confidence and with no nervousness/fear or aggression.

Control and confidence are the two most important factors, nervy and aggressive dogs do not do well - they are the ones who tend to run away or refuse to let go when commanded to!

If you think it's only for big dogs, type 'Claudia Romard, Mister Murphy' into YouTube :p
 
There were apparently a few moans about the test in that report, people thought it was a bit harsh but possibly cos their dogs failed.;) As I understand it once the dog had located the criminal he kicked/threw several large boxes at the dog, this seemed to faze a lot of the dogs. I have heard of other stakes where the tests were just as scary, including one where the handlers had to go in a dark wooded area and helpers in halloween type masts came at them, not all were "criminals" so the dogs had to be well under control so as not to bite the innocent.;)
 
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