# My 9-month old dog only bites me



## unregistered6474

Our family has a 9-month old lab. He is a well-behaved, calm dog when my husband is around. However, when my husband is gone he turns into a raging, bitey hellbeast. He will bite my hands, arms, and ankles, leaving bruises. He will grab my pant leg and pull that. If I try to punish him and grab him, he dances backwards and barks at me, sneaking a bite in when he can.

I have tried yelping and ignoring him.

I have tried flipping him on his back and holding him down until he stops struggling.

I have tried yelling "no bite!" and grabbing the scruff of his neck. 

Please, please give me some suggestions. It's like having 2 different dogs! What am I doing wrong?


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## chickenista

He doesn't see you as an Alpha leader.
He considers you to be another member of the pack and is trying to push you lower down.

I am guessing that your husband feeds him.
I would suggest that you start feeding him and make him sit before you place the food down and wait to be released to eat.
But before that.. have your husband eat something yummy, then give you something yummy and then give it to every member of the family before the dog or you give the yummy thing to the dog.

You need to find a way to establish your place in the pack as an equal to the Alpha.
Food is the very best way to do that.
Food establishment is very important to all pack animals.

Oh.. and beating and flipping won't work.
It only encourages him to try even harder to best you and secure his place.


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## wr

I often don't train dogs but I do understand animal psychology well and it sounds like the pup doesn't respect you and considers you a playmate or an equal so you need to elevate your position and while I understand you have tried several things, you're going to need to be firm and consistent. 

Because you're having problems with the dog, I wonder if you're approach is passive when your husband is around. Does he step in an reinforce a command you have made or do you defer and let him deal with the dog most of the time? In either case, you may want to start having him coach you on how he's handling the dog so the cues and training method remain consistent. 

You may be inadvertently be allowing the dog to believe that it is above or equal to you in the social order by little things. I am not primary with our dog but I still insist that she waits until I place her dish before allowing her to dive in, if I let her in the house, she must wait until I enter first and treats are doled out as I see fit, not because she thinks she deserves one.


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## Marthas_minis

It sounds like he views you as his equal & your DH as his alpha. You have to reassert your position in the "pack". 

I have German Shepherds so take what you will from it... 
I find that Labs are usually more laid back than GS but it already sounds like you are having an aggression issue. Aggression is usually either fear or asserting dominance.

Read up on pack order & how it applies to families. You & your DH might be unknowingly sending signals to the dog that makes the dog believe he is "above" you in pack order. 
Your DH would have to reinforce your position too. 

Do you personally do any leash training with him? That really might be a good place to start because it immediately puts you in a dominant position. Basic Obedience is also just good to know anyway, for the dog & the owner. My dogs are "worked" any time I am around them. My kids work them too so their position is established from the time they are puppies and they obey my children as well as they do me or my DH. 

Personally, I'd put a prong/pinch collar on him & keep him leashed with me at all times. Which is what I usually do when trying to break a bad habit. 

When he misbehaves, give it a good snap & tell him "no." You don't have to use a loud yell, just a calm & firm, "no." And praise him lavishly when he expresses appropriate behavior. 

But I've been through years of training with my dogs & know how to appropriately use a prong collar. 

That said, I started out in a similar position as you (not towards me, she was aggressive toward anyone outside family starting very early) with my first German Shepherd. She was a year old before I started my training with her and within just a few weeks we had most of her behavior issues resolved. She is the absolutely best dog I've ever had and I'm now a firm believer that working dogs have to be trained to "work." 

Now, my dogs are so well trained; we very rarely have problems. Even after moving from the city to our homestead and got livestock; all it took was a command to "leave it" a few times if they showed any interest in livestock and they've been golden. 
I almost never leash them these days except for visits to the vet.


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## 7thswan

I also belive you dog thinks of you as a playmate. I had Labs. the first part of my life ,they are "mouthy". I've had Rottweilers almost 30 years now, they are very independent -you must be the Alpha. Especially in your own mind, your actions will follow and the Dog will sure know it. If you are to be alone with the Dog, then you have to become the Alpha along with your Dh. Take the dog for walks, train,feed -everything, everything. This is a must if you have or are going to have children. I'm not a good writer, so I have a hard time explaining in written word, but take the hints given to you here in this thread and look for good teaching sites..(ps) never ,ever hit your dog, I know it is hard as it can be an instant reflex. You must become firm enough inside your resolve to get the attitude of "I am the Boss" , a look, a tone of your voice ect. will be all you will ever need-and it never has to even approach being mean.


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## Maura

Have you heard of NILIF? Nothing in Life is Free. Don't allow the puppy on beds or other furniture. Only let him have one toy at a time and make him sit and give you a paw (or some other command) before you allow him to take the toy. Start now on teaching him 'give' and 'take'. Make him sit at the door before you open it. Do not pet him when he asks for it; ignore him, fold your arms, then call him to you after he stops pestering you.

When he goes outside, go out with him and when he's done, pat your leg and walk away from him. Give a little treat from your left side when he follows you. Keep patting your leg and changing direction- this puts you in the lead.

Do not use an alpha roll, as you've discovered it doesn't work and can make matters worse. Do not punish him into respecting you.

Someone needs to take the dog on a hard run every morning. This can be in the woods, if that's not possible, then play fetch in the yard before taking him on a walk using a long lead. A tired dog is a good dog.


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## akane

For biting that leaves a bruise I would scruff a dog and take it to the ground with a loud "NO!" but then most of my reprimands are so light that doing something like that is a HUGE deal for my dogs and it's not so much them being pushed/pulled down as my body language getting in their space so sharply they drop in front of me. It is the ultimate punishment and often I'll kick them out of the room afterward. Being willing to just jam myself in a large dog's face is the reason no matter what my husband cannot attain status equal to me. He's too scared of my akita when she growls over something like a raw feeding carcass to truly be boss.

For the most part though my husband has gotten above my akita in status. It took years though. At first he was ranked as low as cats which are ordered around by dogs here and the akita does not let them in the bedroom unless i'm give permission. She kept my BFs and for a short while my husband out of the bedroom if i wasn't there to give permission. Just through living together and basic interaction he got ranked to puppy status. Puppies are allowed all over the house but not within so many feet of the akita without being pawed and yipped at and they are not listened to. I fell ill so he started feeding her, letting her out, watching her while I was in the hospital (she did destroy a crate to try to come find me when I was going for 48hours), and eventually reached equal status. With some obedience work plus taking care of her he floats somewhere between her rank and me now. Like I said he will never surpass me because he's too scared to get after her when she's being truly dominant. 99% of the time I can do anything or take anything I want from her. The other 1% I do it anyway.


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## MO_cows

Is he neutered? Take the male hormones out of the equation, get him fixed. 

Some good tips here on gaining respect/dominance. 

I'll repeat the one about exercise. He is full of energy and it must be burned off. Bored dog = bad dog. Tired dog = good dog. Labs are a working breed and are at their best when they have a job. If you don't give him a job, he'll create one and you might not like it!


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## TedH71

Personally I would shove a thumb down his tongue pushing it back in his throat while hollering, "NO!NO!NO!NO!" He will QUIT, I promise but it won't be overnight though. Keep him on a leash for a full week so that way when he tries to get out of the way, he'll learn fast enough that he can't. I was able to make 2 litters of pit bull puppies not bite from 6 weeks of age to 8 weeks when they started going to their new homes through the thumb on the tongue method.


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## Terri

The dog whisperer said to walk such dogs on a leash every day, preferably on heel for the first half of the walk. This helps the dog to understand that you are dominant, because he must do as you say. It also burns off excess energy, and a puppy who feels bored is more likely to misbehave.


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## Cookie2

I agree - you're not dominant. A momma dog wouldn't put up with such behavior and neither should you!


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## Maura

Putting the thumb down the throat may work for a 6 to 8 week old puppy, but this dog is too big and he's been doing it too long.


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## unregistered6474

Thank you for all of the advice! He is not neutered -- he goes in to be neutered at the end of March.

The points about feeding him last were interesting. I've been feeding him first just so he'll leave us alone at meals. 

It's hard to catch him when he bites me. He will start by biting my arms/hands and he'll lung in for a bite and then quickly dance away so I can't catch him. I've tried whacking the bottom of his jaw but I don't always connect. When I do that he starts going for my feet/ankles instead because he knows it's harder to reach him. I think that I will just keep him on a leash near me, so I can punish him when he bites me without him being able to run away (thanks for that suggestion!).

We do have kids, but he doesn't bite them. Just me. I do worry about him possibly becoming aggressive towards the children in the future, though.

He also seems very nervous when my husband is not here. He paces around the house panting non-stop!


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## Maura

Don't punish him, teach him something else. Use treats and have him sit as soon as he approaches you. Don't give him a chance to get mouthy. Once you have him sitting, you distract him. Labs are retrievers, so teach him to fetch and when you have him in a sit, before he gets into his antics, throw a toy for him. Presto! Once he has something in his mouth he can't get mouthy.


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## GrannyCarol

I agree, keep him on a leash and give him plenty of jobs to do. Teach him to sit and down and roll over and put him to work if he gets antsy or mouthy. If you have control of him, you should be able to keep him from biting you. It is probably just a game at this point, but it is becoming a very bad habit. 

I have an elderly friend that got a high energy dog that started nipping at his clothes. He wasn't fast or strong enough to really either train or correct her. Now, as an adult, she is constantly breaking the skin and bruising him. She's not trying to harm him, she's a herding breed and thinks she is playing, but she's just too much dog for him. If he'd put her on a leash and really worked with her when she was young, that would have been avoided, but he was used to cockers and poodles - they just didn't do that sort of thing. 

I don't mind correcting a dog that does something I really don't like, but you can't correct a dog if you can't control it and nagging it and reaching for it to correct without connecting will teach your dog to run away, dodge and be hard to catch. A correction should be uncommon in your dog's life and imposing enough to really set the dog back and make it think before it does it again. It should be needed only rarely. If you have to correct a dog over and over for the same thing, then you are not effective and are nagging and making things worse. A correction doesn't have to hurt the dog though, just needs to be something that gets its attention. 

Labs are not noted for being sensitive.  Since you have a physically tough breed of dog, you are better off not trying to influence it with physical correction in general anyway. Exercise and training will do you the most good with this puppy.


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## secuono

You're his playmate, you've got to match his strength and aggression. Just flipping him or saying no does nothing, as you've seen. 
Go back to basics with him and train him from step one, you're just a friend to him, he'll never listen to you w/o training to show you're a boss, not a buddy.


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## wberry85

First, is he getting enough exercise?

Is he sitting on the couch/bed with you? 
Do you make him sit before he eats?
When you open the door does he run out in front of you?

He is at the age where he thinks he is a tough guy, and you need to put him in his place. Obedience training is often the best way to accomplish this.


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## unregistered6474

He gets a couple of 20-minute walks every day, along with at least two sessions in the backyard fetching (we have one of those Chuckit ball flinger toys and he loves that). I am home during the day, so he gets to roam around.

He is good at sit, but not other commands.

I think that he and I just need to go through an obedience class together. I thought that I could rely on what I learned in class with my previous lab, but this one is very stubborn. When I took him in for his puppy visit, the vet even commented on his assertive personality -- she was trying to put him on his side and he would not let her do it. 

My husband is not here tonight and again, he is pacing and panting. I made sure to give him lots of exercise today -- more than usual -- and it has helped with the biting. I guess we'll keep working on it.


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## Terri

Katlara, I hope that you are the one who walks him!

I once had an assertive bird dog type, and work on the leash with me did help. He really wanted to listen only to my husband, but when a dog is on a leash with me he *HAD* to spend some time listening to me as well!


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## MDKatie

Katlara said:


> I think that he and I just need to go through an obedience class together.


I think that's a perfect idea. If you don't feel your trainer has a good handle on the situation, find another. Sometimes it takes a few tries to find a competent trainer. Also, I'd explain to the trainer how he gets nervous without your husband. He/she should be able to give you some good tips for how to correct his behavior and stop him from being nervous. Good luck to you both!


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## TedH71

20 minutes isn't going to cut it with a lab. Try 1 hour at a time.


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## GrannyCarol

Although I agree that pups need a lot of exercise, I also remember selling an English Setter pup (large male) to a runner. I told him not to run the puppy until it was over a year old. He didn't listen and at 9 months his puppy was dead lame. Turns out the xrays showed that the tips of both shoulders were actually broken - my vet said overuse injury (NOT OCD as the owner's vet said without taking xrays). 

After some more talks, they agreed to follow my directions to care for him and he healed up fine. Just a warning, young pups CAN get injured if overworked. As the body grows, the bones are not fully developed, so keep it slower, or let him play, but no long trotting sessions.


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## Stonybrook

I have been there, done that with a dog. You need to take him to obedience, not your husband. It will help put you in the driver's seat and it will also help him feel more secure when your husband is not around. Don't take your husband with you to obedience class because he will just stare at your husband. I don't think that you will find obedience at places like Petsmart to be very helpful to you and I doubt that you will find group lessons helpful. It really needs to be focused on you and your dog. It sounds like he has a dominant personality, like my dog did, it could end badly for the dog (and you) if you don't get on top of it. Just another suggestion from my experience, you will probably need to watch him around other people. Sometimes dogs like this have issues with others visiting your home - especially if their dog skills stink.


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## PricklyThistle

I don't know, I'm not in the "dog whisperer" club of discipline, I guess. I've raised a lot of dogs. Yours sees you as below him. When the alpha is gone (your husband), he assumes the role as next in line. I do believe in physical correction. It's how pack members teach subordinates. I don't believe in beating, but there must be some measure of negative consequence that works better than simple denial of fun. 

My border collie wanted to bite Everything and Everyone in play mode and occasionally even as a "correction" towards me if I was making hm do something he'd rather not. Best correction - put your thumb directly in his mouth without hesitation or squeamishness about dog slobber (he won't bite it) and press down firmly on his tongue for a few seconds and say "NO!". He'll hate it, he'll squirm but keep it there firmly for a good few seconds. You will find that the biting fades into submissive licking after his behaviour is met with this result consistently.


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## GrannyCarol

Actually the "Dog Whisperer" doesn't hesitate to correct when needed. He's just good at also using body language to establish the alpha status and making sure the dog gets plenty of exercise and training. A lot of his correction is psychological, some of it is direct, prompt and physical. The main thing is knowing what to correct, how to correct it and to learn proper timing. He's good at that. 

I've often used a very similar method to what you suggest, usually on younger pups so they didn't learn bad habits. It's a bit hard perhaps to get hold of a large 9 month Lab puppy to do that. 

I'm thinking Obedience class is the starting place. If a dog is trained to sit promptly on command, you have half the problem done already. If he gets rowdy, he goes on sit/stay or does sit - down - sit - down exercises until he forgets about nipping and learns to control himself. Alternative behaviors BEFORE he gets too nippy and teaching him that he's not in control of the situation should take care of it. Learning how to handle him and teach him things is really useful too.


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## mrs whodunit

Terri said:


> The dog whisperer said to walk such dogs on a leash every day, preferably on heel for the first half of the walk. This helps the dog to understand that you are dominant, because he must do as you say. It also burns off excess energy, and a puppy who feels bored is more likely to misbehave.


And the human is the first one out the door and on the walk. The dog must follow.


With our lab, she was something else as a puppy .....all 2 years. She and I always had go arounds, potty training mostly. :grumble: She turned out to be the most incredible dog, but for those 2 longs years I really wondered. She had to live in a crate whenever we werent right there with her as she was destruction puppy. :grumble: After those 2 years totally house safe.

So ya gotta make it through those 2 long hard years of lab puppyness and then your set


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