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7 month old mini Welsh Terrier – nipping
Hi everyone,
I am pup sitting a 7 month old mini Welsh Terrier. She lives in a household with 2 children, ages 8 & 10, mom works from home, dad works outside the home.
She has been nipping at the kids and adults if they go to reach for her. She loves running after the 10 yr old boy and jumping on him and nipping him in the house and in the yard, The clients use an e-collar on her, open the door, and let her run full speed outside, relying on the e-collar to keep her safe. So, unfortunately, she has not had any socialization or structured exercise other than with her immediate family and recently me. She has not had any impulse control training, loose leash walking. threshold training, or socialization with other dogs.
She’s showing her canines to my German Shepard if he approaches me when she is near me. She will also do this over food and toys. Fortunately, when she is not leashed or in her crate, I am watching her body language and getting great timing before she attacks my German Shepard the way she jumps & nips the 10 yr old. I redirect her to a sit. She’s learning how I want her to behave and progressing quite nicely. And my boy is getting a lot of treats for being so patient with this little one.
I’m looking for games I can teach the kids, and parents,lol, to play with her that will discourage biting. I began playing tug but she doesn’t ” drop it” when asked. I know not to engage with her at this point, but should I use treats and make a trade? Remember, she displays Resource Guarding and I need to keep it simple to work with kids. I know many of her issues come from the “rough play” with the boys.
I began loose leash walk training with her. It went very well. I also played a treat toss game to encourage her attention back to me and timing to give her a treat as soon as she looks at me.
There have been so many great ideas & encouraging words shared through this site. I prefer to keep training sessions short and playful. Any added advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks to all. Have a great weekend. I’ll try to send video of the two exercises we did this morning. WARNING my video taking skills are not very good, I’m a work in progress????
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10 Replies
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Hi @Lis – I moved your case study to our HMWTC channel so hopefully more members can jump in with answers. I’ve got ideas for you but I want to let others go first. I’ll check back! Thanks for bringing the case!
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Hi @Lis !
Reading this post, there is a lot going on, in my opinion. Sounds like you are chipping away at some of the challenges!
My initial question is, have they ever owned this breed before or a any dog?
Here are my thoughts (and opinions, of course)
I am looking at this scenario from genetics and environmental factors.
For the nipping when someone is reaching for her, my first thought is that her neck/head area is a trigger due to a shock collar being used. I would ask them to stop using the shock collar and explain why (being sensitive that this likely is the cause, but not to “blame” them). I would start using DS/CC for body handling after ending use. Discuss benefits of a real fence- emphasizing it provides a safer environment for all, especially keeping loose dogs out of the yard.
For the jumping on the boy, my question is, Is he adding to the dogs arousal? If so, have that specific activity stop, to stop the behavior from being practiced and, as you mention, find another way for them to engage.
Looking at genetics, here are some thoughts I have and would implement.
1. lots of mental stimulation such as food puzzles, food scatters in the house and in the yard, (no more eating out a bowl with resource guarding). I like using food in a pvc tube as they get both mental and physical exercise. There is an “enrichment” section in “Dig-In” that has great ideas and resources. Enrichment is super important in my opinion.
2. Most terriers love to dig, having a designated digging area for her or, a kiddie pool filled with dirt as her designated spot. Use other species/breed specific behaviors as an outlet for her to engage in. Use this to your advantage when training, too- if she loves to dig.
<font face=”inherit”>3. Lots of toys and chews for her to engage with and change them frequently. Also, use them to your </font>advantage<font face=”inherit”> when training if she is toy driven. </font>
4. I even may use a day care for 1-4 hours a day, 1-2 times a week- housed alone since she is reactive to other dogs. Sometimes just being in a new environment with the sights, smells and sounds provides enrichment and can tire the dog out in a good way.
Looking at environmental, my thoughts are;
1. I would continue with impulse control training, working on “leave it” and “drop” first, to help you with the RG. (Manage the environment so RG is not being practiced)
2. I would invest in a flirt pole for the kids and parents to engage with her mentally and physically several times a day. I would stop the tug game until she can learn to “drop” it and bring her arousal level down.
3. Make sure her needs are met to have calm interactions. Make sure she is getting plenty of sleep, too. Have a designated sleeping or safe place for her to go and she is left alone when there. (In the beginning, I may occasionally toss treats and move on as she is calm there to reinforce this behavior) The kids and dog interactions should be short, calm and supervised. Make sure she can cope by herself, i.e can chew on a kong or Nylabone instead of “needing” human interaction all the time. I explain to clients that it is ok to “ignore” their dogs solicitations for attention sometimes, that they learn to cope from being “disappointed”. (that didn’t work, guess I will go chew my bone or toss the ball around myself) When they do, I will reinforce them for playing on their own, too!
4. I would use DS and CC to introduce novel people and dogs while keeping dog under threshold
I think that is all I would start with at this time, as it is a lot.
Is the family willing to invest the time to help the dog? As you know, this is a huge component.
Although difficult, sometimes rehoming is the better option.
I am curious as to what others’ plans and ideas are!
Keep us updated.
Thanks for sharing this case.
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Great insight and tips, @Jenz – I especially appreciate the calm, supervised interactions with the kids. Otherwise, with all the other factors here, they are looking at a real problem down the road!
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@Lis Thank you for sharing so many details here. There is certainly a lot going on. How invested are the parents in making changes in their home? It sounds rather chaotic and I think management, supervision and predictibilty are going to be big factors in their success. You will need to get their “buy-in” for cooperation.
I agree that the e-collar is not helping this case. Is the family open to using a harness and long line? This would be a much better and safer solution for preventing a run-away. You might try explaining that terriers usually have a high tolerance for pain, genetically, and have them try the e-collar stimulation on themselves. How hot is it? And you can ask whether they feel more trusting of you while you are holding the controller? Ask questions about how they like to build trust in relationships – with each other, with a friend, with their kids… which may lead to a nice discussion about how we best can build a trusting relationship with the dog.
Fear and pain never produce trust, is the message we are trying to shape them toward – but it’s best if they come up with that idea, themselves.
The 10-yr old boy is in the highest demographic for dog bites for a reason; 10-year old boys are normally very active with little impulse control. It is a rare 10-yr-old boy who comes up with appropriate behavior around a dog on his own. This also takes training and supervision from the parents. Games they can ALL play together include, lay a scent trail (dropping cookies) and then follow the dog on a long line (not too close!) and watch him eat. Play run-away – hide and seek recall games (reward with giving a toy the dog can have) and learning hand-targets in a circle (nose bump on flat palm gets treats on the floor – then hands go behind the back and next person says the dog’s name and presents the palm).
Please do add the video and keep us posted on this fascinating case study!
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I think sometimes just going to the basics and building a relationship is the way to go. I would recommend just simple engagement exercises. For example work with the dog in house and don’t ask the dog to do anything. When the dog makes their own decision to come up to person, then give a high reward treat. I would do lots of repetitions. I would work on nothing else until a good trusting relationship is formed.
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Nice recommendation of classical conditioning for building associations, @bmacwatt – what are some other relationship building ideas do you have?
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Catherine, I do the Sprinkler game ( I can’t take credit for the name of game). When the dog comes up to you off leash with no prompting or commands or cues, I give a high value treat. I then turn my back on the dog and wait for dog to come around and face me and then I give high value treat. I then turn my back again and repeat. You turn back and forth like a Sprinkler. You can’t play the game with every dog because some times they get frustrated when you turn your back. Its a great engagement game. My favorite engagement game is just doing a auto-check-in ( I follow Suzanne Clothier’s protocol). Basically when a dog looks at your eyes with no prompting or commands, you give high value treats. I also like just a game of hide and seek and the “find-it game. I focus on all engagement exercises before I do any formal training like st, down, stay, etc.
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@bmacwatt Thanks for this! These are great engagement ideas and I can see how these will lead to a dog who doesn’t want to take their eyes off you. Well done!
My favorite engagement game is just doing a auto-check-in ( I follow Suzanne Clothier’s protocol). Basically when a dog looks at your eyes with no prompting or commands, you give high value treats. I also like just a game of hide and seek and the “find-it game. I focus on all engagement exercises before I do any formal training like st, down, stay, etc. – Bruce M.
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Hi @Lis
There is a great video by Kikopup on step by step how to train a pup to accept gentle petting without nipping.
I’m hoping you can access this link.
The basic idea is just simple counter conditioning.
1st treat as your hand approaches puppy
then treat at the same time as you pet the puppy (gently under chin/neck or on side, not over the head)
then when you are getting a good response, start to change the order of the stimulus/response by petting first then treating so that petting predicts the treats.
Kikopup is using a calm marker in here to keep things low arousal.
I agree with everyone else on educating about the use of pain and intimidation as being counter productive to the results and relationship they want to achieve.
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Great tips and share, @Abbie
…when you are getting a good response, start to change the order of the stimulus/response by petting first then treating so that petting predicts the treats.then when you are getting a good response, start to change the order of the stimulus/response by petting first then treating so that petting predicts the treats. – Abbie D.
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