My Sister's Dog

[Greenday]

My sister and brother-in-law decided after being married and moved into their new place less than a week that getting a dog would be a good idea. And since the in-laws LOVE pitbulls, guess what kind of dog they got? Yep, a pitbull. They got a 10 month old pitbull who was previously given to the SPCA by the old owners because they couldn't deal with the play biting.

At 10 months, he's nearly fully grown. This is a problem because he's still a puppy and has shit tons of energy. He's also very aggressive when he plays. After the first week of having him, my sister's arms resembled a heroin addict's they were so black and blue. I've been watching the dog all week and my hands and arms are covered in marks from being bit and scratched. I used to just be able to shake a cup with coins in it and he'd freak out and stop. But that doesn't really work anymore. Sometimes you can distract him with a toy but unless there's one within reach, you're pretty fucked. He doesn't listen at all. He won't snatch food out of your hand, but he jumps onto the dining room table and chews on tons of stuff. Caught him chewing on my shoe the other day. Caught him chewing on pillows. Caught him with a picture in his mouth. He chews apart the plastic zipties that help hold his crate together.

I can't get him to stop sniffing my clothes. Sometimes he'll get in a mood where he wants to sniff then lick my ears or stomach or crotch. Then when I push him away, PLAY TIME! Owner is pushing me so clearly he wants to play. So I just get bit up defending myself.

My sister doesn't know shit about training bigger dogs. We've had three dogs which were a cocker spaniel who was well behaved and two mischievous beagles who are pretty good otherwise

Hey, guess who just got bit for having a blanket?

[Andara Bledin]

Get a muzzle. Every time he bites, muzzle him.

Also, instead of pushing him away, push him down. You have to assert that you're the alpha and he's not.

If he misbehaves, take his things away; toys, food, blankets. Leave him with just a bed and feed him on a schedule, showing that he eats when you let him eat because you're the alpha, not him.

My brother has a dog that's part pit and I hardly interact with him or the other dog here, but both of them know my "obey me" voice and respond accordingly because they know that I'm higher on the totem than they are and not to fuck with me.

[Gravekeeper]

Both the dog AND your sister need proper training and soon. Otherwise this is a disaster waiting to happen. Second he bites anyone that doesn't appreciate it or reaches full size and is still too rough.

Obedience classes for the both of them may be in order.

[bainsidhe]

Greenday, do you live with your sister? If not, I think it's time you refuse to babysit the dog anymore. I agree with Gravekeeper, the dog and sister need some training.

Your sister should check her homeowner's policy and make sure she's covered in case someone doesn't like getting play-bit. Most insurers around here won't even insure certain breeds. And having a high-energy dog "play-bite" me would freak me the hell out.

[blas87]

Did they get the dog just because they like the breed because of famous people with that breed or because it'll make them look a certain way?

Some people are just really dumb when it comes to what breed is appropriate for what kind of family/household.

[Greenday]

Did they get the dog just because they like the breed because of famous people with that breed or because it'll make them look a certain way?

Some people are just really dumb when it comes to what breed is appropriate for what kind of family/household.

Well, at his parents' house, he already had three large dogs, including one pitbull who is really well-behaved.

It's just too small a living area for that breed. He's full of energy but besides the living room and dining room, he's got nowhere to run around. He needs a big backyard with tons of free running space.

[Teysa]

Is there a dog park your sister could take him to? That might let him burn off some energy. Barring that, taking him for long walks, depending on the weather might help some. If nothing else, it might tire him out enough to stay out of mischief.

[Greenday]

Not sure about dog parks. He graded out well for being with other dogs but if he plays rough with smaller dogs, it could be bad.

[siead_lietrathua]

some dog parks are segregated for small and large breeds to prevent that. might be worth searching your area and seeing what's available.

[violiav]

It sounds to me that he doesn't have good bite inhibition. My dog, a good sized boxer/beagle (60-70lbs), is very mouthy when he plays. He'll put his mouth on the hand or arm, but that's it. He won't actually bite down. Part of the key is to try and communicate with the dog. When dogs are young their litter mates and mother are who teaches them what is and isn't appropriate. If they are separated too early then development doesn't always work so well.

When Buster went through his biting phase we would vocalize the pain that way he knew when a line was crossed.

Here's an interesting blog I found a while ago. http://drsophiayin.com/blog

[Andara Bledin]

That's an interesting note about vocalizing pain.

I'd not heard that before, but I've always been in the habit of saying "ow" when my pets bite too hard or claw when playing (I'm a cat person, so have to deal mostly with claws). This likely goes a long way towards explaining why my cats don't play as rough with people as they do with each other.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Just going to say I get a bit annoyed when people talk about a problem dog as if it's the dog's fault that he wasn't trained well. He's just being a dog - play-biting is what dogs do. It's up to their owners to teach them what is and is not acceptable.

Now that I've said that;

Training. Immediately. It needs to be a training place where the lessons train the owner to train the dog. Just getting a dog trainer to train the dog but not the owner will do jack-shit.

My boyfriend has a full-breed pit bull and she's very well behaved despite being very high energy. She will mouth but won't bite down at all, and if you say "No biting" she lick where she "bit" in apology and won't do it again.

Not all dogs respond to the "alpha" thing well either. Some dogs will take it as a challenge, so be very wary when attempting something like that with any dog, especially breeds that are built like Pitbulls. If you're going to attempt "alpha"-ing, do it with a muzzle to see how he responds first.

You might have to use a pinch collar or citronella spray.

Note about pinch-collars; they are perfectly safe when used properly. It should be loose enough that the prongs just rest on the skin when you are not giving a correction, and corrections should be sharp and SHORT. When NOT using the pinch-collar for training or correction, it should be taken off as dogs CAN hurt themselves with those things.

Citronella spray is a very good tool to use. If he starts to play bite/jump on you/do something you do not like toward your person, then spray him right on the nose. It's not something that he will ever get desensitized to (the reason he doesn't respond to the jar of coins is because he has become desensitized to it.)

You can even get citronella spray collars that you get a little remote for. When he starts to chew on something you don't want him to, hit a button, he gets a little spray of citronella.

The previous owners, and your sister, did a huge disservice to this dog in not getting it proper training.

People don't understand that the vast majority of dogs don't just magically behave like the ones you see on TV. They don't understand that the dog isn't going to spontaneously understand commands if you never actually take the time to show them what that command means.

Repeating "sit" "sit" "sit" "sit" does nothing.

Saying "sit" while guiding the dog into a sit will connect the action with the command, and then treating/giving a toy/giving praise will reaffirm that "sit" means "do this action."

It takes time, and patience.

They are not little humans. They don't understand English just by listening to it constantly. With the right breeds and the right training, they can eventually process SIMPLE context clues (one dog I know, knows every one of his toys by name, if you ask him for a name he doesn't know, he'll look for a new toy.)

The dog is getting into the dog-age where they become "rebellious teenagers" - it means that your sister/her husband has to work with the dog more often and more firmly to curb the unwanted behavior.

You can teach old dogs new tricks. It is never too late to properly train a dog. It will take more time and effort to break ingrained habits, but that's what happens when people let puppies do what they want because "Aw lookit how cute it is."

It's not going to be so cute when that 8 pound puppy turns into an 80 pound adult.

[Gravekeeper]

I'd not heard that before, but I've always been in the habit of saying "ow" when my pets bite too hard or claw when playing (I'm a cat person, so have to deal mostly with claws). This likely goes a long way towards explaining why my cats don't play as rough with people as they do with each other.

It makes my cat somewhat back off as well. Somewhat. -.-

[Pixilated]

I agree completely with those who say both the dog and your sister need training NOW. Dogs are pack animals and hardwired to obey a leader. The important thing is to ensure that you are seen as the leader -- in this case, your sister and BIL, yourself, and any other humans in your family. Dogs in a household need to understand that even the smallest human is above them in the pecking order.

[Teysa]

I wish I had known about the citronella spray when my dog was a puppy. I might have saved a couple pairs of shoes.

Something that helped with mine was having a place she could go to when she was being a naughty puppy. In our case it was the bathroom since there wasn't a lot in there she could mess up. (Shampoo and such was out of her reach and the cleaning chemicals were where she couldn't get to them.) This gave her a chance to calm down.

My husband has done most of her training. She understands sit, stay, drop it, lie down, I said drop it, back off, and a few other basic commands. She's a real sweet heart now but she had her moments. Still, I wouldn't have traded her for the world nor would I now.