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Biting Behavior in Dogs
Biting and snapping behavior in puppy
Sudden biting in Deaf dog
Biting behavior in young pug
Biting dog
also see Aggression
also see Aggression - Springer Spaniel
also see Behavior
also see Dominance Aggression
also see Male Dog
also see Prozac
also see Ovaban
Biting and snapping behavior in puppy
Question: Dr. Mike,
Bebe, our 20 week old Lab X has started snapping at us when we do something
she doesn't like. Tonight it happened twice.....first while trying to trim
her nails (she is fearful of the clippers), and then again at bedtime when I
tried to move her from our bed to her crate. Do you have any suggestions on
how to handle this?? She is generally a well behaved little pup who loves
people but is fearful of other animals. We adopted her at approx. 5 weeks of
age from the local shelter, so her background is unknown. Last night we
attended our first puppy obedience class, and I am hopeful that we will learn
some tricks on how to handle her there.The biting and snapping really bothers us. I hope that we are going through
a stage that she will outgrow.Thanks, Patty and the biting baby Bebe.
Answer: Patty-
It is probably good that you have been able to see this behavior at this
early age, when it is more likely that you can do some things to help
control it. If it is possible to see a veterinary behaviorist where you
live it is almost always the best option for aggressive puppies and
aggressive dogs. It is helpful to recognize that aggressive behaviors can
occur for a number of reasons and trying to decide the most likely ones,
such as fear aggression or dominance aggression can be very helpful. Most
general practice veterinarians have very limited training in doing this
sort of thing and are less likely to be able to differentiate among the
possible causes of the aggressive behavior. In many areas of the country
there is not an available veterinary behavior specialist, though.It is a good idea to attend obedience school so that your dog learns some
basic commands and you learn to reinforce them. This allows you to control
your interactions with the puppy better. If you make her respond to a
command before giving her meals to her, before giving her any treats, prior
to going on walks and intermittently during walks, all these things help to
enforce your status as a leader. Using a head halter type collar (Promise
Collar tm, Halter tm) is also helpful, as it gives you a lot more control
over the situation and allows you to provide corrective action (moving her
head away) immediately while not frightening her and worsening the
situation. Keeping this up will often cause a puppy to be less aggressive
since it tends to accept a subservient status better. If the aggression
over being moved off the furniture or put to bed increase it may be
necessary to make the furniture totally off limits. It is harder to decide
what to do about dogs that won't crate at night without a fight. If this
behavior continues it might be reasonable to make at least one trip to a
behaviorist, even if the closest one is a long way away. Usually they will
help with telephone follow-ups after a visit and this keeps the number of
trips to a minimum.For things like nail trims you can opt to take a slower approach to them,
trimming one nail or two nails at a time until she is more used to the
trimming and then gradually increasing the number of nails. In some
instances, especially if this is the only time a dog is aggressive, it
makes sense just to skip this activity and to let your vet trim the nails,
using sedation or anesthesia, if necessary. We have several patients whose
are only aggressive during nail trims, anal sac expression or some other
"minor" procedure and are otherwise OK.Mike Richards, DVM
3/5/2001
Question: Dear Dr. Mike,
My neighbour adopted a stray American Eskimo from a shelter about seven
months ago. She's about three years old, now spayed, and totally deaf,
with a chronic infection in one ear. The shelter didn't know she was deaf.
She's housebroken and not destructive, but doesn't know any hand signs, so
communicating with her is difficult.Most of the time she acts like a normal happy affectionate young dog who
just can't hear. But once in a while she snaps or bites. Usually the
biting is sudden, with a curl of the lip but not much growling or warning.
She has bitten technicians at the vet, members of her own family, and
visitors to the house. So far, no children, and nothing that needed
medical attention. But it seems to be happening more often.We can't always figure out what triggered the biting. Sometimes it seems
to be fear, at the vet for example. Or when someone reaches over her head
from the back and she doesn't know they are there. But other times, she
can be lying peacefully being petted by one person, and when another
person approaches to pet her, she snaps at the second person. Sometimes
she snaps at the person doing the petting. She fights with other dogs over
food.Is there anything that can be done? Right now, it looks like ten or
twelve years of being very careful and constantly warning all who approach
to keep their distance.In your experience, can a deaf dog past puppyhood be successfully trained
to read hand signs and behave in a trustworthy manner? Do you think she's
skittish and unreliable because she's deaf, or is she more likely an
untrained dog who has figured out that she can control people?Our vet says that if she can't be muzzled she should be put down. She'll
accept a muzzle at home for a minute, but not in the car or in the vet's
waiting room.Is this a losing battle, or do you think there's any hope for smoothing
out the potentially dangerous rough spots in this otherwise delightful dog?
Answer: Ferne-
Sudden biting behaviors do scare me the most when dealing with the
potential problems of a biting dog. Predictable biting can often be
avoided just by learning to avoid the triggering stimuli for it. This may
seem like a cop out but it generally works. Unpredictable biting is
dangerous and I do tend to agree with your veterinarian that it is a
situation in which euthanasia is an option to consider.I have seen several of my patients develop the tendency to snap suddenly
when startled as they became deaf or blind in old age. I think that this
occurs in dogs that have a fearful personality but react to fear with
aggression. They are easier to sneak up on, even unintentionally, so it is
possible to startle them, causing sudden fear and the reaction of
aggression or snapping.It is possible, in many instances, with extreme dedication, to provide
behavioral and/or medical therapy that helps control the aggression.
However, it is a big responsibility, it involves careful attention to
detail and it is not a sure thing. If your neighbor is very dedicated to
this dog and wishes to pursue treatment it really is best to work with a
board certified veterinary behaviorist, even if it takes a lot of effort to
find one. If this is not possible, a certified animal behaviorist or
veterinarian with a strong interest in behavior would be good second
choices. A third choice is to utilize the Tufts University behavioral web
site service in which they assist with behavioral problems online. The only
other option that I can think of is to purchase a good behavioral text,
such as Karen Overall's book on clinical behavioral medicine and work with
it and your vet to try to find a solution.I do know of people who have taught hand signals to older dogs and I think
that is possible, to help with part of the problem. It does take some
patience but can usually be accomplished.The biting behavior when other dogs approach and she is being petted, and
the tendency to bite while being petted, both imply that there may be a
dominance behavior component to the aggression, as well. It is not too
uncommon for dogs to have aggressive tendencies due to more than one
personality trait, since the aggression is a tool that they have learned to
use. Just like people, who often apply the same behaviors to all the tasks
they are faced with, dogs that learn one technique for dealing with life
will often try to apply it to multiple situations. Dealing with dominance
aggression is also a lifelong project but it seems to be more controllable
than fear based aggression in many instances.The basic question for most people, at the beginning of the process of
dealing with aggression, is how committed they are to the process. If
everyone in the family is not going to be able to help with the behavioral
modification or if the fear of being bitten weakens the commitment to the
process of dealing the aggressive tendencies, then it may be best to
consider euthanasia. This is particularly true if there is significant risk
of a child being exposed to a biting situation, because children have more
risk of a serious injury.I know this isn't a clear cut answer. It is a difficult situation and I am
not a behaviorist. I do know that dealing with this situation is going to
take a lifelong commitment to the process (the dog's life span) and the
first step is deciding if that is going to be something that your neighbor
can handle.I do hope this helps some.
Mike Richards, DVM
1/9/2001
Question: Dr. Mike,
Thank you for your response to my question about pugs and anesthesia. I
talked to my vet yesterday too, and he assured me that neutering was the best
way to go and that they take every precaution.I'm writing with another question; a behavior question. My six month old pug
is a terrible biter. Most of the time, he's a love, but suddenly he goes into
what I like to call his "Rosemary's baby" phase. Again last night he began
attacking my arm, growling and biting. When I say "No" or "Off", he just gets
madder. We have tried Bitter Apple, pulling him down by the scruff of his
neck, holding our finger in his mouth and saying no, putting him down and
leaving the room and closing the door, giving him a time out in his
kennel...all, it seems, to no avail. He does play with our older dog who
treats him like she's his mother. When they get going, they do get pretty
rough, even though the big dog is A LOT bigger. He just hangs in there and
keeps going. Should we separate them? They both seem to enjoy it a great
deal, so I hesitate to do that, but I think maybe that's where he's getting
his rough behavior from. We've never played roughly with him, and we always
try to play catch with his toys. Any ideas?Thanks for this excellent service. I appreciate your information.
Lynn and Freddy Pig
Answer: Lynn-
While I am definitely not a behavioral expert, I don't think that
separating the puppy from the older dog will help with the biting behavior
directed at people and that a decrease in exercise and activity might
actually make that situation worse.When you are dealing with an aggressive pet it really is best, when
possible to seek the advice of a veterinary behaviorist, especially when
biting behaviors are occurring already. If this is not possible in your
area, Tufts University has an online (or fax) behavioral site that offers
behavioral counseling. ( http://www.tufts.edu/vet/petfax/index.html )It is usually pretty difficult to identify the underlying cause of
aggressive behaviors in puppies, except very fearful ones. Aggression can
be the result of dominance behavior, which can occur in young puppies, or
it can be due to inappropriate play, territorial aggression, fear or
possessive behavior, which is often seen as growling or biting when people
approach the puppy's food or a toy.It has been our experience that it is pretty hard to punish a dog and cure
aggressive behavior. Most of the time it is necessary to figure out a long
term plan for dealing with the behavior and then stick to it, as long as it
is helping. When a puppy is aggressive because it wants something, it is
important to make the puppy do something to earn the desired object or
action. Most puppies can be taught to sit and then made to sit prior to
being fed, prior to being let out the door, before being petted -- really
before anything the puppy desires to happen. This reinforces to the puppy
that the person is the dominant member of the family and it is a relatively
easy way to do that. If there is some fear or anxiety in the behavior,
using a relaxation program can be helpful (your vet can find directions for
these in "Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals" by Karen Overall
or some information in several other texts. If anxiety is part of the
behavior that is one of the times when using medications can be very
helpful in controlling inappropriate behavior. Anti-anxiety or
anti-depressant medications (amitriptyline (Elavil Rx) or fluoxetine
(Prozac Rx)) can be helpful. The important thing to remember is that any
behavioral modification program has to be very consistently applied, so it
will take cooperation among all family members and everyone must understand
what is expected, and believe in the approach, before it will work well.We have not tried to use a halter type collar on a very short nosed breed,
as far as I can remember, but they work well with rottweilers, some of whom
have pretty short noses, so it seems possible that they would work with a
pug. These types of collars do give a way to control biting behavior
quickly and work by allowing more control of the dog's head, which is
helpful in lessening dominance behaviors in many dogs. The "Gentle Leader"
collar is one example of this type of collar. Your vet can order this
collar and may be able to show you how to apply it and provide some advice
on its use, as well.Dr. Overall's book is helpful and has a number of pages of specific
protocols that your vet can copy and give to you. If your vet has this book
you may want to ask for copies of the protocols for relaxation and for
helping control aggression. If your vet doesn't have this book it still
wouldn't hurt to ask about it -- maybe he or she would be willing to buy
it. (ISBN 0-8016-6820-4)Mike Richards, DVM
10/12/2000
Q: We adopted a young dog that was abused by its former owner. The dog became very aggressive & bit the former owner. We have had him about a year and he's still very jumpy and will attack if he thinks he's going to be punished. He has bitten my husband. We love him very much and he seems to love us. The aggression is somewhat unpredictable- Is our only option to put him down? The vet has assured us that the behavior is due to abuse and not a medical or genetic type problem. Would Prozac work for this type of aggression? I have heard that you can use it for dogs.
A: Prozac may prove to be beneficial in some cases of aggression due to seritonin sparing effects BUT you really need to consider finding a specialist trained in behavioral therapy with this sort of problem. A certified animal behaviorist or board certified veterinary behaviorist would be the best choice. Please ask your vet to help you find someone who can help you. You may be able to find a list of behaviorists certified by the Animal Behavior Society at your library.
Mike Richards, DVM
Last edited 01/30/05