My 8 Month Old Dog Challenges Me. What Should I Do?

Uploaded on December 12, 2011 • 11 min
Question from Erica: My 8 month old male Standard Poodle has recently challenged me by biting me twice. We adopted him from a family that neglected him during the first 16 weeks of his life, leaving him unsocialized and with some behavioral issues. When we brought him home at 4 months, he had separation anxiety and if we left him alone he went crazy... barking excessively non-stop and he still does. We try and take him on walks and to dog parks as much as possible. He gets along with other dogs great but he is still very shy towards strangers. He will not allow anyone to pet him, except my husband and my kids. He uses a prong collar and has had no problem with it, until recently. I had a couple of guests over one day. He got too excited, so I grabbed him by the prong collar with my hand and he turned his neck around and tried to bite me while making a huge fuss, whining and barking. So, I let go of it thinking that was all that was needed. Today, as he was outside, he saw a cat. I immediately grabbed him, again by the prong, this time he attacked me. What should I do?

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Kathleen01
April 5, 2018
Good information
K9CTU
February 12, 2015
A very interesting video regarding the situation of inexperienced owners and under-socialized dogs. It highlights the 'importance' of early socialization. However, like this owner (and many others) they had adopted a dog that already harbored these issues. The beauty is, that it is never too late and dogs will happily comply, if you pay them well and guide them accordingly.

Overall as suggested, if you are uncertain in any situation consult a Professional that can help assist yourself and your dog, in a safe and pain free way.

Thank you Michael, and thank you Ed.
nakota317
March 17, 2012
Exellent short video discussing safety issues with prong collers and how misuse and misunderstanding can result in a dog's aggressive behavior.
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