April 19, 2011
My 10 month old dog almost bit me when he was barking at something he saw in the front yard (through the living room window). Why did he do this?
Full Question:
Our male 10 months old GSD was standing up on our couch barking loud and hard out the window at a white plastic bag which was floating around in the wind. I tried to stop him and pull him down from the couch put he turned on me as if fighting with another dog and just touched me a few times with his teeth but did not bite hard but it was a bit of frenzied attack, he would not come down on command. So I tried to pull him down, and this was a bit of a shock to me because, I thought I had established his place in the pack. I always make him move and never step over him. I eat before him and feed him after me, I make him sit and I go through doors first. He really does know his place and this incident really surprised me. What should I have done to get him down, is there some technique I could have used or was it just a case of not letting him up there to bark in the first place. He never gets to sit up there or anything. He just saw the moving bag and jumped up, I pulled him down and there you have it he attacked. Please help because I have every book and video on the market including yours, and I really want to get this right,Kim
Cindy's Answer:
This was a knee jerk reaction when the dog was in high drive. It is the same as a young dog that is in the early stages of protection training - barking at the helper and the handler touches his side to praise him. The dog turns and bites the handlers hand - it is purely a reflex in drive.
I would have grabbed the dog and tossed him across the room - but then I am 6'1" and weigh 210 pounds. You could have screamed NO!! NO!! NO!! as loud as you could and taken him down. If he did not mind, you could have tossed an empty waste basket at him. That way he would not have bitten you but rather the basket. Once the dogs attention is broken he will return to normal.
The fact is you have not fully trained the dog - he is not minding under distraction. Get a prong collar and do what I show in the Basic Dog Obedience.
I would have grabbed the dog and tossed him across the room - but then I am 6'1" and weigh 210 pounds. You could have screamed NO!! NO!! NO!! as loud as you could and taken him down. If he did not mind, you could have tossed an empty waste basket at him. That way he would not have bitten you but rather the basket. Once the dogs attention is broken he will return to normal.
The fact is you have not fully trained the dog - he is not minding under distraction. Get a prong collar and do what I show in the Basic Dog Obedience.
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