I have a 15 week old puppy (3.5 months). She's a bullmastiff, and very smart. She learns quickly but we are having two main problems with her - jumping on us when we are on the couch (she's not allowed on the couch) and biting. It's the age old puppy question that I've read on the Q&A section here. She will only obey "off" if there is a treat right in front of her face - but "off" should be a correction to get off the furniture, not a game to get treated for when she gets off, (and then right back on again)... right? And with the biting - we've done the shaking at the scruff of the neck, the squirt bottle, the newspaper, the pushing the hand further down the throat, yelling "ow" - all of the usual things every other web page tells you to do. (and the breeder). But she is very determined. She thinks they are all games and just comes back harder and faster. We do our best to give her something else to chew or bite every single time, but she doesn't seem to be "getting it" that skin and clothing is not allowed. Sometimes it's completely playful, sometimes it's for security (she likes to suck on my arm - which is not allowed), and sometimes it seems very agressive - she's "back-talking" when she's corrected. Sometimes when she works herself up and gets out of control she has to take a break and go to her crate. We've noticed that usually when she gets to this point it's because she's exhausted and doesn't know how to handle herself, so when she gets put in her crate she goes to sleep immediately. But sometimes it's just pure "disobedient" biting.

We haven't done a prong collar - she's very young and I wasn't sure if 15 weeks is too young for that. Is it something I should even be alarmed about at this point? (Is she still too young to be displaying dominance or is this the beginning?) We don't have any children at home so my husband and I just continually work on "being alpha", and at 44 lbs, we can handle her for now. But when she's 120 lbs, there's no way I could handle her, so she needs to know that she can't bite. (I am a children's teacher so I have kids around all the time. Our dog loves kids and never shows any agression around them. She seems to "know".) But with me and my husband it's a different story. When I read posts where people say "I let her know that skin is not allowed - ever!" I wonder - "how to do that so cut and dry?" It seems like a constant struggle for me.

And for more info - this is my first dog, and I live overseas, so everything I am learning I'm getting from reading the internet. This website has been so helpful to me already. I want to do it right - and have an obedient dog we can be proud of. I'm open and willing to learn and to be corrected, so please be honest with your suggestions and opinions. (I haven't and won't be able to get any videos from Ed, so all I can learn is from what I can read.) This posting is already very long, so if you need more information from me in order to advise, please PM me. Thanks so much!

I'm only giving my personal opinion/advice, I suggest listening to the more experienced here on the board, but I had a similar problem when my dog was adopted.
She considered nipping us on the arms, legs, and hands to be a game. When we got serious with her to correct her, it was "try harder" on her end. When she became frustrated, she was unruly and refused to listen to all manner of discipline or distraction and was crated, but it never -stopped- the problem.
This is probably not the best solution to use, but it worked for us. When she bit, we took a can of pennies and shook it at her while staring and saying "NO BITE" very sternly. She was TERRIFIED of the can and would back off immediately, and the instant she let go we praised her and resumed giving her attention. She learned within a few days that biting us is something you -do not do- at our house and she hasn't tried it since. I'm sure there were better ways to approach it, but we tried what "trainers" told us and we tried what websites described and she was relentless. I hope this helps, or at least gives an idea of what to do if other people's advice doesn't work.

I posted previously about trying to lay down on my couch and read a book whilst puppy (4 months at that time) laid quietly on the floor beside the couch....HA HA HA.

Have you tried exercising him and tiring him out before you attempt to lay/sit on your couch? THat turned out to be a must for us. After some good exercise and some marker stuff, then and only then would he be the "good puppy" that I wanted him to be...laying there sleeping or chomping on a bone.

15 weeks is too early for prong.

Brenda,
Your situation sounds so much like what we have endured with our pup Nickie. He is a bullmastiff/pitbull mix - unfortunately two very strong-willed breeds rolled into one!

He is now 10 months old and 72 lbs. We tried all of the methods that you have tried to try to teach him that biting is not acceptable. We have Ed's video on "Dominant & Aggressive Dogs" and Nickie has also had a prong collar and dominant dog collar for a few months.

The exercise tip sounds good but it must surely take a lot more exercise than either myself or my husband can do with him. He is walked by me a mile each morning (7 days a week). That is all the structured exercise that we can manage with our schedule.

He also gets lots of time-out in his crate when he gets too overboard with his biting/jumping/not listening, etc. I agree with you that it seems like he is like a bratty child who will act out and throw tantrums when he is overly tired.

We are taking him to be neutered tomorrow. The vet wanted to do it before 6 months old but I have held out until now. Not really expecting that to help too much with his over-enthusiasm for everything.

The only thing that I think will help is to just have a ton of patience and tell yourself that his puppy days will be over one of these days. Believe me, we have wanted to give up on him long before now but try to keep things in perspective.

Good luck - I am also going to send you a PM.

Hi Brenda,

I have a somewhat different opinion on this. You have a Bullmastiff, which is going to be a very large dog. If you wait too long to take charge, you could have very serious problems. I have a difficult puppy right now, and I actually put him on a prong at 14wks, after the first time I corrected him and he bit me for it. IMO, if he's old enough to come after me for a correction he didn't like, he's old enough for a prong. Why wait until he's 70lbs and handler-aggressive? Not saying he for sure will be, but with a breed like that, I say better safe than sorry. I know many will disagree with me, and say it'll hurt their drives and yadayadayada, but you need to analyze what you want out of this pup, and if dominance is desired. FWIW, my pup is now 6mos, and has drive out the wazoo, and no longer bites me when I correct him or get too close to him while eating.

All the exercise in the world won't cure a bad attitude, but it can trash his hips. Be careful not to over-exercise such a big dog early on.

Thanks everyone for the good advice. Diane, I clicked on your link and watched your video when I saw that you have a bullmastiff/pit mix. Must be a handfull! She's beautiful though!

I think the only thing I haven't tried is the can of pennies. Thank you, Jinn - I'll give it a try. Our pup is afraid of loud noises so it might just work. I spoke with my husband this afternoon and we thought that in about 2 weeks we'll get a prong collar for her. She's such a sweet dog most of the time and very loving - but when she's not exhausted from excerise or play, she's a wild puppy and needs a bit of an attitude adjustment during those times. A prong collar for just those times of the day would be good. When she's corrected with a stern no she sometimes barks at us or snaps - she's already challenging us at 3.5 months. And I've been reading the previous posts about teenagers and adolescence - not really looking forward to that.

We exercise her about as much as we can right now for her age and her breed. We go for about 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening. This wears her out and she sacks out after each walk, but as Jenni said, you can't exercise a bullmastiff more than this as puppies, as it will hurt her hips and joints later in life. She's already active enough that she does a few accidental splits every day on my hardwood floors, and sometimes runs down the 2 porch steps a bit too quickly and slides, which does leave me a little concerned. Have to be careful with that.

Right now my only "refuge" is our bed. She knows she's not allowed by any means up on our bed, and she's not quite tall enough to jump on it even in disobedience. So if I just can't take it anymore, I go lay on my bed to work on my computer (which is where I am at the moment). We have a large fenced in yard that is puppy-proof so for about 30 minutes she'll amuse herself in the yard and give me some peace. I work at home so for the rest of the day she follows me from room to room. The only thing I don't do is have her on a drag line when she's out of the crate. She pretty much stays with me anyway and my husband didn't want a line hanging off of her all the time. I know that's recommended here but my husband is raising her along with me and we have to compromise on some issues. (but since I'm the only one doing the reading on this web page, I'm making sure we do everything we can to do what is recommended. I am a firm believer in the phrase - "there are no stupid animals, only stupid owners". I refuse to be a stupid owner/handler).

The reason I mentioned exercise it in my post was because you did not mention it in your OP. And the reason I mentioned marker sessions was because you hadn't mentioned that either, only stated you had tried everything. As for your mention of her being exhaused, in the context, it sounded like the pup was exhausted from going "round and round" with you.

As for your question about how old before it's dominance, I do not have a direct answer, but I will venture to say, based on what you've written, it is likely your dog will not become a submissive type anytime soon or in the future. I'm not tuned into the bull mastiffs. Maybe others will have a better answer.

I think it is unfair to jump into a prong when you are not even leashing the dog at this point.

ms. mitchell, i have a 2yr old gsd ,what worked for me was the pennies and i bought a used tire for a small car and tied it to a branch like a swing it works great for the extra exercise.i just sit in the yard and let her take out her aggression and energy, she loves it and will entertain her self for a long peroid of time,as well as allowing her to bite on something other than you. It just took what she was doing wrong, and gave her a place to do it were it was ok. It worked for me. Just remember to adjust the rope as her size increases. hope this might help. Dee Phillips

Taking her out and doing marker training does work - if she's bored she becomes destructive so I immediately do that first to keep her mind active. Sometimes that does the trick and she calms down. Sometimes not. I'm sorry I used the word exhausted two different times in different context. Sometimes she's exhausted from the exercise and goes right to sleep. That's the good kind of exhausted. Other times she's just exhausted from just having a long day and needs a nap, but just like a toddler she is past the going to sleep easily stage and is fighting it, and that's when she sometimes gets wild. Then mommy says it's "nap time" in the crate. So I am constantly having to read her - just like they say to do on here - if it's a good tired from exercise or just a tired cranky toddler needing a break. The difference usually comes out in her attitude.

So you're saying that if I put a drag line on her all the time she is out of her crate (which is most of the day since I am home most of the day), and do the corrections on there first, I may not need to use the prong collar? If it's more fair for our puppy and it works, I'm all open to it! I just have to convice my husband that it's the way to go. (He's a very alpha male). :-)

Thanks, all, for your advice. I'll try some of these things and let you know how it works.

A drag line (or lite duty leash) on the dog affords you what you need: CONTROL.

Another benefit to having a lead on them (or drag line) often, is that the dog does not become conditioned to the fact that everytime the leash comes out, its "YIPPEEEEE, WALK timE: WOOOhOOOOOO" spaz.