# My male pekingese is a biter



## dan m (May 19, 2012)

We have an 11 month old male Pekingese who gets aggressive and attacks if you try to take something from him or stop him from damaging something such as a carpet. I've tried various suggestions but nothing seems to work. We usually bribe him with a treat but it doesn't work all the time. He seems to be ok for several days but then gets gets into these moods where he can be nasty. He has a problem with his anal glands which need to be expressed by the vet every two or three weeks. I think it may be part of his problem but I'm not sure. We got him from a breeder at 6 weeks old which I now find out is not good.He can be a sweetheart especially to strangers. We take him to the nursing home to see my mother and he is fine. When he's home, at times he turns into a Gremlin. Has anyone else had these experiences? How can I correct the aggressiveness?

Thank You.


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## Wicket (Aug 21, 2011)

Hey there, does your peke get enough exercise and activity? He could be bored and just trying to find a way to release pent up energy, and when he finds something he likes, it's so important he doesn't want to give it up. Does he have many toys? When a dog has options and appropriate things to chew and destroy, they are less likely to go after your things. How is he when he attacks? Is he growling, bare teeth, etc? Does he seem defensive or is just rough playing? Never bribe, you could accidentally be rewarding him for the wrong behavior. And how are you when you are correcting him? Do you back away, or do you stand your ground?


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Ignore the part about bribing above. What you are describing is resource guarding and "bribery" is the only reliable way to handle it. Go to YouTube, look up kikopup resource guarding. Basically, you "trade up". You offer the dog something better than what he has to teach him that giving things to you is awesome and leads to even better things.


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## dan m (May 19, 2012)

Thank you for the replies and suggestions. I forget to mention that he is neutered.He has tons of toys and has the run of the house along with two cats. I just took down my above ground pool and used the area to put in an enclosed area for him to run around in. In answer to how I respond to his aggression, I end up grabbing him and putting him in his crate. This is usually after he bites or starts to get snarly. For some reason, he loves to eat clumps of grass left behind after cutting the lawn. He also loves to eat dandilion flowers, tree bark and even black walnut shells left behind by the squirrels. I don't dare try to get them out of his mouth. He will not eat his own feces, which I understand is a problem with dogs. I have to say that he does favor my wife and will listen to her a little better than he does with me. Our previous dog was a Lab-Shepard who was well-behaved and mild mannered. Getting older, my wife wanted a smaller dog but he can be a handful.


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## Wicket (Aug 21, 2011)

Amaryllis said:


> Ignore the part about bribing above. What you are describing is resource guarding and "bribery" is the only reliable way to handle it. Go to YouTube, look up kikopup resource guarding. Basically, you "trade up". You offer the dog something better than what he has to teach him that giving things to you is awesome and leads to even better things.


There is a difference between bribery and training your dog to willing drop the item you want. Bribery can lead to the dog only stopping for food, but doesn't teach a dog to leave the item alone or any of that sort. Bribery can also accidentally reward the wrong behavior can reinforce negative behavior.



dan m said:


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> Thank you for the replies and suggestions. I forget to mention that he is neutered.He has tons of toys and has the run of the house along with two cats. I just took down my above ground pool and used the area to put in an enclosed area for him to run around in. In answer to how I respond to his aggression, I end up grabbing him and putting him in his crate. This is usually after he bites or starts to get snarly. For some reason, he loves to eat clumps of grass left behind after cutting the lawn. He also loves to eat dandilion flowers, tree bark and even black walnut shells left behind by the squirrels. I don't dare try to get them out of his mouth. He will not eat his own feces, which I understand is a problem with dogs. I have to say that he does favor my wife and will listen to her a little better than he does with me. Our previous dog was a Lab-Shepard who was well-behaved and mild mannered. Getting older, my wife wanted a smaller dog but he can be a handful.


Your peke is so cute! I'm so sorry for all the questions, lol, but it'll help be have a better understanding of the situation. Do you walk him? Is he babied and constantly picked up? Do you free feed and/or feed a lot of treats? Who feeds him? What kind of training have you done with him? And more specifically, have you done any "drop it" and "leave it" training with him? Can you describe what you mean by "run of the house"?

First of all, never response to aggression with aggression, it can worsen his behavior and make him more defensive and fearful. Grabbing him and putting him in his crate won't help, because it doesn't address the actual problem. Removal can help in certain situations, but in this case it looks like it won't. You have to train him separately the behaviors you want first. If he doesn't know what you want, he can't offer the behavior. "Drop it" training is very effect, and you should start with low value toys with high value foods. When he knows what "drop it" means, you can practice with various of objects with rewards. Once he's really good at it, you can gradually fade out the reward. "Leave it" too is another one you should train him to do. Both commands will give him a way understand what you want from him. Also, never shout or yell your commands, you want him to willingly and happily perform them and not out of fear.

However, if he doesn't response to commands you've taught him, and you know he knows them, then you'll know it's not miscommunication and he's actually asserting himself. Dogs do what works, and if being aggressive gets him what he wants, then he will keep doing it. Something is rewarding his bad behavior, and he won't change until he realizing being mean won't work. Never response or reward any act of aggression. He only gets fed, attention, play time, treats, etc when he is nice and calm. And he tries to be aggressive, either ignore it or stand your ground, he will learn that biting and snarling gets him nowhere. Don't let him have access to all of his toys at once, keep a few out and rotate them once a week so they stay enriching and new. Try give him some interactive toys and food toys, they will reward him with playing with them with treats and food.

And for the grass, dandelion, bark eating, he might be deficient in some sort of vitamin or mineral, and is trying to make up for it by eating other stuff. Or perhaps he's looking to settle his tummy, or find more fiber. Maybe he doesn't have enough interesting things to chew on?


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## dan m (May 19, 2012)

Wicket said:


> There is a difference between bribery and training your dog to willing drop the item you want. Bribery can lead to the dog only stopping for food, but doesn't teach a dog to leave the item alone or any of that sort. Bribery can also accidentally reward the wrong behavior can reinforce negative behavior.
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Thanks for the compliment.He's a real charmer when he goes to the nursing home. To answer some of your questions, we do walk him. He usually has to go out about every three hours on average. We don't restrict him from any rooms except the basement which is where the cats go when he becomes annoying to them. He won't go down the basement stairs. We close off the bedrooms at times. He does get a fair number of treats mainly after he goes potty. He loves fruits like apple, blueberries, and an occasional piece of banana. I also use his dry food as a treat.The vet suggested that we give him a small dosage of vitamin C tablet every day.He's had a couple of urinary tract infections in the last few months so he was on antibiotics.My wife does like to baby him. He gets washed and teeth brushed and collar removed every night before he goes to bed in his crate. As far as any by the book training, most our efforts were in the housebreaking department. It kind of sounds like I'm describing a child rather than a dog. I guess at times, they almost are like children. I haven't heard of the" drop it" training. I will definitely look into it. This is the first puppy that we have had so we're rookies in the training department. We've thought about getting some professional training for him. That's probably what we will do if we can't get him to not bite.


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## volito (Oct 14, 2010)

All good advise but I think issue is training you are on no training program. First thing it's a dog not a human and that doesn't mean you cannot show love....it's being a benevelant leader and installing the behaviors you want reward all good behaviors...the first issue your seeing is like mentioned above resource guarding flow that advise and get on a training g program. You control everything in the dogs environment he has to work for it. It might sound cruel but it's parenting we all do it with our kids and they turn out ok . Any questions ask away no question is a dumb question ask anything. 

Very good you seemed out advise  lovely dog just doesn't know what you want from him. Please no aversive training doesn't work only suppresses behavior doesn't can be it or fix problems.


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## Wicket (Aug 21, 2011)

dan m said:


> Thanks for the compliment.He's a real charmer when he goes to the nursing home. To answer some of your questions, we do walk him. He usually has to go out about every three hours on average. We don't restrict him from any rooms except the basement which is where the cats go when he becomes annoying to them. He won't go down the basement stairs. We close off the bedrooms at times. He does get a fair number of treats mainly after he goes potty. He loves fruits like apple, blueberries, and an occasional piece of banana. I also use his dry food as a treat.The vet suggested that we give him a small dosage of vitamin C tablet every day.He's had a couple of urinary tract infections in the last few months so he was on antibiotics.My wife does like to baby him. He gets washed and teeth brushed and collar removed every night before he goes to bed in his crate. As far as any by the book training, most our efforts were in the housebreaking department. It kind of sounds like I'm describing a child rather than a dog. I guess at times, they almost are like children. I haven't heard of the" drop it" training. I will definitely look into it. This is the first puppy that we have had so we're rookies in the training department. We've thought about getting some professional training for him. That's probably what we will do if we can't get him to not bite.


I'm so sorry, brick of text coming up, LOL.

He might be going through adolescences. Has he always been like this, or did this behavior just appeared out of nowhere? If this he never used to be like this, he probably is just being a moody teenage pup. Adolescent dogs will challenge rules and authority and see how far they can go with boundaries. They can be a pain in the butt (like human teenagers, lol). Exercise and training helps a lot in giving the dog something to focus on and exert extra energy. Also it'll be very important to keep enforcing the rules, or new rules, during this time.

When you walk him, how is the structure of the walk? Rituals are very important to dogs, and who goes out the door first will be the one who leads. Is he calm and waiting before you step out the door, or does he like to rush ahead of you? Also does he pull all over the place and does whatever he wants? Having him walk at your side or behind you will help better control what he has access to. What I like to do for my pup is give her permission to sniff in areas that I choose for a couple of minutes. I find a good spot, make her sit for a couple of seconds, and then give her the command "Go sniff" and encourage her to sniff around. When her time is up, I say "Let's go" to let her know the activity is over and it's time to walk again. If she doesn't stop and walk with me right away, I gentle pull on her leash and encourage her back to my side and continue walking. This will turn the act of sniffing around into a reward for walking nicely. Also, you become the leader and gain control over the overall walk.

Since you mention him damaging carpet and such, it might be a good idea to restrict more of his access to the house. The best thing to do is prevent him getting to the things that he likes to damage until you can trust he will be well-behaved when unsupervised. Basically you have to go back to square 1 in puppy basics, and supervise him all the time. Either have him closed off in the room/area you're in, tied to you on leash, have him in a play pen, or in his crate. Puppy-proof everything, make sure all things are off the ground and put away, use bitter-spray and deterrent on the stuff he likes to chew on that he's not supposed to chew on. This way you can catch him before he does something wrong, and catch him in the act as well. Have a few of his toys out that he can play with, and give him treats and attention when he does play with them and not anything else. 

What other things that trigger his aggression? Is it just the act of taking anything away from him? Or does he act up other times as well? Does he do it when you're not paying attention to him? Making him work for everything will help establish that you are the leader while also help building his patience and attention span towards you. It would be as simple a sit as long as he works for whatever it is that he wants. I'm assuming he's pretty good at going potty outside, so you can spread treats out to use for different things. In addition to using treats for training, you should also reward him for not doing anything. A lot of dog owners give attention to their dogs when they're doing something bad, but ignore them when they're sitting nice and quietly doing nothing wrong. Any attention to a dog is better than no attention, even if it is being yelled at. If you spot him laying around not destroying anything, being nice and calm, that would be a good time to give him a treat (calmly of course, lol), and shower him with attention.

Once you pinpoint the trigger to his aggression, you can work on training him not to respond aggressively. "Drop it" is when you train the dog to drop whatever that is in its mouth, or lets you take what it has from its mouth. "Leave it" is when the dog is trained to leave something alone, particularly something it has started to focus on. When you make dropping something fun, the dog will drop learn to like dropping what it has instead of defending it. There are plenty of ways to teach these two commands, and lots of youtube videos on these two. Sometimes you have to try a few different methods to find a way the dog will learn it most easily. I would also recommend desensitizing your dog to hands coming to its face, being touched on his face, and having his mouth touched and opened. This way the dog gets used to being touched and rewarded for not responding aggressively when having a hand approaches him. He might even learn to enjoy having his mouth opened, then you can gradually work on taking things out of his mouth. For example, when you go to pet his head, and he doesn't react negatively (ie growl, bite, snap, etc), he gets a treat and lots of praise. Repeat the process of touching and giving a treat, and each time get a little bit closer to his mouth. Touch him all sorts of ways when doing this desensitizing, poking, petting, rubbing, so he gets used to all sorts of touch. If he ever snaps, it means you’re going too fast and take a step back to where he was successful, and start over.

Overall, you’ll be working on getting him to learn to respect you and your rules. I can tell you that professional dog training might help, but it won’t work unless you change your perspective of him and how you treat him. Pekingese are stubborn so it might take a little bit of time for him to catch on, but if you’re consistent he will change. In life there is no such thing as a free lunch, so why should he be the exception when you pay all the bills, lol. He has to earn his living like everyone else


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