[BoxerMom07]

Our wonderful 6 month old male (neutered) Gus is showing signs of having a short fuse.
He wrestles and plays well then it is like he just snaps and gets angry? Is this typical? We Try to correct him with scolding him or if he starts to bites, he gets a quick slap (does not always work) .
Time if you do a correcting spank or slap it just makes him worse than it is. Or if you just stop playing with him he will just give up and go away.
Then there are times you can be just sitting minding your own buisness and he will come up and push his body into your legs (body slam) and pick a fight, he does this with our older dog just to egg her on? Is this all normal and will he grow out of it ? Or do I need a shock collar. lol
Help the older and bigger he gets I think could get way out of control.

 

[BoxerMom07]

I forgot, this behavior is not all the time but there are just some weeks when it is worse than others.
And don't get the wrong ideas that we slap and beat on him there is no abuse in our house , really lack of .... they tend to run the house since we have no children ... get the jist.. thanks all

 

[summer]

hmm im not real sure i will be much help, harley does get overly excited and rilled up when we play sometimes, but never to the point that i think she would seriously do anything to me or anyone..i guess she can be kinda aggresive but not in a scary way if that makes sense. usually a good "harley NO!!" will calm her right down and she will just stop playing.  when she was younger we did spank her with a rolled up newspaper. it was more of the sound that scared her.  she is now 3 and listens when i yell "NO!" maybe try usuing a very deep and stern voice with him? that always works with harley but i know every dog is different.  she will also pick fights with our smaller dog, not real fights just wanting to play, like go and nudge her a few times, but since my smaller dog is the alpha and will snap at harley she just walks away lol.

 

[lillyzmomma]

Advice from a behaviorist and trainer:

Someone on here is probably going to take offense to this, but offending someone is not my intent!!!  

You should the dog body language stickey.  Analyze ti for your dos behavior, but also consider that your dog may be reacting to your behavior.  To add to that, if you are playing rough with your dog and pushing him into a more riled state (not saying that youare or aren't, yo may even be unaware of this).

Giving your dog a "quick slap" (I know what you mean by this, I don't necessarily think your abusing your dog, but I do think your taking the wrong steps to stop this behavior) is the wrong thing to do with a dog that is being dominant aggressive (tentative analysis leads me to believe that he is dominant and becoming aggressive during play; I need more info to be sure).  When you strike a dog that is in or going into "the red zone", you are actually teaching them that they have GOOD reason to bite and become aggressive because you aren't trustworthy, they aren't safe aroung you, and that they must defend themselves.  

The dominant, possibly aggressive issues that you are dealing with are of your own making.  Don't rough house with your dog until you can control his behavior.  Re-establish yourself as leader through training and appropraite play.

Could you please give me some info on his body language so that I may give you some clear steps to take to help resolve this issue.

Liz and Lilly

 

[southerngirls]

Liz is great on these topics! i would give as much info needed-she has helped with my girls being skittish (still a work in progress but showing improvement) hopefully she will be as much help to you as she was and still is to me

 

[tootsie]

You should never, ever, slap your dog, no matter how minor the slap is. This could be a major part of Gus' behavior problems. Boxers are extremely sensitive dogs. When you slap, you have set back Gus

 

[BoxerMom07]

Thanks all, Liz and Tootsie make sense but when we play or if he just comes us and throws his body, gets real stiff bodied egg you on to wrestle .. you can see when you are close to crossing the line, his facial expressions and his whole deminor (?on spelling) changes. I try real hard to not let it get to that point. He will bark, jump back and forth with you and then can lunge at you and bite(sometimes playing sometimes rough)
I have a thought that it is like Liz says , its a dominant think that he wants to be the pack leader and he is just testing the waters. Being male and him and my husband (passive, play mate) are the only males in the house. He torments my older mixed female (she don't take crap from him) and myself seem to be the only ones that try to keep rules in the house.
I love him and just don't want him to become an angry adult that you always have to worry about. I have considered the training class @ petsmart just to give him some more structure and social skills. Is this good or bad?
Thanks all

 

[lillyzmomma]

I recommend that you train him yourself...Why, you ask?  This will re-establish you as the leader, reinforce the pack structure, teach him manners and appropriate play, teach him boundaries, and strengthen your bond and trust with him.  It is completely do-able and will save you money.

Should you choose to do a training class, do your research.  There are ppl on here that think petsmart is a good place to go for training, but I feel that petsmart is cookie cutter training.  Read the stickey on how to find a good trainer.

Another point I would like to make is that your boy is only six months old.  He is coming into a new stage of development (adolensce [sp?]), and has at least two more to go through.  If he hasn't been doing this long, then it is likely just a stage.  Training and patience can resolve the issues your dealing with, but because he is so young, he is likely to throw new "issues" at you when he hits a new stage of development.

We have a regular chat on Sunday's and a training chat on Wednesday's that you migt want to consider participating in.  You can ask questions and get some great answers.

Remember...aggression begets aggression, so no more hitting.  

Hope this helps and if you have more questions...just ask!!!

Liz and Lilly

 

[mybox1]

I have two little boys.....I have told them that if they play with our pups to make sure that they have a toy with them at all times......so when the bititng does happen, they are to immdiately say "no bites", and put the toy in the dogs mouth.....then say good girl, bite toy.  It seems to be working.  We have also, recommended from the Boxer magaizne, done the "mine and yours".....when the dog bites, my kids, and us as well, calmly have said "mine" and the dog immediatley lets go of what ever is in their mouth.....we then, again, give them a toy and say yours.  We have had really good success with this!  It is more of a game for them....they caught on very quickly!  Good luck to you!  Thos pup teeth sure hurt!!

 

[BoxerMom07]

Thank you to all of you ,  Liz, it really helps to know that there are people like you out there to help thru the stages with him, since this is my first boxer he is so different than the other dogs that i have had.
We have plenty of toys, from soft squeekie toys to balls to kongs, tug ropes (whole basket full) and I work alot from that box also rewarding him when i ask for something and he gets the chore done.
Thanks again

 

[JessiesMom]

[quote="tootsie\";p=\"18582":ydud8pyd]You should never, ever, slap your dog, no matter how minor the slap is. This could be a major part of Gus' behavior problems. Boxers are extremely sensitive dogs. When you slap, you have set back Gus

 

[tootsie]

That reminds me of something that happened in my old neighborhood. One day I was out in the backyard with Buster and my neighbors that were caddy corner to me had two dogs, a black lab and a golden retriever. Well, I was outside and all of a sudden I hear "Barney get the *%#* out of there". Followed by a huge cry or howl. Well, I went over to the fence and looked through and this woman was hitting Barney, the golden, with a broom. I don't know how I did this, but I scaled that fence, ran over to that woman, ripped the broom from her hands and wacked her right in the butt with the broom stick. I said "Lady, how the *%#* do you like it?" I then proceeded to tell her that if I ever saw or heard something like that again, I will call the cops on her. Well, then her husband comes out and threatens to call the cops on me, get the hell off of their property, blah, blah, blah. I never again did hear or see her treat her dogs badly. All because the dog peed on her marigolds! Sick people! Although I guess I could be considered crazy by the way I over react sometimes! When it comes to dogs and babies....I just can't sit by and not do anything. My husband keeps telling me I over react, but I just can't help it!  :?

 

[samsonsmom]

Way to go Tootsie! I would have done the same thing....Flowers can be replaced, very easily, there was no excuse for that...Tia used to dig up my cactus all the time, I just shook my head, laughed and re planted the poor things....

 

[bubba]

I am guilty of slapping Zeus and Dante a while back because they would go crazy on me in play. And sometimes bite pretty good but never made me bleed. But it just makes it worse by slapping them because they think it is time to rough house. Now i give them assertive "No and Calm Down" so they know i dont want that kind of play. And i put them into a  submissive state by putting him on his side until they calm down usually only Dante because he wont stop. But i am working on them as well so they will stop this behavior.

 

[Flutterby]

LOL!! Lisa, I just spit my tea everywhere!!! I'm sorry but I'm picturing you smacking this woman's hind end with a broom (and I just got done watching Practical Magic so brooms are like at the top of my head tonight!!).. My mom had a whole row of flowers in this garden thing up the side of my house.. My lord did my mum love this garden that she took care of so well... After Mia came: DIRT EVERYWHERE! FLOWERS ALL OVER THE YARD! MUDDY PAW PRINTS ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE!! ... and all my mum did was laugh... Thank goodness she's an animal lover like me!!  :lol:

 

[Honeyec]

Ah yes, I lost a whole crop of carrots and baby gem lettuce to my pair  :x No witnesses to the crime, but I have my suspicions that Tink was the ringleader.

We have a red yard brush that she's always been afraid of for some reason, so if she's being bold we just wave that at her and she stops right away.  It's funny the things they take exception to - we had an inflatable penguin a while back that Hector was TERRIFIED of.  Although we came home one day and all we were able to find of it was a foot and the beak, so he obviously overcame his fear eventually...