Help on herding vs biting

H

HeatherM

Forums Novice
Help....we have a situation at home and don't know how to handle. Our 3 year old male sheltie plays with my husband and they always seem to have a great time eventhough I think it gets a bit loud at times.
Here is the problem...today my husband was running down the hallway with our grandson in his arms chasing our son's dog. Well, our boy went and nipped..I should say bit my husband...about an inch wide and deep into his heel. Lots of blood and lots of drama needless to say. I am caught...was the Sheltie protecting the baby? Should the playing be more controlled? How do I convey that I see a 50-50 blame and try to have some methods of training so this does not happen again. I would hate for the grandson to get a bite if he starts running and chasing things..
I am the walker-feeder-lover with the dogs. My husband is the play toy...help! I don't want to lose my husband or the dog
 
I'm really sorry to hear about your problem. I do think the rough-house playing your husband initiates with your sheltie is a large contributing factor. Dogs tend to generalise things, so your husband initiates rough play and gets him really riled up. When your husband is playing with your grandson, he runs away, your dog is a sheepdog so gets excited when he runs away and 'plays rough' only dogs don't use their hands to play rough they use their teeth. Unfortunately, this often happens - dogs just don't understand what is and is not appropriate unless you teach them.

There are two things you need to do - one is to teach your dog to play calm, the other is to keep him away from your grandchildren when they play until he learns this.

Because your husband is the one he plays rough with the best approach is to enlist your husband's help in retraining him. Put it to him as a challenge to get the behaviour you all expect from him.

There are lots of ways to teach your dog better self control. When your husband interacts with your sheltie focus on teaching commands - basic obedience training or tricks for example - dogs do enjoy learning and this will teach him to enjoy things in a calm way. Puzzle games are also fun that don't get over-exciting, so hiding food under cups, or around the house, treat dispensers. If your sheltie gets excited put him in a sit or drop and don't release him until he has calmed down.

Because it will take time to teach him this new behaviour you need to keep him restrained when your grandkids are playing. Your dog probably understands he shouldn't be rough with the kids, but it's best to play safe. When the kids are playing your sheltie should be supervised & kept on lead, even better if you can do commands with him so he learns to stay calm when the kids are playing. If you can't supervise your sheltie on lead then put him in another room, you don't want him to get worked up when the kids are playing which is more likely to happen if he's in the same room.

I do think this is a problem that can be solved with a little bit of work. Dogs aren't the same as kids, so he needs to be taught what is appropriate behaviour for a dog. Shelties are smart dogs and they want to please people, so are responsive to learning how to be a good dog.
 
Thanks so much...I was of that thought process and just needed confirmation. All great suggestions and we will start the training exercises right away.
 
A quick note of encouragement. Shelties are very smart and they are able to seperate who they are allowed to play rough with and who they have to be controlled around.

When my dog runs with me, she will do the nipping at the heels (although it's never been a full bite! How painful for your husband!) but with my neices she very quickly learned she could chase, she could let them chase her, but no nipping, no jumping and no growling.

Just keep a close eye on him when he's with the grandchildren and immediately correct if he shows any overly rambuctious behavior. (my neice helped with this by being a bit of a drama queen whenever Honey would try to grab her skirt, or jump. She'd cry bloody murder!)
 
Caro is bang on!

Also like to add that Shelties herding/chasing/nipping is so instinctual it is a tough one to change! So, in the meantime it becomes management, kids and dogs don't get to play chase games, and when they happen keep dog occupied otherwise. Teach interruption behaviours, like oh u get rough then do a session of down and then a sit and then sit/down and a stay. I call them puppy push ups, dog's can't concentrate on that and on the ruckus of kids playing at the same time, have high value treats available for that type of mental exercise, to get her watching you instead (or hubby)

Could also been added over stimulation, frustration and herding coming together that it became such a bad bite.
Now that you know you can definitely manage this, and I hope you're hubby is feeling ok!
 
You should never encourage a herding dog to herd people. Its instinctual. So play that includes running and evading the Sheltie is really not a good idea. I learned this the hard way with my first Sheltie. Shelties do need to run and herd.

My suggestion....get a big bouncy ball and teach your dog to herd it instead! This worked wonders for me when my two boys were at the top of their herding instinct. They herd each other or herd the ball. But not people anymore!
 
BarbV said:
You should never encourage a herding dog to herd people. Its instinctual. So play that includes running and evading the Sheltie is really not a good idea. I learned this the hard way with my first Sheltie. Shelties do need to run and herd.

My suggestion....get a big bouncy ball and teach your dog to herd it instead! This worked wonders for me when my two boys were at the top of their herding instinct. They herd each other or herd the ball. But not people anymore!
Click to expand...

Oh my god, Honey loves herding her balls! Isn't it funny to watch? They see your foot twitch and they get that super intense stare, with the whole body quivering.

Also cats...cats are good for getting the herding instinct worked out safely. I recommend a whole gaggle of them :lol:
 
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