# Unpredictable, biting, spastic behavior issue



## JillandDan (Sep 8, 2010)

Holley has been having her stomach issues, after the vet attempting various things it seems like she is getting straightened out. Now we have a new problem, seems we cannot have a good day with her ever.

Just as of this weekend, whenever we go outside to her usual potty grounds, she will normally pee, but when it comes time to go sniff to find her #2 spot, she plants her nose deep on the ground, sits there for a second and takes a deep breath, then goes completely nuts. she runs to every end of her leash, around in circles, and barks. then, she does it all over again. She will do this over and over until we decide we have had enough and go inside. I swear its like someone put some cocaine in the grass just because they wanted to see how she and the other dogs in the building would react.

Jill always gets home first in the evenings and goes outside, plays, etc. Suddenly today, whenever Jill attempts to put her coat on, Holley will again go completely nuts, run all over the apartment, and jump trying to bite Jill. I asked Jill to show this to me, and just as she said Holley went nuts. I caught Holley in the air during one of her attempts at biting Jill, put her on her back, and told her NO! I had Jill come over and stand over her to show her we are in charge and she is bottom dog in the pack. The entire time all she tried to do was bite us.

Her behavior has done a complete 180. Whenever she is going nuts, her eyes get this devilish look in them, her pupils get really big to the point where you cannot see color any longer. Whenever she calms down, her eyes return to normal. We are at a loss as to what is causing this. I can say that she saw rabbits outside one night and now always looks for them, but I don't know if this behavior is due to this. Also, her food was changed as per the vet to Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal food until we figured out what was causing her stomach issues (she just got done a de-worming regime and was on Iams puppy prior). We will be switching to Wellness once her stool is consistant.

Any ideas or input is welcome. She is 4.5 months old.


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## Chilli monster (Sep 16, 2010)

Jill and Dan, puppies we all been there.... when my partner was a bit down with the fact that it is hard to have a quite time i found this on one of the websites... and its true....

Puppies Life:

"Months 1-4 - Preschool thru elementary age. Learns to navigate the world, establish appropriate social skills with people and other animals. At 3-4 months puppies still rely on knowing where you are at all times for their safety. This strong orienting (following) reflex means it's a great time to teach come when called! They are sponges looking to learn the language and communicate. Exploration - touch, taste, smell. Teething - everything goes in the mouth. Puppy zooms! Crazy wild running."

and we find out lots of mental stimulation will helps: 10-20 minutes every evening (plus extra mornings at weeknds) teach her tricks sits, downs, stays, fetch and it will wear her down a bit.... lots of treats and praise... make it fun, but demand... Vizslas are born to please you... and they need a job even if they are 4.5mts old 

Also my breeder told me about kind of soil and plants which are really tasty which his dogs are crazy about, they and we still do not know which one these are but our Chilli had her moments of "nose in the ground and eat it" quite often too....

Good luck.... and try to read some of the articles from this website... really reassuring for frustrated puppy owners!!! http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/


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## Chilli monster (Sep 16, 2010)

me again,

also she is possibly teething now, so bitting and chewing is absolutly normal... try to keep as many chews around you and unfortunately hands still looks like chews


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## Mercutio (Jan 18, 2010)

Also, you might want to re-think the "top dog" - "bottom dog" approach. Dominance theory in domestic dogs is largely discredited these days. Have a look at this:

http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/dominance statement.pdf


Puppy school as soon as you can will probably help heaps, i found with merc that keep his brain busy was far more effective than trying to physically tire him out.

Good luck


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## labeda14 (Nov 14, 2009)

hi jill & dan,

well, we feel your pain! maggie is almost 11 months now and has calmed down significantly...but in the 5-8 months range she drove us CRAZY! we nicknamed her "shark"...because she would constantly jump & bite.

i think the best thing to do is tell her no...then get a toy to put in her mouth (we found a tug toy works best, since she's really just trying to play with you!)....praise her when she's chewing on the toy and not on you. we tried the putting her on her back thing too, but we didn't get anywhere with it...and with those long legs, we just ended up getting bit AND kicked!

maggie still will occassionally just stand and bark at us (and bark and bark and bark) or bite at our hands when she wants to play...but it has gotten MUCH better...so hang in there, i know it's stressful!


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## Tulip (Feb 14, 2010)

I tried the laying on the back thing too and just ended up getting hoofed and kicked while he gave me a "I retain the power" look. It does get better, that's all I can say....


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## Kobi (Oct 26, 2010)

I noticed with Kobi that he wasn't willing to "submit" when I was trying to calm him down. When he is biting, I have tried various suggestions to stop a dog from biting. Put my hand around his mouth (so he can't open it), put my finger in his mouth and one under his jaw, push his cheeks in so he was biting himself... all of these made him go CRAZY and just become uncontrollable. Now when I grab his mouth, he calms down and does not go crazy about it, so I think he is starting to learn. I don't know what caused this change but it happened over about a week.


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## JillandDan (Sep 8, 2010)

Thank you all for the advice. We have more chew toys then you can imagine. We buy one or two more everytime we go to the store. We also put one in her mouth whenever she starts biting. However, this jumping and biting whenever I put my coat on just started yesterday. I am telling her "NO" but it just seems to excite her more. 
It seems like you all got beat up as well with putting them on their backs so at least we aren't alone with that. haha. She kicks and bites the entire time. I guess we will just keep working on it.


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

That all sounds like playfull behavior. I wouldn't worry about it. It will pass. My 7 month old still does that every now and then and it is usually just before he needs to go potty. After that he calms down. If she is doing it prior to going out; and you know that she doesn't have to go like really bad, then you want to slow her down, make her sit and make her back away from the door multiple times until she submits and gives you the space. Stay calm, firm and patient and never let her go through the door before you. I'm sure it's teething or potty related. Do some experimenting and you will figure it out. She is actually trying to tell you that she is having a rough time of it.


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Like Mercutio, I tend not to use dominance theory as a guide for training. But since we were advised by others to flip Rosie on her back, clamp her jaws shut, etc--we tried all that. All that happened was she got more and more amped up. What really worked for us (turned out to be what our puppy instructor at the local SPCA recommended) was brief time-outs, i.e., turn your back on the dog, and if she keeps biting, separate yourself behind a door for a brief time (not so long that she has time to get into too much trouble on the other side of the door). You may have to leave the room repeatedly until she stops trying to nip you when you come back in. It's normal behavior for her age, so even if you did nothing about it, she will probably simply outgrow it. But best to try to discourage it.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

JillandDan said:


> Thank you all for the advice. We have more chew toys then you can imagine. We buy one or two more everytime we go to the store. We also put one in her mouth whenever she starts biting. However, this jumping and biting whenever I put my coat on just started yesterday. I am telling her "NO" but it just seems to excite her more.
> It seems like you all got beat up as well with putting them on their backs so at least we aren't alone with that. haha. She kicks and bites the entire time. I guess we will just keep working on it.


 I agree with everyone else. It sounds like she is just trying to encourage you to play with her.
She's also pretty young for much physical type correction. Distraction and refocusing her energy elsewhere will probably work out just fine.


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