# Shark Attacks at 9 months



## Gatsby2015 (Oct 26, 2015)

Hi everyone,
Gatsby will be 9 months March 16th. His shark attacks seem to have amped back up. I'm wondering if this is normal, or if he has a temperament/behavior issue?
Some background: He doesn't do it to my husband, and all he has done to stop it is use a firm No and a tap on the nose with one finger. He only had to do that a couple times, and it was very light. Gatsby adores him and follows him all over too. Gatsby will shark me and my daughters. I have tried freezing like a tree (he just keeps nipping and tears my clothing); squirting him with a water bottle and saying, "no bite" (he stops until he sees me put down the bottle); screaming like I'm hurt (this will work if I scream so loud that I'm afraid the neighbor's will hear, and then when he stops, he throws his head back and howls. And then he may or may not continue nipping); and shouting in a firm voice, "no". He seems to do it mostly in early evening. I don't think he is bored or frustrated. He has some leg problems, so he is not an athletic dog, but he is not in pain either. He gets an hour almost every day off leash. He's rarely home alone. My mom dog sits for us about 2 hours a day and walks him, plays with him, etc.. or we use a great doggie day care. He likes his crate and will go in in on his own and stay happily inside when we do need to go out. He goes to a puppy class once a week. He sleeps in my bed. He is really great with 'leave it', and will leave any treat, even meat, until we say 'okay', and he is not aggressive or possessive with food or toys. He appears to be easily trained and is affectionate other than the sharking. So I am at a loss as to why he will not stop the sharking. He doesn't break the skin, but he has bruised my hand and wrists up. It is a daily occurrence too. I know there have been many posts about shark attacks, but I could use a refresher. I'm exasperated and wondering if it will stop, if I'm doing something wrong, or if he has a problem we need to figure out? Thanks so much.


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

Gatsby2015 said:


> Gatsby will be 9 months March 16th. His shark attacks seem to have amped back up. I'm wondering if this is normal, or if he has a temperament/behavior issue?
> 
> So I am at a loss as to why he will not stop the sharking. He doesn't break the skin, but he has bruised my hand and wrists up. It is a daily occurrence too. I know there have been many posts about shark attacks, but I could use a refresher. I'm exasperated and wondering if it will stop, if I'm doing something wrong, or if he has a problem we need to figure out? Thanks so much.


Normal. Dexter's amped back up around 8-9 months as well and I was at a loss. I'd say by a year he was doing a lot better and they became much more infrequent. As he got older, they seemed to be related to his zoomies. Anytime he would get zoomies, he'd get sassy and sharky (probably from being overtired or overstimulated). What eventually worked for us (we tried many of the same things you have with similar results) was giving him a command (usually "sit"). Dexter got much more obedient as he got older, as a pup he wouldn't necessarily follow a command or have that level of impulse control. Now a command will snap him out of it. Occasionally he still gets riled up on leash, but he usually channels it towards trying to wrestle our other dog instead, ha. We also know to anticipate his zoomies (he always zooms after on leash walks) and will keep him on leash until we can turn him loose in the yard. We realized that Dex did shark me more than my husband, but I think a lot of that was just due to the fact that I had him at his zoomie times since I did all the on leash walks and other things that triggered the zooms. It will improve over time, especially if you keep up his obedience work.


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## Gatsby2015 (Oct 26, 2015)

Thank you!


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

You have my sympathy! I'm pretty sure I wrote the exact post you did right about 2 years ago  (Our V is now almost 3.)


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## parkerthevizsla (Mar 3, 2016)

Hello! I read your post and it sounded like deja vu. My vizsla (parker) is only 3 months old but I am having the exact same problem. He doesn't bite my husband and if he does its a gentle playing nibble. Parker treats me like a toy and bites me and scratches me and barks at me. I have tried everything, from staying still to ignoring him and walking away, to screaming ow, even tried yelping like a puppy. I have tried holding his mouth, firmly tapping his nose. He sees everything I do as more playing and he just gets more aggressive. When I walk he runs and bites my shoes and ankles. If I am sitting he bites me and I will try replacing it with a toy but he still goes after me. If I move my hands out of his reach he bites my arm or clothes or any other part of me. He is very painful and I worry that he is seeing me as an aggressive play toy rather than authority. But I can't figure out to get him to stop or at least be a little gentler.


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## Pecan_and_BB (Jun 15, 2015)

parkerthevizsla said:


> Parker treats me like a toy and bites me and scratches me and barks at me.


Not to be arrogant or sound critical, but if you believe Parker treats you like a toy, it's because you allow him to. Vs and other breeds at young ages absolutely hate to be left alone, and usually it only takes 30 seconds to a minute of you putting them in alone time for them to get the picture that you mean business when they do not listen. I wrote a long post here: http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php/topic,39089.msg281033.html#msg281033 in regards to what has worked for me. One more thing, everyone in the household needs to follow through with whatever training and discipline for unwanted behaviour regimen that you implement to ensure your dog understands that the rules apply to everyone.


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