# My chi bit me hard :^(



## Orson Welles (Sep 14, 2005)

Hello,
I am so  upset, about a half an hour ago Gizmo ran to his room with something in his mouth. My husband went to get it out of his mouth and then for the first time he growled. Then I stepped in and told him to drop it as he has always done in the past but instead he lashed out and bit my middle finger. I then picked him with the blood gushing everywhere and placed him in his crate as a time out. Has any of you chi mom's out there had this happen to you before? He was always so loving, never had food agression or any type of agression. I never thought my chi would bite me, maybe growl or shred the pee pad up but not this.
Please help


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## foxywench (Feb 7, 2005)

sounds like you responded VERY well considering the situation. it might just have been something he REALY wanted, make sure to over the next few days to take things form his mouth on an often basis, make him wait untill your done with it before giving it back to him. use something like drop it leave it or mine (i use mine with my chis)
sometimes they forget, is he neutered? he might be getting to that age...

id say you did the right thing and hope this is a one off. and take care of that finger!


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## Orson Welles (Sep 14, 2005)

Thank you for your advice!
Yes he was neutered in early January. He is now nine months old. I guess maybe he really wanted the leaf or he was trying to test me. I'm not giving up my pack leader position :wink:


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## foxywench (Feb 7, 2005)

oodfor you, hes about the teenager stage now so just make sure to constantly remind him whos in charge, he was probably seeing if youd give in if he actually whent through...im implressedyou stood your ground (iknow a hole in your finger can be rather distracting) hopefully though him seeing you havent backed down he wont try it again!


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## CM Katie (Sep 28, 2005)

Carl looves Kleenex, and he always manages to steal one from my mom's pocket, or grab it while she's blowing her nose. :roll: 
He had one in his mouth and when I tried to get it away from him he growled and was mad because he REALLY wanted it. 
On walks I'm constantly prying his mouth open to get things out because he's always picking up pieces of paper and cigarette butts (eww)

Sounds like you handled the situation very well.

edit: Do most chis go through the "teenager" period where they test their owners?


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## trixiesmom (Jan 31, 2006)

Last week when Trixie was sick she bit me also. She was 3 in November and this was the first time she ever did it. Blood was running down my finger too. I was so upset, because she just don't do that to me. I think it was cause she was so miserable frdue to the reaction to her meds.


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## Bijou (Aug 6, 2005)

:wave: I have a different opinion. One I hope that you are at least open to hearing:

I had a dog trainer once tell me to STOP taking things from my dogs and not rewarding them for giving it up. She also told me to STOP petting my dog or taking the food away while they are eating. She called that "harrassing your dog" :shock: . At first I was a little ticked off at her but I at least took the time to listen to her reasoning and wound up agreeing with her.

She told me that if you continue to take take take from your dog then your dogs starts to get the idea that that is all you will do and that he has to "up the ante" to get you to stop this. She told me that instead of taking things from the dog to "trade up". To practice with things that are not of high value to the dog and walk over to the dog and take it but immediately give him something of higher value (a treat). And when the dog finishes the treat, give the item back.

Well, I tried it on my new puppy (who is now almost 6 years old) and let me tell you, when I tell her to drop something or I take something from her she actually gets excited because it very well may mean that something better is to come of it. I have actually trained her to bring pencils and pens to me in exchange for treats because she used to chew them all up. Now if she finds one she immediately brings it to me and clicks it in her teeth or whines if I don't notice she has it. I tell her "Bring it here. Drop it" and she does and she gets a treat. Sure beats the heck out of cleaning ink out of the carpet 10 times a week :lol: .

And the food bowl thing. I told my trainer that if I didn't put my hands in my dog's food that she would become protective over it and expect to be left alone while eating and that would be bad. Well, this is what happened. My older dog Tasha, trained the "old way" would freeze up like a board any time we came near her food bowl. I would pet her and she would just stand there WAITING for me to take it from her like I would do sometimes.

So, I tried what my trainer told me about the food bowl with my new dog (the 6 year old) and instead of taking anything I would walk by the food bowl and either put a treat in the bowl or add a few more pieces of kibble while she was eating. I would talk to her or give her a pat and stick my hand in the bowl while adding good stuff to it. WOW! The difference in attitudes between these two dogs :shock: . Tasha (old one) freezing up and getting nervous when people approached her bowl, and Ginger, new dog wagging her tail and smiling and waiting for the something wonderful to happen. I know which I prefer.

When we take from our dogs and that's what we always do, some day they are going to react to that! They are dogs and that's the only way they know how to fix the "problem". 

Just something to think about. Maybe next time you see your dog with something it shouldn't have, find something it wants MORE and see if it will "trade up".

Deb


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## Kari (May 13, 2004)

:shock: Deb I think that makes perfect sense!


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## Ory&C (Mar 20, 2005)

Relationship between the dog and his owner has to be established as soon as the puppy comes home. Since day one, he has to realize that whatever happens in the house is your own decision. It's you who gives and takes food and everything else for that matter...... this is how I started with Billy. Every time I gave him a treat or a bone, I took it away straight afterwords. After few seconds I repeated that. I did the same thing with his food. I fed him from my hand bit by bit, so he realized that whatever he gets, he has to earn it....... I would give him a simple command and then he got his food.
He ALWAYS respected me as his Alfa and never ever objected that. He problem arose when my parents or my brother wanted to take something and he started growling. I simply told him to firmly place 2 fingers around his muzzle and shake it gently. This is what I've seen mothers do to puppies when they crossed their line. It worked....he never ever growled at any one of them afterwords!

Hope this helps a bit! :wave:


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## kidd24 (Feb 15, 2006)

That is very clever, Bev! I am doing the same with feeding my puppy, so she seems quite relaxed about me approaching her food. Also when she has managed to get a sock or something that is not hers, I would ignore her, so that she does not think that I am threatening, but try and attract her attention to something else that I know she likes. If it toilet paper though, I take it from her straight away and she knows she is not allowed it. 
If my puppy bit me, she will be in a lot of trouble, probably I would do the same- put her in her crate for sometime. Actually probably it would take me much longer to forget about it and start behaving normally with her, especially if I have a bleeding wound. You have done well with your reaction and I hope the wound is healing quickly.

 Kremena


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## foxywench (Feb 7, 2005)

i do agree with the whole dont just take it and give nothing in return...thye just need to know that your top dog and when you want it you get it but they will get it back.
and i agree with not messing with the dog while there eating too, the wy i always taught mine with food wasid sit with the bowl in my lap, they quickly learnt i wasnt going to steal their food, i would even put my hand in take a peice and feed it to them...
they do tend to become defensive when they know your just going to take it, thats why when you do take something from them and they dont tell you off make a big fuss, then give them a toy or the thing back...that way they know agressive behaviour means bad and sharing means give them a few minutes and theyll give it me back...

ive NEVER had a problem with any kind of food or teat agression...and i totally atribute it to the way ive trained my dog (none of my dogs have EVER been to a day of obedience school in their lives)
i can take things form their mouths and not even a peep they lok at me as if to ask why, and i tell them...if its something they shoudlnt have i say "no...bad pencil" then i give them a toy or chewy and in a happy tone say "good toy!" if its just a toy i want (if imjust refreshing or realy wnat to check out the stiching or something i take it and say "thank you" they give it to me, i look it over if it needs fixing i say "hospital" then again give them an ok toy and say "good toy" and if its fine i say "all better" and give it them back...they know that its not gone forever and that they dont have to be defensive because im pack leader and whatthe alpha wants...(this is exactly what would happen with wolves, if a sub has something they want they go over take it off them and when they get bored with it they give it back (or leave it) for the ub to come get it back)
i can put my hand in the food dish and they will just eat around my hand carefully...there very comfortable with me removing things form thier mouth ect because i desensitived them to it from day one.

BUT...there are HUNDREDS of sucessfull ways to train a dog, my way worked for us just as bijous way worked for them...and i truly belive the key to trainign a dog is working together to find a method that works best for those involved.

i do think you did the right thing...by not showing any fear, which is definatly the key point here, now he (hopefully) knows that you are indeed the alpha and him snapping and growling just gets him a time out...


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## lalaNlucky (Jan 10, 2006)

just a territorial thing, it's easy to forget that they are dogs and they have certain wild instinct traits that we aren't able to control, just as if he were in the wild and had food, he'd lash out at a pack member if they tried to take it...

the only time ive EVER heard my cat hiss @ me was when i took a lizard from her that she found in the house, ewww. she was so mad.


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## Orson Welles (Sep 14, 2005)

Thanks everyone for the advice! You all make me feel better  
I guess in the end he is an animal and has those animal instincts. It is odd that he only likes to eat out of my hands and will let me take anything else out of his mouth until the last night incident. It was a dried up leaf from outside; maybe it had the scent of another animal on it? You know I have tried the trade thing with a pupperoni and it works great but sometimes whether it be a sharp piece of plastic or what ever else he gets in his mouth I have no time to waste and have many times pried his mouth open to take it out. I hope this will be the last bite incident, it's just so sad I never thought he would bite the hand that feeds him.


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## Katie (Apr 9, 2005)

debs post should be a sticky


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## dolly'sgrandma (Nov 8, 2005)

Dolly bit me once, (no blood, but yowzers that hurt) and I was so surprised that I roared NO at her in a tone I hadn't used before or since. She immediately went to a submissive position, I picked her up after I calmed down and all was well. She hasn't even thought of doing THAT again!

I really liked that trainer's info though. I don't have an issue with food with any of my dogs and ME, the problem is they growl at each other. I'm feeding them all in separate rooms and it's a pain. I do love dog psychology and always try to have an open mind. They are such interesting little creatures.


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## Bijou (Aug 6, 2005)

Orson Welles said:


> You know I have tried the trade thing with a pupperoni and it works great but sometimes whether it be a sharp piece of plastic or what ever else he gets in his mouth I have no time to waste and have many times pried his mouth open to take it out.


Thanks Katie! That's very nice of you to say.

Well, Bijou learned VERY early that if she has something and I decide that I'll go investigate she will just quickly SWALLOW it so I can't take it from her :evil: ! So if she has something small enough to swallow I just keep my fingers crossed that she'll get bored with it and leave it unattended long enough for me to snatch it. Most times, it does not work that way. I told my husband "That dog is an obstruction waiting to happen  

Dolly's Grandma, I would have done the same thing.


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## Sugar.Geisha (Dec 21, 2005)

Im still helping Roxie eat a bit, she wont eat straight from her bowl unless I give her a bit from my hands so I guess that shes getting used to the idea that I give to her but Im glad I read this now because as she gets more confident I will do what you suggested Debs!!


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