Corgi biting on legs

[HoW.Corgi]

Hey, my corgi is about 4 months old and since he has been biting me and my other family members on the leg. The worst bite he has given me is biting at where my thigh and leg meet. He has also bitten me until i had bled. So far i have tried pinning him down, saying no and let go(he comes back and start biting me), and ignoring him.

Everytime i start playing with Yoshi(my puppy) he starts biting me a few minutes after. I do not play tug of war with him btw. Yes i do freak out because it hurts like heck.

Oh, he also keeps biting the leash everytime I put it on him. Every time i try to put the leash like over his head he rolls over and bites on it. I'd really appreciate help XD
Thank you,

HoW.Corgi

[Jespah]

Welcome HoW.Corgi,

We have had quite a few threads recently about biting and nipping puppies. First off, it's a Corgis nature, their herding instinct, to nip at legs, they were bred to nip the fetlocks of cattle to get them moving. Secondly, he's a puppy testing his power and giving his puppy teeth a workout. However, inappropriate biting when he is a puppy must be stopped ASAP. If you go to the Forums main page a do a search on "biting" you will find several threads we've had in the past few weeks on this very issue - there's some good advice in there.

The first and best thing everyone who he does this to can do is squeal, yelp or yell when he does it. That's what a fellow pup or his mother would do - he understands that means he's gone too far.

Check out the threads - let us know if you need more help.

[HoW.Corgi]

i have been yelping and squeling but he just comes back and start biting me. i also pinned him down till he calmed down, he did the same thing and came back and started to bite me he doesnt "nip" its a sharp strong bite , i have like deep wounds because of it >.>

[Michael Romanos]

One of the things you are doing wrong with your nippy, playful and mischievious little Corgi pup, is treating the problem too physically rough - and you probably vacalise too loudly as well.
Do a search on Go Corgi for the recent item I posted titled either "Puppy nipping' or "nipping puppy" and there are a series of steps you can take to rectify the situation. If you have any trouble getting to this information, let me know.

Many Corgi pups don't realise that they are grabbing hard out and hurting the ones they want to play with and get attention from. It is only a temporary thing.

[Chip's Mom]

A corgi doesn't do well with rough handling and it only makes the matter worse. Positive reinforcement works well. It took us awhile to teach Chip not to bite or play so rough and I still have a scar on my leg where he got overzealous and caught his lower canine in my leg. He was just playing and was not punished for this. I just yelped real loud. Chip still herds me all the time but he doesn't bite any more. He is almost one year old now. I would not pin a little four month old corgi down. I would think that he might try to bite harder to get away. He also may become fearful of you and that is not the type of relationship you want with your pup.

[HoW.Corgi]

Well, I tried yelping today and walking away, he just comes back and bites me. I also tried the no chew spray or the bitter spray but how come he likes it? He just bites it more and more . Well thanks for your suggestions, I'll still need some more help. Oh one more question, How do you get the dog to stop biting the leash because it's really obnoxious when my puppy does it.

[Chip's Mom]

Have you enrolled your pup in puppy kindergarden? That is a good way to socialize your pup and train him to be well mannered. Chip has been in obedience class since he was about 6 months old and he still (every once in awhile) will take ahold of his leash. I just keep walking and don't pay any attention to him and he drops his leash and keeps walking. Your pup may just want to play - that is why Chip does it.

[HoW.Corgi]

Oh well thanks but is obedience school kind of like a day care? And how much will it cost?

[Michael Romanos]

Gee, you have a lot to learn - so isn't wonderfull you have joinded Go Corgi where members are so willing to help and all for the good of the Corgi and his/her owner/s.

No puppy training is not day care. Day care is where dogs are kept while the owners are absent. Puppy training is where you and your puppy go for obedience and handling-type training so that you and your Corgi can relate to each other better and both can be better behaved and understood. This training is carried out by dog clubs and other organisations including some vet clinics and have weekly timetables such as week nights or Saturday/Sunday mornings, for around an hour.

You would be well advised to join up as soon as possible. There should be a dog club (all breeds club) or a dog training club or such, in your area.

[HoW.Corgi]

i see, thank you

[Michael Romanos]

In NZ, group puppy training is relatively inexpensive. A couple of reasons is that it can lead onto bigger things (excuse the pun) within clubs, and vet clinic organisations have a vested interest in pups.

[Bayoucorgi]

I couldn't sleep after reading these posts. First, let me say I am not a self-proclaimed dog "expert", but I have 30 years of dog training experience. I have trained competitive dogs to the highest levels of obedience and done extensive work with dog rescue and rehab. Dogs I've bred were in movies and were accepted in to Guiding Eyes programs.

This is serious. This is a 4-month old puppy biting a Junior Member as well as family members hard enough to break skin and cause wounds. This dog could become dangerous. And my years in dog rescue tell me that a dangerous dog is a dead dog.

You must get professional or experienced hands-on help with this dog. Can you contact the person who bred this dog? Are their similar issues with the parents or siblings? Can that person help you with this problem? Is there anyone who trains dogs and specializes in behavioral rehab anywhere near you? An experienced dog person should evaluate this dog in person and determine why it bites so it can be stopped.

From the dog's age and the description of the biting incidents this SEEMS like it might be a dominance issue in contrast to aggression, fear-biting, mental illness, or territorial biting. But this is not a single-incident accidental over-zealous play bite either.

The fact that the dog bites again and sometimes immediately after "correction" means that the correction is not adequate.

I am not adverse to holding the dog down in a submissive position (alpha roll), but this sometimes has to be taken to complete submission to be effective and some dogs will fight this VERY hard, and can be dangerous if you are not physically and emotionally strong enough to subdue and control the dog.

Yelping or acting hurt may work on a sensitive dog that cares that it is biting and has a conscience. This does not appear to be effective here.

First, you must decide that you will not be bitten again. No matter what.

Evaluate the biting situations. If it happens when you play with the other dog, you must crate or control the corgi while you play with the other dog. You must not have an uncontrolled situation.

Establish your "alpha-ness" and control over this puppy now. Start a puppy massage routine to touch the puppy gently ALL over its body. Roll the dog on its back, gently but firmly restraining it. If begins to get wild, crate it until it calms down.

Exercise the dog extensively. Long walks and fetch 'til you drop everyday. No tug of war or fight games.

The puppy must wear a leash and collar (that it cannot slip) whenever you are interracting with it - even in the house. This will give you an additional handle in an uncontrolled situation. If things get wild, you pick up the leash quietly and firmly and pick the leash straight up. I am NOT advocating hanging the dog. This is only to keep it from biting you.

Whenever the dog puts its mouth on you, you must correct it. No play bites, or excuses are acceptable. I use a muzzle shake. I grab the dog's muzzle firmly and shake it roughly while looking the dog straight in the eye and command it to stop. Use "out", "no", "stop", "quit", or "enough" in a harsh, even, quiet voice. You should hold the dog's collar with your other hand while doing this so that it cannot break free. Do not let go. You must win every time. You must hold the muzzle hard enough and shake long enough and roughly enough that the dog breaks eye contact first. The dog may yelp and whine and act hurt because it wants to manipulate you into letting go. I know that you cannot possibly squeeze a dog's nose hard enough to damage it. The puppy must know that you will enforce your "no mouth contact" limit. If you've ever seen a dog mom correct a biting puppy, you will see that she will bite it hard enough to make sure it understands that the behavior will not be tolerated.

I do not propose any violence or harm for correction. But sometimes corrections must be as unpleasant as the offense to be effective.

Please keep us posted if you are making progress.

[glencorgi]

Thank you Bayou Corgi for spelling things out perfectly and clearly.

Debbie