biting pant legs

[liz2001]

My puppy Biscuit is 11 weeks old. He bites at our clothes especially pant legs. I tell him NO. I try to pull away but that just makes him pull back harder. Sometimes I can get to one of his chew toys and have him switch to that. We play tug of war with his toys. I thought that would be good and fun for him but is it making this problem worse? What can I do to get him to let go? Is there a way for me to get him to open his mouth?

[corgimom]

Liz2001

You are experiencing typical Corgi "herding" behavior. If you try to pull away,
he will think you are playing a game. Instead of just saying "no", say
"let go," loud and firm or something on that order. so there is a specific term to go along with what he is doing wrong. (So many times we say "no" to anything a dog does wrong, that they really have no idea what they are suppose to do). As soon as he lets go, praise him. If he continues to hang on your pants with his mouth, you will have to pull him off and say "let go" at the same time, and then when he does, praise him. Make sure you stop walking when this happens, do not continue to walk, while giving him the command. This will not happen overnight and will require consistent training and enforcement by you.

Playing Tug of war is not something I do with my dog. I have read on a few web sites that suggests it can give the dog the idea he is the dominant one especially if he "wins" at the tug of war. Others may have a different opinion of this. Sometimes I will be holding a stuffed animal that cody also has in his mouth, but I always tell him to "let go", which he does ,and then I will throw it down a hall for him to go and catch. I taught him the "drop it" and "let go" commands very early and he does listen to them.

I use the "drop it" when we are out walking and he decides to pick up gross stuff on the street, or tries to pick up sticks out of mulch, and I use the "let go" when he tries to herd us and bite at our pant legs, which he still does on occasion, but it is mostly my husand that he does this to.

Be consistent and direct with your commands to him and sooner or later, he will understand. Remember, you can't let him get away with it sometimes and then other times correct him, it will just confuse him.

I am sure there will be others that have ideas for you also.

linda

[lricch565]

I am having the same problem that you are, Liz2001.

I didn't realize that this is considered herding behavior, but it does make sense. I got Mazie to stop nipping my husband and my ankles easy enough, but she does love our pant legs now - especially nipping at my kneecaps and hanging on - ouch. I have some bitter apple spray that does get her to stop, the only trouble is that it has to be in my arms reach to grab it to be effective - I have already lost a couple of pairs of pajama bottoms to Mazie's teeth this month.

Linda, thanks for the suggestion of "Let go!" It seems like I say no to everything these days and need a new phrase for Mazie to listen to.

Lisa

[corgimom]

You are right, it is hard to have bitter apply spray handy at all times, just
doesn't work, right?

I wouldn't be too thrilled with Cody if he was biting my pants at the knees
either and I think your Mazie is as old as my Cody - 6 months, because didn't
she just get spayed? It is hard to be firm at times, but we do have to be
consistant. I am often on my husbands case because he will scold him for
a behavior and at the same time be stroking and sometimes kissing him- UGH!!

Cody starts puppy school next week, but I wonder how it will all work out
because everyone in the family needs to follow the same rules, not always
easy - the kids will do one thing, my husband another, and of course me,
Cody listens to most because he knows I mean business.

Good luck with getting Mazie off your pants - just be consistant and firm
always correcting her when she does that.

Good luck

Linda

[liz2001]

Thanks for all the info. It didn't occur to me either that the biting was part of the hearding behavior. I talked to my husband about it and we are going to stop playing tug of war with Biscuit and we have started saying let go. But it doesn't work becuase he doesn't know what we are saying yet. I'll try the soda can idea. We also have 2 cats and the 1st few days were bad but that has been improving. The cats know they can jump up high to get away from Biscuit and Biscuit is chasing them less. Our braver cat Strudel just looks Biscuit like he's crazy when he barks at her now. She doesn't run away any more.

[corgimom]

Usually the nipping and biting at the back of the ankles is herding in Corgis, With the tug of war, when he has his "tug of war toy in his mouth," tell him to drop it and you can at the same time open his mouth to help him release it ,and then tell him "good Boy" and then throw the toy for him to go fetch - just keep doing this and he will "get it" eventually without you having to help him release it. Before you know it you will be able to say "drop it" and he will do it. Now I am sure there will be others that play tug of war with their Corgis, and they are fine, so it is just my opinion, but it may help to stop it (tone it down) with your situation since he is biting at your clothes. Let me know how it goes.

When we got Cody, my older cat who is 12 basically lived up on our second floor for almost a month because as soon as he came downstairs Cody would chase him. I also have a 1 year old cat and a 2 year old cat, but they also ran from him. Cody was especially interested in their "tails", he never tried to harm them but wanted to play with them so much . My cats are very social(like to be around us) so I felt bad for them in the beginning because they would retreat to the second floor and I would hardly see them - I am just so glad that they are now all getting along and Cody has stopped giving them all that attention.

Remember, your pup is still young, so he has lots to learn.

Linda

[Michael Romanos]

Biting or nipping on the back of ones legs can be construed as a Corgi herding action. But it can also relate to encouraging such activities as tugs of war. I would lay off any tugging contests - which can, with some dogs, promote aggressiveness - and continue to scold your Corgi for biting or grabbing at your clothes or your ankles or other leg parts. Instead of saying NO out loud, make up a sound such as AHAHAH and stick to that sound every time the Corgi attempts to nip. The follow up of course is reward and praise every time the Corgi desists.

[PocketsMom]

I have been using NO BITE with Pockets and that seems to be working. He is 3 months.

[corgimom]

Michael,

I agree with your statement regarding tug of war play - I just don't do it with
my dog, I think it gets them keyed up and like you said, can promote aggressiveness; which shows in them biting at clothes. One can play lots of games with their dogs in regards to throwing toys, but tug of war, I think is just not a good one.

Linda

[Michael Romanos]

Linda - I'm sure that with the vast majority of dog breeds, tugging games are excellent. Gosh, what would a Border Collie do without a tug of war against his/her handler. At agility after a Border has just completed his/her run, it is very common for the dog to go and pick up his/her lead/leash with the expectation that a tug of war will result - which it invariably does. One of the stories from my Amazing Dogs book was about a drug sniffing Labrador - every successful 'hit' he made was rewarded with praise, a treat and a tug of war. And all these dogs I mentioned are non aggressive. But if a dog shows some form of behaviour that might be construed as over-the-top grabbing and pulling and nipping and tearing, then just maybe it's related in some way to other actions such as rag or rope tugging, be they innocent acts or not. And I know that tugging type games are part of training for adding and encouraging aggressiveness in aggressive type breeds of dogs.

[Fluffypants]

The thing about tug of war is that you have to make sure & do it the right way. I have been playing it with Jackie since we got her, and she loves it!

But we follow a strict formula . . . tug for about a minute . . . "Drop It" command . . . "Sit" or "Down" . . . then throw toy . . . she fetches . . . and we start again at tug. And she NEVER wins. This keeps her from getting too keyed up. And it also reinforces that I am ALWAYS in control - I decide what we do and when.

[corgimom]

Fluffy pants,

That is what I had said initially, I agree with you - you should really always
be in charge meaning, be the one that wins.

[Chip's Mom]

Chip is always herding me. However, he will leave my husband's pant legs alone. I have tried no biting, no and ouch when he misses my pants and gets skin all to no avail. Digger also herded me but he did grow out of the pants and skin thing. I have also wondered why they herd some people and not others.

[tandemgal]

Linda Corgimom,

How old are your children? When I started Chloe in puppy class (she graduates week after next!) I took our 10 year old granddaughter (just 10 the end of March) Leah with me. She has attended each class as Chloe's handler. She also practices the lessons at home with Chloe. They had a little time trial at the last class - a rectangle and at each corner they had to preform different commands. Chloe and Leah were #1 at 35 seconds off leash ;-)

It has been a good experience for all of us and it may be something you might want to try too if one of your children are old enough. Good luck with the training - don't be surprised if your corgi isn't the quickest to learn.

[Chip's Mom]

I just ran across this old thread and started laughing. chip eventually stopped pulling on my pant legs and then along comes Dale. Of course, Dale had to resurrect the herding instinct and now I have Chip on one leg and Dale on the other so here we go again. Having two corgi boys sure is fun.