Gundog Training Forum

A poo

Although he has massively improved on this behaviour, as the frequency has decreased. Pup is now only doing it once or twice a week, so we’re nearly there with eliminating it. However, I wondered if the gurus on this forum have any suggestions about why a puppy needs/wants to nip/bite one of its owners when it needs a poo ?

We’ve spoken to everyone we know who has had puppies and/or dogs about this behaviour and no one has heard or experienced a puppy who wants to nip/bite one of its owners when it needs a poo . Has anyone on here? Could be there be a reason for this behaviour?

He nipped you once just before you let him go out and do his business.

newf wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 11:46 pm He nipped you once just before you let him go out and do his business.

I agree, he's learned that you open the door for him when he nips you. Best bet is to put him out when he is likely to want to go rather than waiting for him to ask. Back to basics, get ahead of the game.

I wonder, who taught this dog to let them know when he wants in…?

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_ ... tid=qC1gEa

Yep you taught him to do this. First time or two might have been random but he quickly learned nipping your ankle got him attention and let outside. He is off to a great start at training you. Perhaps time to turn the tables and start training him.

Hi all
Thanks for the responses. To a certain extent I agree he has learned the behaviour and that he gets a response ie he goes up the garden. However he doesn’t do the same behaviour with my husband or my mum, we all live together and they too are taking him into the garden to do a wee and/or poo. And we are all ensuring we’re taking him out regularly, as well as encouraging him to do what he needs when out for walks. This is why I’m finding it strange, as I would’ve thought as learned behavior he’d do the same to them.
I’m trying to preempt the nipping by going out with him regularly to the garden, as well as more than once in case he’s not given the right cues to say he needs to go, and back to basics.

If you look at the ABCs of behaviour, what occurs before the behaviour, the Antecedent, is context driven and so it’s perfectly possible for a dog to respond differently with different people in a similar context. Even though you’re now trying to change the ‘antecedent’ you will have inadvertently reinforced it periodically, because you don’t want an accident in the house, and so the nipping behaviour still crops up. It’s likely to in any event because learnt behaviours don’t just disappear but will crop up again from time to time before they finally go. As others have said, management is the way forward so that you eventually change the pup’s response to your presence and the need to go out and poo as a trigger for the unwanted biting behaviour.

There must also be other signals that the pup exhibits when it wants to go out which your husband and mum pick up on. You could look for these and/or if it heads to you for a nip preempt it by tossing it a toy or some titbits on the floor and then take it out. Anything to break the existing habit without any negative connotations for telling you it wants to go.

Naj

Cornishbird wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 8:58 pm Hi all
Thanks for the responses. To a certain extent I agree he has learned the behaviour and that he gets a response ie he goes up the garden. However he doesn’t do the same behaviour with my husband or my mum, we all live together and they too are taking him into the garden to do a wee and/or poo. And we are all ensuring we’re taking him out regularly, as well as encouraging him to do what he needs when out for walks. This is why I’m finding it strange, as I would’ve thought as learned behavior he’d do the same to them.
I’m trying to preempt the nipping by going out with him regularly to the garden, as well as more than once in case he’s not given the right cues to say he needs to go, and back to basics.

As Naj has more technically pointed out not “strange” at all. Dogs are pretty straightforward most of the time. As social creatures they generally do have different relationships with each member of their pack/family. How often do you hear of pet dogs “he only listens to Dad”. The dog has learned whose commands are important and whose can be ignored. Who will let me out when I stand by the door and who needs a nip to get their attention. This should be an easy fix by just being mindful of the pup making sure unwanted behaviour is unsuccessful (maybe a bit unpleasant ) and wanted behaviour, standing quietly by the door, is rewarded by letting him out.