Excite biters?

okay, so this is just a general inquiry about "excite biters."

i'm askin, because everyday, aubrey is getting a little more nutty on me. take today, for instance. we were out walking, as i'm off work and it was 45 degrees or so outside. so we're walking down the road on the edge of town, and there was a woman walking what looked like an american bulldog(?). so, we crossed the road, but as soon as aubrey saw it (and it was lunging at the end of it's lead, almost pulling this 5 foot 4 inch woman flat on her face) she went into act-a-fool mode. even though she's only like 35 lbs, she pulls so damn hard.

anyways, i'm trying to keep her reigned in, and she started making this wierd-ass noise, like she was aggravated (that she couldn't go meet the other dog?). all the sudden, she turned around, and bit her goddam leash! the crazy little b*tch figured out/made the connection what was holding her back, and tried to fix it :eek:. it's a half inch rope, and she almost sawed it through in one quick chomp. she was on her 20 ft lead, so i just doubled it up so there was no stress on where she nearly cut it. now i'll probably have to keep another leash handy when we're out, or maybe even two at once, incase she pulls that stunt again.

if i'm ever out back with her, sometimes the neighbor dogs will come to the back fence yapping. i try and keep her calm, to no avail, and she starts running to the end of her chain and flippin on her back. IF i try to hold her back, by say her collar, to keep her attention off the other mutts, she starts thrashing around like a fish out of water to get loose, voicing her opinion of being held back.

earlier this week, me and the wife were outback playin with her w/ her flirtpole. the wife was holding her back, b/c i had to attach a new piece of hide to the rope. she started makin those tasmanian devil noises, turned around, and kind of "ran up" my wife to break free of being held back.

back to my question. has anyone ever had experience with an excite biter, and have anything they care to share about having a dog like that? i try and avoid scenarios where she gets worked up at, because she always gets a little crazier each time. she has her play time to go apeshit, and each and every time it's harder to get her off her pole or back on her chain, or whatever.

she's never layed a tooth on anyone, and is gentle as can be around my nieces and nephews (ages 6 months to 3 yrs). my only concern is how off her rocker she gets when she wants at something, and ways to possibly deal with that in the future. like i said, she is starting to make the connection of "something is holding me back and i want to get whatever i'm staring at so i'm gonna get loose somehow." god forbid she starts fighting her chain....

any and all input is appreciated.

thanks!

 

IMO i think she needs some strong obedience training and u need to divert her attention from that particular object by the cesar milan technique of a quick poke or mock bite to the neck area and a sturn command for her to pay all the attention onto u. This has worked great with my dog because he used to be crazy aggressive towards every animal while on walks and such but now all i have to do is say leave it and a slight tug on the leash and he turns and ignores the animal. This works great when im running him on the bike and he sees a squirrel, all it takes is a quick command and he is back on track. U have to be very stern and to the point with her, she's at the age that she wants to defy u as much as possible and test ur weaknesses.

 

Yes I do! Keep your hands out the way... I have a nice fat scar on my right hand from one that lunged back and got me but it was my dumb ass that caused it to happen. Just handle with care and let her know your the boss when she acts this way. I don't really like them that way but thats the way some are and thats life sometimes. Avoid getting her heated up and do your best. Slick

 

thanks fellas!

slick - just must be her nature. i'll work around that

boi - i know what you mean. when the jrt is carted and she comes inside, she is the most obedient dog i've ever had. won't even look at the cats, just enjoys her time inside. if we're playing tug, i can get her to drop it, in the middle of a struggle, just by saying "put it down."

the problem is out on her chain, and when we're outside the yard; she hates everything that moves.

i do my best to avoid situations where something could happen (the route i walk, time of day, etc). but i'm concerned, god forbid, something ever would happen and a stray dog rolls up and charges and i can't get her up and i have to break her off, or some dumb ass neighbor's dog jumps/digs under the fence and i have to prevent an accident.

if it ever escalated to that level, i feel she'd do whatever she could to get out of my grip. i don't know why. that's really why i thought of asking in the first place.

anyone know what the "1,000 yard stare" is? she gets that when she's out and sees something she wants.

 

oh man i know all about that damn stare LOL.

Now if a dog is charging her well that right there is almost out of ur hands unless u pick her up by the scruff and boot the shit out of the dog charging, however we all know how squirmy these dogs can be so i doubt picking up is an option. I would just carry a break stick on walks and try to work on her leash manners towards other animals, it will portray a better image if she aint going buck wild trying to get at the other animal. I would work on the redirection of attention as much as possible and be careful

 

always have one on hand when she's out, and i got one tucked in the back side of her house behind a board in case of emergencies.

i know what you mean about the image. it's great when we meet people just walking...she kisses them to death if they let her, never jumps up unless they tell her to, doens't pull until she chokes trying to reach them, just good all around. then they're surprised to hear she's an american pit bull terrier.

but it's another story if there's an animal present. kind of hard to redirect her attention then. :rolleyes:

 

yea i know what u mean, maybe u should try working with her while another animal is around. Hit up one of ur buddy's and have them meet u somewhere with a dog and have them just walk the dog around as u constantly redirect her and praise her. Have them walk out of site and then back in multiple times and after a while she will start to get it.

If that don't work well shoot i guess buy urself a bite sleeve and let her go to town (JK)

 

not a bad idea.

if it ever got to that point and i was seriously concerned, i'd have to go buy more ammo :p

 

It bothers me to hear "pulls too damn hard" Come on man....are you a man or are you a wuzzy? I have never felt my dogs pull "too damn hard" that i cannot handle them with one hand. Anyway, that is not the point of this thread, is it? lol

As stated many times, I believe in asserting your dominance. Another thing, a trained dog needs to know the correlation between leash, you, and walking. Even my pup knows he is held by the leash. I give him short pulls intermittently while walking. He knows that those little pulls mean to "walk with me" "slow down" "watch me". Of course, i use my words while using the leash to communicate. I do not believe in this type of behavior being chucked to "their nature". My pup was one of those dogs that constantly barked loudly. Today, he will give me (at most) high pitched whines and rarely barks. If your dog is intelligent and you teach it the right way, this issue should have the desired solution. If you are setting up the springpole, DO NOT HOLD HER. She needs to know you want her to wait. It is ok if she whines and trembles while waiting because that does not have an adverse potential. For example, this pup of mine is addicted to water...and i mean ADDICTED. So, i have him about a foot away from the bowl while i pour water in it (bowl on floor). He does attempt to drink at once but i stop him and do not let him drink. He gets to drink only after I see his attention is on me and has stopped trying to go forward to drink it.

What I would do in your situation (with her acting a mess when seeing an animal) is to get on her face and tell her to stop acting a fool. Grab her by her scruff if need be. I did that with my red dog when he was a youngster. I sort of embarrassed him in front of the other dog. lmao This did not break him at all. It creates an experience. Now, he may start acting a fool if in front of another dog until I tell him to cut that sh!t out. He will then stay still, licking his chops and making high pitch noises while wagging his tail.

The girl is not giving you or your wife your spot in the hierarchy. She should not try to get your springpole until you give the ok. She should not eat until you give the ok. She should be LOOKING at you for approval on things. The pup even looks at me when he pees and poops outside. When he does, i give him a good boy to let him know I approve of his action. It is funny because sometimes they will both be pooping and searching around (if I am behind them) to look at me for approval. The older dog does not do it as much....I guess he figures he knows what where is good and where it is not acceptable.

So, short answer, seek the same conditions that make her act this way. When you place her in it, pin her to the floor using your hand on her neck and look at her straight in the eyes while telling her to stop it. She will learn.

 

I have had experience with dogs that were so hyped and driven to bite something that they had to have something to hold in their mouth and bite on just so they would be able to relax enough to walk down the street. So I am glad to see your experiencing typical bulldog antics from your bitch. It is normal and expected ....just roll with it and keep her reigned or she will assuredly hit something and mean it.

 

They said 5 foot 4 inch "woman" in their post. So yes I guess they are a woman to answer your question. Come on Balboa treat women with respect...lmao. "Hey yo Adrianne, How bout you say we go get a beer afta da fight"...lmao.

 

I agree with BoiBoi oh and on the walks does your dog normally pull you around or follow you around? Just a question cuz it could be a dominance issue... too much leeway perhaps? Some obedience training would be great and easier for the both of you and before any contact with the leash you could try to make sure to have your dog under control(have him/ her lay down), not say anything to her and then attach the leash( this will put her in a calmer state and make her begin to recognize that you would like her to be calm while on the leash)

 

Well, i'll just state that it doesn't sound like she is an excite biter to me. It just seems like you described a normal APBT to me. The fact that she gets more and more worked up each time is just her intensity. She sounds like a very focused and intense bitch. The more she becomes familiar with the game or exercise the quicker and faster she will be ready to work. If I go in the direction of my flirtpole my dogs start to get revved up because they know what's coming. However, this is also why I walk around with a breaking stick in my back pocket, even when i'm in my own back yard! There will come a time when you will need to use the stick to get her off the pole!

Anyway, I have an excite biter and let me tell you if you're in the vicinity of her when she's getting excited I hope you're wearing old clothing, lol. Excite biters are usually "nippy" dogs. They nip on pant or shirts and at times they catch some skin, but they are usually not biting down into you in an aggressive manner to hurt a person. They are just letting you know that they are ready to be released!

I would be more concerned about her getting off the chain and getting to the neighbors dog if she seems that focused and intense. Just take some extra time and precaution to make sure she doesn't get off that chain, otherwise you may have some other issues with the neighbor. Make sure her collar is tight also! As far as her getting use to seeing other dogs working...good luck with that!

 

The sire to one of my males was like that. He would go ballistic if another animal was in range while walking him. He would generally be walked at night in a quiet area so he could concentrate on work, and less of an accidental encounter.

This dog was a damn powerhouse too, he was 50 pounds, but felt like 500 when excited . If you realed him in too close and tried to get a hand on him he would turn around and chomp your leg, only once. He knew you were the thing holding him back. I did not own this dog, as that sort of behavior isnt something i care to deal with. You need to find some sort of way to divert attention (which i doubt will work), or change things so these encounters are far less likely to happen.

And also, like Slick mentioned KEEP YOUR HANDS THE HELL OUTTA THE WAY!

 

heh, i was just expressing my awe at how hard this little dog pulls :p i'm 6 ft 2 and 155 lbs, pretty lean, i'm not concerned about the dog getting out of my control. i can get a good handle on her when she is wired at something, and once she realizes she's not going anywhere, she starts to slow her pace. thanks for your concern, though.

i like your suggestion at the end. i'll have to consider trying that.

what i meant by their nature, though, was just the desire to get at the other animal. i believe it's their nature/instinct (years and years of selective breeding) that make them have that WANT for combat, to engage another animal. i almost feel bad thinking about correcting her getting worked up at other animals in public. it's like, iono, extinguishing that natural fire. i understand when you're out, you want to help portray a positive image for this breed. i think not living in the city like you kind of gives me an advantage....i can plan my walks and routes during times and in areas where i'm least likely to encounter other stimuli when we're on the leash. but there are times when we pass other animals, and she perks up. like i said, she's an angel and has great manners when approaching strangers, and in the house. it's just other dogs when we're out.

but today it's like a light clicked in her head, and she though, "hey, i want tat dog, this leash is holding me back.....why don't i try and get off the leash?" she's always understood what the leash was, who's in control when we're on it; for about two weeks when i introduced her to it, it was nothing but back and forth down the block, with countless turn-arounds, at first with then without verbal command to stop, so she quickly learned if she kept her eye on me, she knew where i was going, not where she wanted to go.

and yes, i need to help the wife on getting a good grip on her when she's worked up. although, i gotta give her props, cause she's getting good at using the stick to get aubrey off the hide on the flirtpole....after a few times using it after being shown how to use it properly, her confidence grew, now she can use it no sweat. sometimes it takes once or two tries, but she'll get it in there correctly before trying to apply pressure and turn.

nothing in life is free, for her. since she was a pup, and was fed at the same time as the jrt, with me and the wife feeding them, she had to sit, stay, and wait for the go ahead to get her food. still the same drill now that she's on her chain. w/ treats, it's wait for the ok, when she's on her leash getting ready for a walk, she has to sit, lay down, and stay until i say it's time to go. like i said, introduce another dog, and she goes apeshit. and like i typed earlier, i almost feel bad correcting her for her natural instinct on wanting to get the otehr mutt. *shrug*

good post, has me thinking now.

that's what i figured. she just wants to try and be a bulldog, no fault in that.

no, a woman was walking the ab lookin dog.

i check her hardware daily, always have a stick on walks, and have one in the back of her house in case of emergencies (think i posted that earlier to boi). thanks for your input. i appreciate it.

roger that.

 

She is just letting you know that she knows what she is all about now. Even the old dogmen can tell you that the occassional dog was a nipper when in the ring with another dog to show they wanted to be released. I had to learn not to stand still with mine, keep walking and don't allow them to focus. Stopping the walk allows her to get that focused stare and become more excited.

 

Well my female will do something similar on our walks. She really wants to get the cars, but knows she cannot so she will pick up leaves or whatever was on the ground in front of her. Its almost like a nervous tick.

This is a serious problem, but it kinda humorous to watch. She picks up the dried leave and chomps really fast. Making little pieces fly everywhere.

 

My Boxer/APBT is the EXACT same way. High drive and high animal aggression. If she sees a dog, squirrel, or cat she starts screaming bloody murder, hitting the end of her leash, thrashing her body, and on and on and on. She too knows what is holding her back and will come up the leash at me. She has never bitten, but she will put her mouth on my hands or box me with her paws. At first it bothered me too, but then I realized she is just getting SO worked up that it is essentially not allowing her to think properly. Now when she starts sounding off I keep walking or hold her by the collar and lift her paws off the ground a little bit until she settles.

She gets so focused that once she sees an animal there is virtually a half second time for me to react and correct her before she starts acting up. Usually my corrections aren't strong enough to divert her before she starts and after that it is all over. My mom is going to have me take her to a professional though, just to "control" her aggression. She is a dog we take camping and on family trips, so having her go crazy whenever she feels like it isn't ok. I don't need her to love other dogs, but I don't need her to freak out either.