My Westie Attacks Viciously And Gets Very Possesive, Can This Be Trained Out Of Him?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
I’ve had my westie for just over a year now and some extremely bad and aggresive behaviour is just starting to take place. When he was a puppy he had a few minor issues that could be trained out of him such as excessive barking, and running out of the house. He used to bite a lot but nothing major as he was only little and most of the time he was just playing.
A couple of months ago he was trying to get food out from the bin and my sister attempted to stop him by pushing him down and telling him “bad” (which he usually responds to), a few moments later he suddenly turned on her and bit her foot viciously, holding on to it. A lot of blood was drawn, but fortunately she didn’t need stitches. This was a major shock to the rest of the family as it was completely unexpected. Therefore we decided we would get him castrated to try and limit his aggressive and tempremental behaviour.
Its been 5 weeks sinse the operation and he seemed to slowly be getting better, so yesterday when he aggresively bit my mum on both arms after she attempted to stop him from shredding a tissue, we were all horrified. The wound was very servere and she has a swollen arm, and took an emergancy trip to A&E, but fortunately didn’t need stitches.
We all love our dog to bits and really don’t want to have him put down, but at the moment there seems to be no other options. The worst part is that he has forgotten what he has done and is back to his normal self. But obviously this cant be ignored or it may happen again. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks.
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This dog is in serious need of behavioral training. Contact your vet for a recommendation. This sounds like a situation where training was not done in his first year and he has established himself as the Alpha personality in the house. It is also possible that he may have issues as a result of his breeding. Have you discussed this with the breeder from where he came from?
…wow… my westie is NOT going in that direction (almost three months old). when he bites or does something he is not supposed to, we pinch his neck and say “what?! are you aloud to do that?! are you aloud?!” and then we show him whatever he was biting and see if he tries again, if he does we repeat the process. just grab his neck, hold his head on the floor untill he is calm, and then let him go and pay no attention to him.
You trained the bad behavior into the dog now its time to train it out of the dog!
Ok, NEVER EVER EVER EVERRR I stress that, EVER allow nipping and biting! It will only progress into worse things like the situation he’s found himself in now. It’s not the dog, I’m sorry, it is the owner. I say this time and time again, my border collie [who are notorious for nipping] never nips! Why? Because we don’t allow it, we trained it out of her immediately. Don’t put him down, train him. Obedience and other basic training. He needs a new start. Don’t say there are no other options. Training hits you in the face. You train him not to bite by making him submit, preferably, encouraging him to do by holding on to what ever object you want off him, he will bite at you and if you move away, he learns that if he wants something, he’ll just bite you and get it. let him bite, he’ll learn that it doesn’t work. Also, tell him sharply NO and walk away, game is over, playtime has ended, fun has gone if he bites. I’m lucky, because I abolished behaviour like that. It’s called tough love. Good luck. Oh and for the record, its animal abuse to hit, that’s probably where the biting escalate, you need the right energy to train full stop.
“He used to bite a lot but nothing major as he was only little and most of the time he was just playing.”
There is your problem right there. When a little kid kicks you or hits you they are often just playing but they should still be taught not to do it right? Same applies for dogs. Yes it can be trained out of him but you should seek training advice from a pro rather than come here. There are too many things to be done here than I think anyone wants to really type.
The real question here is “Should we have trained him” not “Can we now train it out of him now we’ve encouraged it?”!!
A Westie should NEVER be aggressive and certainly not to its family unit.You have a terrier on your hands – its not him being “stubborn”, its him realising that you are not consistent in your training and if he acts up enough, he gets what he wants.
Neutering him is NOT a magic “fix-it”. Even if it does affect his hormones somewhat, they wont settle down untill around 6 months AFTER the op – not just a few weeks. In that time, you can get an awful lot of training done – if the WHOLE family are willing to be consistent and work together. Call a behaviourist in – NOT a trainer – to see how the family are affecting the dogs behaviour. I’m guessing he’s getting mixed messages from all members (as you say, he wont bite your dad, but NO WAY should your dad be beating him anyway).
You made the classic mistake – “He used to bite a lot but nothing major as he was only little and most of the time he was just playing”. Not so cute and funny when they are adults, right?!
Just out of interest, is the the family’s first dog?! My bet is no-one actually did ANY research into the type of dog you have aquired and had no way of knowing how to deal with a Terrier pup – which as you can see now, is the worst mistake anyone can make.
Either call a behaviourist to come and see the dog or turn the dog over to Westie Rescue. I’d go with the second option – an experienced Westie owner would probably deal with this a lot better.
Obviously you shouldn’t have avoided those “minor issues” before they turned into MAJOR issues.
Get your demon dog to a behaviorist and see if they can undo what you have ignored.
You should have been horrified the first time he growled at you instead of waiting for a neuter to fix him.
add: oh yeah knocking the heck out of him is always such a great way to treat him. NOT
Totally friggin amazing
I’m surprised that the incident was not reported to the authorities, since she went to have the bite treated. My cat severely bit me a few months ago while I was at the Vets office. I had to go to ER . I was on an IV drip for a few hours and had to get antibiotics. The cat bite was automatically reported to the Health Department. The Health Department called my house later that day and then got a visit from them five days later. It’s even worse if it’s a dog.
My family had a Poodle when I was a pre teen and he bit me so many times. My parents thought that I was teasing him until he bit my father. My parents finally realized that there was something wrong with this dog. He was put to sleep.
I saw a program on Animal Planet awhile ago called Good Dog U (?)
The dog trainer was working with a families dog that was starting to bite everyone. I don’t remember the outcome of the show, but I do remember that he said that no dog should be biting and that it was a direct result of poor breeding. Sorry, I know it’s not what you want to hear. I would try working with a highly recommended dog behaviorist. Ask your Vet for references.If that does not wok…..then your family has a lot to think about. Good luck.
You need to take control as the alpha. He is possessive, because in his mind, he is in control. You need to be his leader, and show him how to behave. You need to let him know which behaviors will and will NOT be tolerated. If he misbehaves, correct the problem right then and there. Otherwise, he won’t know what he did wrong. Back up your family members when he tries to intimidate them. If your dog doesn’t respect you, he surely won’t listen to you. Seems a bit spoiled. Training with a professional will help.
Obviously NOT by you!
You’ve ruined it up til now;why do imagine you’re going to suddenly…MAGICALLY?….grow a spine & some brains?
Castration is *****NOT***** brain surgery!.Removing testicles does NOT MAGICALLY TRAIN!
The beast is untrained,ill-mannered ,spoiled rotten & NASTY & it’s ALL your fault. What a shame,poor dog.
Euthanize!