Re: Biting

In Reply to: Biting
Category:   Aggression
Posted by:  Patrick
Posted on:  May 13, 2003 at 08:47:37

: We have a 3 year old male JRT and two daughters - 14 and 17 years old. Our JRT is loveable and cuddly most of the time, but he has bitten our daughters on four occasions over the past two years. After the second incident last summer, we had him neutered. Then, in November he bit our 17 year old again. We thought that might have been a fluke, but then yesterday, he bit our 14 year old.

: I love this dog dearly and the thought of giving him away or having him put down tears me apart, but this can't continue. Every time one of the girls has been bitten, it's been in the face. They've been warned repeatedly not to "get in his face", but his reactions seem to come without warning. He's never been aggressive to me or my wife, so I'm pretty sure it's a dominance problem.

: At wits end... Help!

Response:

Dear Patrick,

Your terrier has "warned" your daughters just as you have -- a bite is a warning as is you telling them to not "get in his face." In my opinion, you should not hold your terrier solely responsible for his actions as your daughters both chose to ignore what they experienced and what they were told NOT to do.

That doesn't mean I excuse your terrier's behavior -- he should certainly know better then to bite any member of his family regardless of their age. Since he's not shown any aggression toward you or your wife, I agree that it's possible that this is a dominance problem so I recommend that you enroll your terrier in a training class and that your daughters be the "primary" trainers.