Australian Cattle Dog and Biting

Australian Cattle Dogs are bred for herding, biting is part of their work, it is instinctive. If not controlled early, Australian Cattle Dogs will think biting people is ok.

Teaching Cattle Dogs not to bite people is critical in early training. There are several different methods, the key is consistency. Pick a method and work with it.

Australian Cattle Dogs have been bred to respond to force with force. Physical punishment does not work well. You need to communicate with your puppy that biting is not all right. Here are a couple of things you can do when your Australian Cattle Dog is a puppy.

When a puppy is biting his mother, she grabs him by the muzzle and pins him to the ground for a few seconds. Do the same thing as the mother, growling angrily or scold him. Hold your puppy down a few seconds until he gives in. Then let him back up. As soon as the correction is over, you must no longer show anger. If the biting continues, do it again.

Another thing you can do is yelp when your puppy is biting you. Australian Cattle Dog puppies bite each other when they play, they learn how hard they can bite before one of the other puppies gets upset.

When ever your puppy clamps down on you yelp in pain. Be convincing or he will think your playing. Make the yelp angry and direct it towards him. You will know if your Australian Cattle Dog understands if he submits, drops his ears, lowers his head and tail. This will be over right away and you will have to turn your anger off once again.

You should do this when he is biting clothing as well. Clothing should be especially sensitive, so that it makes your puppy think it really hurts people. When he no longer is biting hard, change your criteria and yelp when he is biting gently. Do the same when your puppy is down to mouthing. These steps will train your Australian Cattle Dog to not use their mouth on people.

You can also use isolation, it will make any correction more potent. When Australian Cattle Dog puppies are biting their mother or playmates to hard, they will sometimes refuse to interact with him for awhile. You can do the same by isolating your Australian puppy so he can see and hear you just no interaction, for about 5 minutes. Ignore your puppy for the entire time. Your Australian Cattle Dog puppy will find this extremely frustrating and see it as a serious punishment.

Just remember to be consistent, if your Australian Cattle Dog puppy thinks you see his biting behavior as cute, he will keep doing it despite punishments.  A  Dog Fancy (1-year) subscription will give you many helpful articles in this and other problem areas.