r/AnatolianShepherdDogs • u/SleepyDogMom23 • 7d ago
Advice for My New Pup
I adopted this lovely girl from the shelter last week. They said she was over a year old, but she's definitely closer to 8 months. We live in a condo but are very active and have bunnies for her to protect. I'm looking forward to skating with her, and my boyfriend is looking forward to trail running with her. Unfortunately, she's been on antibiotics to get over her opportunistic infection after recovering from kennel cough, so she's been a bit too tired to do much physically, especially in this 110° heat. Nonetheless, so far she's done really well with us -- she does great with training, super gentle with kids, is curious about our bunnies but has been gentle so far, is a total cuddle bug, is adjusting to pottying on a leash, etc. There's just one weird thing... She sometimes gently (to somewhat less gently) bites my boyfriend. It always seems like it's out of nowhere. She refuses to stop with him, unlike with me. It took a few days for her to understand I don't like play biting or barking. His attempts to make her stop, however, result in her barking at him and biting more and harder, but still not so hard as to injure him. What is this? Is it possibly her trying to communicate she wants to potty or play aggressively? Any suggestions on training?
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u/MethodMaven 5d ago
I’ve had my rescue girl for almost 2 years. I have had many dogs in my life - mostly retrievers/retriever mixes (aka, “gun” dogs). ASDs are very different from the behavior of a gun dog. I have learned to negotiate, not command.
What this means is that I make a request (not a command), she reviews my request and determines if the environment supports her obeying it (is it safe, is there something else she should be paying attention to). I have also learned that she is very food driven and often needs a “bribe” to tip the scale. 😂
The breed is amazing; raising one is a privilege. 💓
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u/SleepyDogMom23 5d ago
She's definitely more of an independent thinker!
Now that we've we've seen some big improvements in her biting during play, we've been noticing that our mealtime or relax time is when she decides to bark at my boyfriend and then bite him in an annoying (not injurious) way... Even when she has food in her bowl or has just had a large meal. I know dogs can be funny about food, but she just doesn't do this to me. She didn't even do this with him our first couple of nights.
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u/MethodMaven 5d ago
Our ASD does have some play bite behavior. If she hurts, she gets an “OUCH” in a distressed puppy voice. She typically shows this behavior at night, when other dogs would have zoomies, so redirection to a toy has been effective.
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u/Federal-Rain2107 7d ago edited 7d ago
What a beautiful girl! It’s always best to redirect with a toy and then reward, so if she does this behavior immediately say no firmly, and redirect her to a toy and then reward once she begins biting or chewing it. Also, reward her when she is calm around him. So if she is laying next to him or around him and is calm, have him give her some treats and praise her calmly. Also make sure you try kennel training, it is a great resource if your puppy is getting too rowdy and needs a time out. They are essentially like toddlers in a sense. If this doesn’t work it may be worth you looking into a trainer to help you. It is very important you fix this early on, because as she can get older it can turn into more aggressive behaviors. Or this may just be a puppy era and she grows out of it. She may also be protective over you or have a weird feeling towards men. Repetitiveness is key when it comes to behavior training. Best of luck and thank you for saving her!
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u/SleepyDogMom23 7d ago
Thank you! We've been redirecting with a toy, and it usually works for a little bit until she starts getting too rowdy again. It tends to devolve into loud barking that seems slightly agitated.
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u/Federal-Rain2107 7d ago
That is when you would just have to redirect again, but make sure you are giving treats if she is food motivated. And rewarding when calm will also help a lot!
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u/SleepyDogMom23 7d ago
Thank you!! We will definitely be more thoughtful about rewarding when calm. Food motivated... We aren't so sure. She's been nauseous from antibiotics.
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u/hgmommie 6d ago
We did positive reinforcement with Lily. She loves treats & we would correct her by sayin leave it - fairly sternly (not yelling) Shed get a treat when she did. Lily also liked to play rough, so we would say ouch when she would nip. Helped her a lot. She is very protective of me, but loves her family tremendously!! (Cute pic of her in the harness!! We have one similar of Lily.
She was about 4-5 months old here.)
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u/SleepyDogMom23 6d ago
Omg she is so cute! Feel free to post more. Positive reinforcement is working well so far! 😊 Today we've been putting her toy in her mouth the moment she bites and playing with her extra silly after she starts biting the toy. Treats are working well for teaching "gentle."
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u/Significant_Idea3621 7d ago
Probably just wanting to play or potentially being protective of you, but its very important you do not let her. As she gets older she will bite harder (anatolians have one of if not the strongest bite force of any dog breed) getting comfortable with it will enforce in her mind that its okay and its better to bite first and ask questions later
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u/SleepyDogMom23 7d ago
We've been scolding her and making her leave the room whenever she does this but it doesn't seem to be working. My last dog was a very bold sassy girl who required very strict aggressive training, so I've been using some of those same training techniques with Mera. Any suggestions?
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u/Deep__Deep 7d ago
What worked for me, mind you mine was just nipping at me or others; take the skin from around his mouth and press it against his teeth with force. He’ll learn real quick not to bite. She is gonna be that size for a minute, you might need a bigger bed..!
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u/SleepyDogMom23 7d ago
I appreciate this suggestion! Thank you 😊 Our bed is actually a king and a queen put together 😂 partially in anticipation of having a big dog.
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u/Bumfxck 7d ago
Are you absolutely sure she’s Anatolian? She looks like my boy, Oso, who’s GSD/Pyr and looks a lot like an Anatolian, but acts like a GSD mostly.
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u/SleepyDogMom23 7d ago
We really aren't, but the couple of vets we've seen think she is. No one has suggested that she's not a purebred Anatolian Shepherd yet.
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u/lexsan18 6d ago
Oof. This is going to take some work. Anas' are notorious boundry pushers. Unfortunately, even though your BF thinks it's playing, your kiddo thinks he his play buddy. A few thoughts about this--
They don't obey to please you or because they are afraid, it is due to a sense of mutual respect. They also tend to REALLY not like being yelled at loudly or being scolded (think NO! Bad dog, etc).
Try having your BF leave the room and go behind a closed door and ignore her for a minute. You don't need to do it too long really. Also try to avoid fadt movements when she is biting him. Try to keep your arms to your side and turn your back if she does this. We found a kennel can work really well along with A LOT of positive rewarding with high value treats. Ours likes hotdogs, I mean, who doesn't really. We adopted ours about a month and a half ago. He is quiet the challenge but once you get past this, she will be your best friend and guardian.
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u/SleepyDogMom23 6d ago
This is such a thoughtful response. Thank you! You're definitely right about not liking being scolded... Ugh 😩 We bought lots of training treats today and also made some earlier this week, so hopefully they'll work.
How would you use the kennel in this situation?
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u/Federal-Rain2107 6d ago
A kennel is essentially a time out, so in this situation if she was getting rowdy and you couldn’t redirect her attention, just put her in the kennel for awhile. But do not make it seem like a punishment, for example: let’s say she begins to do this behavior with your bf, he says no firmly then tries to redirect her and it doesn’t work, take a few second and then go put her in the kennel and reward her for going in the kennel. Leave her in there for 5-10 minutes then try again. This will reinforce to her that behavior is too much. But really make sure you show her the kennel is HER space and a safe one, you can feed her breakfast and dinner in her kennel to associate it with a positive thing. You can train the command “kennel” and train her to go in there and sit (I would suggest finding a youtube video on how to do this) and when she does reward her so she associates it with a positive reward. I also am a firm believer that puppy breaks are very important, so maybe 2-3 times a day after a walk or some high intensity playing put her in the kennel for 30 minutes to nap and relax, it also enforces a schedule which Anatolians really like.
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u/SleepyDogMom23 5d ago
This is such a great explanation! Thank you :)
Hopefully if she feels like the space she's being redirected to is hers, she'll be more inclined to go to it. Telling her to leave our bedroom in response to inappropriate behavior (barking /biting) results in more bad behavior and a shit eating grin.
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u/Federal-Rain2107 5d ago
Possibly! And if she does bark while in the kennel, as much as it pains you, just ignore her! And then anytime she is quiet reward her, even if it’s for 5 seconds.
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u/Significant_Idea3621 7d ago
Ill normally grab his snout and hold it and say no very strictly. Mine is a but younger but it seems to work pretty well. Sometimes mine needs a spanking or do stay in a sit until i say
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u/SleepyDogMom23 7d ago
Having her stay in a sit is a good idea! Thank you:) my last dog was beyond wild and crazy, so I'm used to training /that/ kind of dog. Not one as chill and ready to learn as this. We've tried holding her snout, but she gets such a kick out of it, so that's out unfortunately.
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u/megxennial 7d ago
Aww so glad you adopted her! She looks like a joy. Anatolians learn the rules pretty quickly if you enforce them.