7 month old dog is still biting and is stubborn
Hi everyone,
I have a 7-month-old Tibetan Mastiff female. Overall she's a wonderful dog—friendly, calm, and well-balanced. She usually gets around 18 hours of sleep a day, is great with people and other dogs, and is generally very patient and calm.
However, we're currently struggling with a few issues, and I'd really appreciate any advice, especially from people familiar with livestock guardian breeds or Tibetan Mastiffs.
1. Biting when overstimulated or frustrated
This is by far my biggest concern.
On walks she'll sometimes softly bite my hand or leg (I am very sensitive, which is why my skin gets bruises quickly). It usually happens towards the end of the walk (even if we've only been walking for 15–20 minutes) or when there are lots of dogs, cats, people, or cars around. She spends a lot of time observing her environment, which is typical behaviour for that kind of breed. If a bird flies by, for example, she'll stop and watch it for quite a while. In the mornings I usually take the same route, while in the evenings I change it every other day so she can explore and sniff new places.
She also bites me indoors. For example, if she walks into the kitchen while I'm cooking, I point toward the door and ask her to leave. Most of the time she listens, but sometimes she'll grab my hand or bite my leg while I'm guiding her out. It seems playful, but it can hurt.
Another example: when she wants to play, she'll bring me a tug toy. If I stop playing and walk away, she'll run after me and bite my leg to get me to continue.
I've tried:
- ignoring the biting,
- calmly leaving the room,
- using body language to say "no",
- holding her collar until she calms down and then praising her.
Nothing has really worked so far.
The interesting part is that she only does this to me. I'm the one who trains her every day. She doesn't bite other family members like this.
2. She's very stubborn
She knows all the basic commands (sit, down, stay, wait, come, paw,..), but she often hesitates a long time or simply ignores me, especially when I ask her to come or sit.
She's on a leash inside the house about 90% of the time because we have a large house with lots of things she likes to grab if we're not paying attention. The leash also helps because her recall indoors isn't reliable yet.
I'm wondering if this is just typical Tibetan Mastiff independence or if I'm doing something wrong.
3. She can't stay home without me
This is probably my biggest mistake.
At first I focused entirely on building a strong bond with her and didn't start alone-time training early enough. Now she wants to follow me everywhere.
For the last two weeks I've been practicing by closing doors behind me while moving around the house. Sometimes she'll lie down and watch me, sometimes she'll wait at the door, and occasionally she'll even fall asleep.
Interestingly, she's perfectly fine if I'm taking a shower, but if I simply go into the kitchen she'll immediately want to come with me.
The real problem starts when I leave the house. Even if she's with my boyfriend or another family member, she'll panic, cry, scratch the door, whine and sometimes even pee in the house despite being fully house-trained. I've tried most of the usual separation anxiety advice I found online, but nothing seems to help.
4. Stealing clothes
Sometimes someone accidentally leaves socks or clothes on the bed. She immediately grabs them, runs off, and chews them. By the time we notice, the item is usually destroyed.
I'm currently teaching "drop" by playing tug. She reliably lets go of the toy when I say "drop," but if she has something she's not supposed to have, the command suddenly means nothing.
How would you handle this? Should I trade for food every time? Keep practicing with lower-value items? Or is there a better approach?
I'd really appreciate any advice.
For some background: this is my third dog, so I'm not completely inexperienced. I've successfully raised two dogs before, but I've never dealt with these kinds of issues, which is why I'm wondering if some of this is simply typical Tibetan Mastiff behavior or if I need to change my training approach.