Dominance ?

[Sue J]

Jett bit me in the butt a couple of times again yesterday. I lift my foot backwards now and push her away and say "No!" when she does it. I've noticed that she does it when she's playing, has the zoomies and is wound up. When she's doing that everything is to be played with.

As I watch her with Jaz, she often bites her at the base of the tail when she wants Jaz to play with her and Jaz isn't responding to the play call. Jaz puts her in her place real quick when she does that. My brother who has had dogs for as long as I can remember says that butt biting is a dominance attempt/display. If it is dominance behavior then I probably need to take a stronger response to the No. Maybe still using the foot but also turning around face to face to her. I've never had a dobe or any other dog do this. What are your thoughts on this?

[fritz'mom]

Well, I don't have any advice. Just thought I would chime in here. My boy does this also except he doesn't bite, it's more of a nose bump. When he wants attention he will come up behind you and bump you real hard in the butt with his nose, sometimes repeatedly. It is really annoying and makes my husband mad because sometimes he will get a little too close to a sensitive area if you know what I mean. ;)

By the way, I love the way you described Jett's playful time and "the zoomies" I can totally picture what you mean!

[Sue J]

She doesn't full bite, it's actually a nip. But darnit, those nips can hurt like h*ll.

Her zoomie last night also led to her to leap into my bubble bath with me. I forgot to close the bathroom door. Had just gotten stretched out in a soaker tub and was ready to let the world drift by. I heard a thundering herd and looked up to see a black streak coming straight at me. I managed to hold her head up to keep her sutured ears dry, but the rest of her got bubbled up! After she thoroughly kissed my face I couldn't do anything but laugh until I cried. This girl is hysterically funny sometimes. Bet I don't forget to close the door again though!

[fritz'mom]

That is really funny!

Your girl shure does sound like a bundle of laughs! I have forever referred to mine as a clown, and my favorite nickname for him is "you big dummie". Of course he is not dumb, but when he does something ridiculous like you have described and then looks at me like, "wasn't that fun!" I just can't help it, it comes out every time!

[jelly8bean]

The bubble bath sounds sooo funny. I don't think the dobie dot is a dominance thing, I believe what you have described is clearly related to playtime. I think you are doing the right thing with the leg and a stern no. I worry if you redirect this onto a toy, then she will think that I have to get mom's butt to get her to play with me, which is not the direction you want to go. I had some issue with my Sara when she was in her first year here where she would look at me and bark - come hither and play sort of bark. I ignored it or responded by a stern look and "NO" and then left the room. I was not another dog for her to play with. If it hurts you might also add a yelp sort of thing.. that is supposed to help them recognize when they are using their mouths too hard.

[Sue J]

Fritzmom- Your poor husband!!

Thanks jelly8bean, I'll add a loud yelp. Hopefully she'll get the message that I'm not her "Kong" ball.

My hubby remembered we had a book called "Dog Language" by Roger Abrantes still packed away from our move here and he dug it out for me. I'm still reading but so far the closest thing I've found so far is the muzzle nudge, which is a pacifying behavior or bid for attention.