How to Train an Australian Cattle Dog to Not Bite
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Introduction
Olivia is a tenacious little canine, always looking for a playmate. She enjoys long walks, cuddles on the couch and anything remotely edible. However, your Australian Cattle Dog also seems to enjoy biting. It may have started with gentle nibbles when you were playing, but now it has become an aggressive and persistent habit. It means you’re on edge whenever a guest reaches down to stroke your pup. It also means even you, as their owner, don’t want to get in between them and their food.
So it’s got to a stage now where training your Australian Cattle dog to not bite is essential. You know it’s just a matter of time before someone or another pet is seriously injured. If that does happen, you could be landed with steep vet bills and Olivia may even have to be put down. Fortunately, training her not to bite will give you a well-behaved, controllable canine.
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Defining Tasks
Training your Australian Cattle Dog to not bite won’t necessarily be easy, but it is definitely achievable. Firstly, you will need to introduce a number of deterrence measures to remove the temptation. You will also need to look for triggers so you can tackle them head-on. At the same time, you will need to use positive reinforcements to encourage them to play gently.
If your Australian Cattle Dog is just a puppy, then the habit should be relatively new and you could break it in just a few weeks. But if your dog is older and the habit has developed over a number of years, then you may need months. Stick to your new training regime and you’ll no longer need to worry when you see a new dog approaching on the horizon. It also means you can start them back on the path of being a calm, friendly dog.
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Getting Started
Before you get to work, you’ll need to tick off a few things on your checklist. A water spray bottle, muzzle, and a deterrence collar will be needed for one of the methods. You will also need a decent supply of treats or the pup's favorite food for positive reinforcements.
Toys, a body harness, and food puzzles will also be required for one of the methods. Set aside around 15 minutes each day for training. Try and train when you both won’t be distracted.
Apart from all that, you just need patience and enthusiasm, then training can commence!
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The Environment Change Method
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Exercise
Your dog may be biting because they are brimming with excitement and energy. Australian Cattle Dogs do need a generous walk each day. So start taking them for a long walk and throwing things for them to fetch as you go. If they’re tired and sleeping, they won’t get worked up and start biting so easily.
Food puzzles
Start leaving your dog food puzzles to get through, especially when you leave the house. Not only should this keep them entertained, but if they are a puppy and the biting is to relieve teething pain, then chewing the toys will help.
Privacy
Make sure they have a secure space they can escape to, such as a bed or crate. The biting may be because they are being pestered by young children and feel like they have nowhere to run to.
Tug of war
Spend a few minutes each day playing tug of war with a favorite toy. This game is great for blowing off steam and giving your Australian Cattle Dog a safe avenue to release some of that tension.
House rules
Sit everyone in the house down so you can agree on how to react when your dog bites. There is simply no use in you acting stern if someone else giggles or laughs it off. This will only confuse your Australian Cattle dog. So make sure you all respond in the same calm, but disapproving manner.
The Deterrence Method
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‘NO’
The first step to take when your Australian Cattle dog bites is to issue a firm ‘NO’. This will clearly let them know this is the wrong behavior. However, be careful not to shout too loudly as you don’t want to antagonize them further.
Water spray
If the ‘NO’ doesn’t seem to have the desired effect, upgrade to the water bottle. Give a quick spray near the face whenever your dog nips or bites. This will further get across your disapproval, while also getting them to associate biting with negative consequences.
Deterrence collar
If the dog is still biting, then consider using a deterrence collar. They can be bought both online and in shops, for a relatively low price. You simply hit a button whenever they bite and an unpleasant spray of citronella will be emitted.
Muzzle
Until your Australian Cattle Dog’s biting is under control, you may want to fit them in a muzzle, especially when you are out in public. This will prevent any accidents or biting taking place until training yields results.
Body harness
Australian Cattle Dogs can be fairly strong. So you may want to fit them in a body harness when you’re out the house. This will give you much greater control to pull them away from a situation if they turn aggressive, preventing any biting taking place.
The Time Out Method
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Setting up
Make sure you have an easily accessible room that you can swiftly take the dog to whenever they bite. It needs to have no toys in it or other things they enjoy playing with. This will be their 'time out' space.
Removal
As soon as your dog does bite, calmly take them by the collar and lead them to the time out space. Then close the door and leave them there for 30-seconds. Don’t speak to them or get them worked up.
Release
Once the 30 seconds is up, open the door and let them return to whatever it is they were doing. However, keep a close eye on them so you can swiftly react again if the biting returns.
Increase the duration
If your Australian Cattle Dog does bite again, lead them back to the time out space. But this time add an extra 30 seconds onto their sentence. Continue to do this each time they re-offend.
Gentle play
While you use the above technique to react to their biting, you can also use positive reinforcements for good behavior. So spend a few minutes each evening playing gently and lying with each other. You can stroke them and whisper, rewarding them with odd treats and praise as you go. This combination of positive and negative reinforcements can promptly yield results.
Written by James Barra
Veterinary reviewed by:
Published: 04/25/2018, edited: 01/08/2021
Training Questions and Answers
Dinah
Australian Cattle Dog
One Year
Question
0 found this helpful
0 found this helpful
We adopted our Australian cattle dog mix from a shelter 2 weeks ago. We were told that she was not socialized and is currently on trazopene per the shelter. They said that once she is comfortable, she likely will not need the medication. When the medication wears off, her play comes with relentless mouthing that can leave bruises. She has not broken skin and truly does appear to be playing throughout, but we want to reach gentle play. She walks 2 miles per day, has enrichment toys, and fetches. No’s, redirection, and separation are not working. Is she still getting used to us?
April 8, 2023
Dinah's Owner
Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer
1133 Dog owners recommended
Hello, The biting if truly playful is likely due to a lack of social interaction, where puppies learn how to control the pressure of their bites by playing with other puppies before three months of age. I recommend teaching the Leave It command to address biting. I also recommend desensitizing her to a basket muzzle that treats can be passed through and desensitizing to touch while wearing that also. Leave It method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite Once pup is used to a basket muzzle, use puppy’s daily meal kibble to desensitize to touch. Gently touch an area of puppy's body while feeding a piece of food. Touch an ear and give a treat. Touch a paw and give a treat. Hold his collar and give a treat. Touch his tail gently and give a treat. Touch his belly, his other paws, his chest, shoulder, muzzle and every other area very gently and give a treat each time. Keep these times calm and fun for pup. To introduce the muzzle, first place it on the ground and sprinkle his meal kibble around it. Do this until he is comfortable eating around it. Next, when he is comfortable with it being on the floor with food, hold it up and reward him with a piece of kibble every time he touches or sniffs it in your hand. Feed him his whole meal this way. Practice this until he is comfortable touching it. Next, hold a treat inside of it through the muzzle's holes, so that he has to poke his face into it to get the treat. As he gets comfortable doing that, gradually hold the treat further down into the muzzle, so that he has to poke his face all the way into the muzzle to get the treat. Practice until he is comfortable having his face in it. Next, feed several treats in a row through the muzzle's holes while he holds his face in the muzzle for longer. Practice this until he can hold his face in it for at least ten seconds while being fed treats. Next, when he can hold his face in the muzzle for ten seconds while remaining calm, while his face is in the muzzle move the muzzle's buckles together briefly, then feed him a treat through the muzzle. Practice this until he is not bothered by the buckles moving back and forth. Next, while he is wearing the muzzle buckle it and unbuckle it briefly, then feed a treat. As he gets comfortable with this step, gradually keep the muzzle buckled for longer and longer while feeding treats through the muzzle occasionally. Next, gradually increase how long he wears the muzzle for and decrease how often you give him a treat, until he can calmly wear the muzzle for at least an hour without receiving treats more than two treats during that hour. Muzzle introduction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJTucFnmAbw&list=PLXtcKXk-QWojGYcl1NCg5UA5geEnmpx4a&index=6&t=0s Finally, I would keep a drag leash on pup to help redirect and enforce commands like Leave It without needing to grab pup's collar. Simply let a leash attached to a buckle collar or padded back clip harness drag when you are home, but take it off if not able to supervise to it won't get caught on anything. If things don't improve, get worse, or there appears to be true aggression with intent to harm or blood being drawn, go ahead and hire a professional trainer or behaviorist to work in person with you, looking for someone with aggression experience specifically, who is well recommended by their previous clients for behavior issue work. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
April 10, 2023
Riley
Australian Cattle Dog
Six Years
Question
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0 found this helpful
We rescued him from an abusive situation. He is a sweetheart to u, and very protective. But he is extremely aggressive towards almost anyone else and other dogs/cats. He understands some commands, and I am working with him for several short(10-15 minutes), sessions a day. Extremely intelligent, and catches on quickly. Unfortunately I still haven't been able to calm his aggression. Any help/suggestions would really be appreciated. We have fallen in love with the little guy, and would love to be able to bring him around other people and let them see just how sweet he can be. Thank you
Jan. 28, 2023
Riley's Owner
Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer
1133 Dog owners recommended
Hello, I highly recommend working with a trainer who specializes in behavior issues like aggression in person for this issue. Look for a trainer who works with a team of trainers, so that there are multiple people to practice the training around who are "strangers" to pup and know how to interact safely with aggressive dogs. This process typically involves things like gently building pup's overall respect, trust, and listening with you also so that pup doesn't think they own you and so that their behavior is easier to manage and so that they feel more secure and can defer to your leadership when in situations that make them uncomfortable. It also tends to involve gradually desensitizing pup to people, one at a time, with safety measures like a back tie leash or basket muzzle in place (introduced gradually ahead of time using treats so it's not just associated with the training and stressful), starting with people being further away at first, and working on pup's obedience with you around the people in the background to help pup remain calm and not get overly aroused and fixated on the other person. This can sometimes also involve interrupting pup's aroused state, but that should only be done under the guidance of the trainer and with proper safety measures in place, because with any aggression there is always the risk of the dog redirecting their aggression to whoever is closest when stressed. Exactly how the training is done depends a lot on the specific dog. Sometimes the training mainly involves rewarding pup with treats whenever they are around a new person. The person stays far enough away for pup to stay calm, while you keep pup in a thinking mindset instead of in fight or flight through obedience practice, and reward. As pup improves then distance is gradually decreased between the person and the dog and interaction is eventually increasing with the new person, then when pup is fine with that person a new person is rotated in and the process is started over again, repeating with a variety of different people, until pup generalizes the training and is okay with the public. There are nuances of this that make working with a team of trainers important though. There needs to be enough people who know how to interact with pup to rotate in and out as strangers to train safely. You need to be able to practice in a variety of locations once pup is good at home, having the trainers train in different locations with you. Sometimes corrections are needed to interrupt a dog who gets overly aroused to create an opening for learning when the dog is so reactive that no distance will create calmness, and safety measures need to be in places like a basket muzzle to keep others safe but also to keep pup from potentially redirecting a bite toward you if they get too aroused, especially if pup's reactivity is at the level where an interrupter would be considered. Most trainers don't specialize in aggression so be sure to vet potential trainers' for experience with aggression, and how they address it. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
Jan. 31, 2023