Bully Run

kstorck

My girl Sassafras has really gotten into her bully runs both inside and outside. She seems to have such a good time doing it and wipes her out, which is always nice! A problem we are having though is that when she gets into these "runs" all training/discipline goes out the window. She seems to get into a mode/zone and if anyone is in the way she will jump or charge them and bite whatever she can reach. She has gotten my thighs, hands, stomach and even my ear. When she is in calm dog mode she is fairly responsive to training and discipline concerning jumping and biting. My question is how should I handle the charging and biting when she is running? In the same way as when she is calmer? I love to see her run and have fun, but definitely don't want the biting. But trying to catch her when she is in the zone is near impossible as well as trying to just ignore a pup that is running like a bull all around you. Any advice would be great! Thank you!

philsergeant

Two things. 1) Give her as much outside exercise as possible.... (Mummy's whisper in their Bullie kids ears when they are suckling that, "Kids, during your first 8 months you need run as if you are trying to qualify for the Olympics"  2) No indoor running... Pinning if they don't listen.

Cfols25

I'll second what Phil said, I got into the practice of pinning when Bronte let loose indoors and this helped tremendously

kstorck

Great, I will give that a try! Thanks so much, she definitely loves to run! And man can she get going quick!

JParanee

How old ?

kstorck

She is 8 months.

Djammy

The indoor runs can be very destructive, regarding both people and furniture.
And philsergeant is very right: The more exercise and diversion they get in general, the less runs will occur.

It seems, however, that this is a natural Bully thing that can never be completely suppressed. There's always a slight chance ...

We do not entirely forbid Djamila the few runs she has - inside or outside.
BUT, all laughing, fun and interaction always immediately stopped, when she went overboard. That and
not nipping has been trained ever since she was a baby. Nipping has never been tolerated at any point, neither in a calm, not in a happy and wild situation. Once that happened or she became too rough in general, all interaction ceased immediately and if necessary I just shoved her into her crate as neutrally as I could for a short time-out.
In our experience, once they start to grasp the different moods we humans can be in, it also starts to matter to them, if what they do makes us happy or angry.

Therefore the more they mature, the more we can use our mood/ reactions (happy or angry face and voice) to show them the difference between desired and undesired behavior.
We have never needed to use pinning on Djamila to stop a Bully run.
Gestures, voice and volume did the job.

The hardest thing in my personal opinion is to NOT LAUGH under any circumstance. Because that undermines our own intentions: Laughing to Bully means he is causing fun, inspiring him to continue what he is doing.

kstorck

Thanks! We do the same thing when she nips. We stop playing or petting or talking or whatever and leave the room and ignore her or crate her for a few minutes. She knows when she has done what she isn't supposed to because in a calm setting when she nips as soon as I make a sound she goes right to her crate.

You all have given me good advice and encouragement!  Thanks!