Anyone have a miniature pincher? min pin?

[buglebe]

Our min pin, though I love him so much, will bite. I was holding him the other day and I hugged him too tight and he bit me on the nose. Is this common for this breed dog or is it just ours? He has bitten both of my grandchildren on the finger when they were feeding him. They weren't teasiing him because I was right there. I would get rid of him if it weren't for my husband. I want to get a muzzle for him for when the grandchildren are here. I don't even know how a muzzle fits , are they cruel or uncomfortable? He goes nuts when someone comes to the door and we have to put him in the bedroom and shut the door before we can let anyone into the house. He runs from window to window barking and growling when the mailman goes up the street in his truck. I think a lot of this is normal, but I don't know about the biting.

[3lilpigs]

Nothing wrong with muzzles. Just make sure you get the correct size, so they can still breath and are able to drink water. I trained my dog not to bark in the house by using one. I would use it for only about a half hour, then take it off. Then wait a few hours (or if she started barking for no reason) and put it back on again.

I know 2 people who have those dogs, and they are very hyper and yappy. I've never known them to bite though.

[justme23]

It's a general rule of thumb (even though it never makes it to the news cause they don't actually kill ppl) that the smaller the dog the meaner they are. I have 3 poodles, ranging from about 8lbs to almost 20lbs and believe me, the smallest one is the meanest one. He does warning nips to my husband but has never bit him hard... but the groomer (who I believe was mean to him cause he'd never done it before w/ any other groomer) he went to last claims he bit her hard enough to draw blood, although when asked to see she wouldn't show... so I do my own grooming now... Min pins are very popular around here and the breeders tell you when you look at them that they have tempers, but I too have not heard of one biting... though I wouldn't think anything of it if I did since they're so little.

[Char]

We had a min pin adopt us about 6 months ago. I have always had really big dogs, doberman pinchers actually, and, a rottie/doberman mix... 90 pounds. Anyway, at my husbands job, one of his supers brought in a dog she found, hiding under a truck... the min pin. He smelled awful ! He had been sprayed by a skunk... anyway, my husband works in a hospital, and, the dog couldn't stay there. He brought him home at midnight one night and left him with me !

Needless to say, we named him stinky... he is full of piss and vinegar ! He was afraid at first, got nippy... but, after living with our big rottie/dobie mix, he has calmed down a lot. He acts like he will bite, but, never has. And, he won't now, none of our dogs bite. Though he does boss our big guy around...lol, they are both males. We were lucky, he was already neutered, and very healthy. (had him vet checked day one) He is mouthy... but we love him.

[Char]

Oh, the vet thinks he is around 4 yours old. We called everywhere, checked papers etc... to try and find his owner, no luck at all. He is soooooooo ours now.

[Eyore]

It's a general rule of thumb (even though it never makes it to the news cause they don't actually kill ppl) that the smaller the dog the meaner they are. I have 3 poodles, ranging from about 8lbs to almost 20lbs and believe me, the smallest one is the meanest one. He does warning nips to my husband but has never bit him hard... but the groomer (who I believe was mean to him cause he'd never done it before w/ any other groomer) he went to last claims he bit her hard enough to draw blood, although when asked to see she wouldn't show... so I do my own grooming now... Min pins are very popular around here and the breeders tell you when you look at them that they have tempers, but I too have not heard of one biting... though I wouldn't think anything of it if I did since they're so little.

I totally agree with that. I know 2 small dogs I would never own is a Chihuahua and a Poodle, every Chihuahua I have been around has been nasty little buggers. They bark nonstop and growl at everything, at least the ones I have been around.

[mosdata1]

One reason that smaller dogs are more vicious is because most owners think they are small & cute & their actions are not dangerous.

Your dog needs to learn who the boss is in the house. He needs to learn that the humans are above him in the pack. Is he normally submissive with you?

When we got our dogs (11 yrs & 9 yrs ago) I made a point to have the children flip the puppies on their backs at random times, and not let them up until the children were ready (5-10 seconds usually). This lets the dogs know who is to be submissive. This was especially important as the first dog is a chow/shep mix & I had heard stories about these types of dogs being aggressive.

My dogs both learned to submit to everyone in the house, they are not food aggressive. Anyone can take food right out of their mouths & there would be no problem.

Until your dog is trained not to bite, and since giving him away is not an option, I would make sure he had on a muzzle around small children. But I would really work on his aggression. Biting family members is never acceptable.

[Char]

One reason that smaller dogs are more vicious is because most owners think they are small & cute & their actions are not dangerous.

Your dog needs to learn who the boss is in the house. He needs to learn that the humans are above him in the pack. Is he normally submissive with you?

When we got our dogs (11 yrs & 9 yrs ago) I made a point to have the children flip the puppies on their backs at random times, and not let them up until the children were ready (5-10 seconds usually). This lets the dogs know who is to be submissive. This was especially important as the first dog is a chow/shep mix & I had heard stories about these types of dogs being aggressive.

My dogs both learned to submit to everyone in the house, they are not food aggressive. Anyone can take food right out of their mouths & there would be no problem.

Until your dog is trained not to bite, and since giving him away is not an option, I would make sure he had on a muzzle around small children. But I would really work on his aggression. Biting family members is never acceptable.


I so totally agree, I could never have a dog that would bite. We have always socialized our dogs, starting as pups.