Dear Adam:
I am writing about our dog Rudy, a three year old goldie mix that we adopted five months ago from a shelter. We have received different opinions on his mix. Some have said goldie/shepherd, some have said goldie/chow. The latter is the opinion of the [local dog training academy], where he is presently enrolled in their one-month board and train program. We enrolled him because one month ago he attacked a jogger. The jogger was running by my husband, who had Rudy in a sit on a slack leash. The jogger changed direction quickly, running straight toward Derek and Rudy. Rudy lunged at the jogger, jumped up on him, barking and growling aggressively.
He tore the man’s jacket by nipping at it, but he did not bite the jogger.
[You weren't paying attention to your dog. If you were, you'd have already been running the other direction to execute the "attention getter" drill as outlined in the book. -Editor]
The only other time he had displayed such aggressive behavior was toward a UPS driver coming up the driveway, but he was well under control that time.
He has a very strong prey drive and dominant personality. He had been doing very well these past three weeks at the Academy. They were not able to elicit any aggressive behavior from him, and his obedience training was going well. But last Thursday, he bit a trainer. He apparently was being put back into his kennel and ran off down a long hallway. He was not leashed. When he got to the dead end, he first went submissive, rolling over on his back. The trainer then reached to grab his collar and Rudy gave her hand a good bite. She then reached for the collar with her other hand, and he did the same to that hand. He did not give her any warning growl or snap. He did not move forward toward her, just reacted to her reach toward him. After the second bite she backed off, and another trainer was able to coax Rudy to go back with her uneventfully.
I have read your book and believe that the trainer bite was an example of fear aggression? (I don’t know what to think about the jogger, though.) The Academy seems to be saying that they can’t train that reaction out of him; that we will just need to be vigilant and mindful of his triggers. That goes without saying, and I now believe that being cornered is one of his triggers. (Our vet had also mentioned that when they cornered him to get him on a table, that he had snapped out at them.) But your book and tapes led me to believe that you can train such behavior out of a dog. Or am I misunderstanding? Are you merely just getting the dog to react to you instead of following his instinctual reaction? Certainly that’s a good thing, but what if he’s with someone else when he’s triggered?
We need some perspective on this situation. I love him and want to give him every chance to learn correct behaviors. But on the other hand, we live in a dense children and jogger packed neighborhood. We can’t keep him if there is reasonable risk of this kind of thing happening again.
Mary Ellen
Dear Mary Ellen:
Thank you for the e-mail.
You’ve got a couple of things to consider:
1. The dog needs to be firmly corrected lunging. Going after the biker is a prey-based aggression. Correct him for this, as described in the book.
2. Going after the trainer and the veterinarian is the result of the dog being insecure and not trusting the handler. Usually in these types of cases, he will not bite if he is secure that you will not hurt him. Or if he knows that he will only be fairly corrected for behavior that he understands.
With aggressive behavior, we can never say 100% “All” or “Never” that your dog will or will not show a specific behavior.
Regardless, your dog needs to be corrected for such behavior, and then shown that if he is calm, he gets praise and nothing bad happens to him. This can sometimes be achieved by placing the dog in such positions while he is wearing a muzzle. He cannot bite you, and ultimately learns that everything ends up “A-Okay.”
It is a process of deconditioning. Not so for the prey-aggression, which can be fixed with a couple of well-timed and motivational corrections.
That’s all for now, folks!
Showing posts with label bite. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bite. Show all posts
Biting Nipping Behavior Can Kill Your Dog
Dog bite injuries are alarmingly the most common condition that we human suffer from as a result of contact with dogs. In the United States alone, there are between 1-2 million people bitten by dogs each year.
Most bites landed on children with boys more likely to get bitten than girls. (guess boys are more mischievous!)
Fortunately, most of these bites are not serious or life threatening and fewer than 5% become infected. However, with more dog bites receiving numerous bad press lately, more and more anti-dog legislation were introduced in United States. In some states, it’s even illegal to own certain breeds!
You must teach your dog never to allow him to bite anyone, including yourself! Your dog must not grab you at your hand in whatever situations including during play and training sessions.
He should also never mouth or nip you when you are petting, grooming or trimming his nails. Be consistent in your correction and make doubly sure that every member in the family follows it.
It’s not difficult to train young puppies not to use their teeth. Each time your puppy grab your clothes or skin, tell him in a deep firm tone, “No bite”, (use whatever you want to associate this correction with) and pull your puppy away from your hand. Correct his nipping behavior whenever he does it, irregardless of any events.
If you got a persistent biter, grab hold of him with one hand on his collar and close his mouth with your other hand, wrapping your fingers around his muzzle. Hold it there and say “No bite” in a deep firm tone.
Offer him a chew toy instead. Let him know that he can land his teeth on the chew toy only and not on you.
While older dogs have more difficulties learning the new rules, it’s still possible if you are consistent with the training. If you are unsure of your dog’s behavior when you bring him out to the public, be sure to put him on a leash and muzzle if necessary.
Constant correction will make teaches your dog not to use his teeth in any event. If you’ve problems to teach your dog not to use his teeth on people, seek professional help and advice immediately. This is not only to safe guard the interest of the general public but also your dog.
Remember: All it takes is one bite, and your dog could be put to death (euthanized). No “ifs”, No “buts” – Plain and simple.
I know you love your dog, so teach him not to use his mouth on human today!
Most bites landed on children with boys more likely to get bitten than girls. (guess boys are more mischievous!)
Fortunately, most of these bites are not serious or life threatening and fewer than 5% become infected. However, with more dog bites receiving numerous bad press lately, more and more anti-dog legislation were introduced in United States. In some states, it’s even illegal to own certain breeds!
You must teach your dog never to allow him to bite anyone, including yourself! Your dog must not grab you at your hand in whatever situations including during play and training sessions.
He should also never mouth or nip you when you are petting, grooming or trimming his nails. Be consistent in your correction and make doubly sure that every member in the family follows it.
It’s not difficult to train young puppies not to use their teeth. Each time your puppy grab your clothes or skin, tell him in a deep firm tone, “No bite”, (use whatever you want to associate this correction with) and pull your puppy away from your hand. Correct his nipping behavior whenever he does it, irregardless of any events.
If you got a persistent biter, grab hold of him with one hand on his collar and close his mouth with your other hand, wrapping your fingers around his muzzle. Hold it there and say “No bite” in a deep firm tone.
Offer him a chew toy instead. Let him know that he can land his teeth on the chew toy only and not on you.
While older dogs have more difficulties learning the new rules, it’s still possible if you are consistent with the training. If you are unsure of your dog’s behavior when you bring him out to the public, be sure to put him on a leash and muzzle if necessary.
Constant correction will make teaches your dog not to use his teeth in any event. If you’ve problems to teach your dog not to use his teeth on people, seek professional help and advice immediately. This is not only to safe guard the interest of the general public but also your dog.
Remember: All it takes is one bite, and your dog could be put to death (euthanized). No “ifs”, No “buts” – Plain and simple.
I know you love your dog, so teach him not to use his mouth on human today!
What People Need To Know About Dog Behavior
As the old adage goes, “Dogs are man’s best friend.” However, there are times when people just couldn’t understand why their beloved dogs behave in a different manner. Hence, it is extremely important to know the underlying reasons why dogs sometimes behave differently.
In fact, man could teach his dog the most appropriate behavior. Experts say that dog behaviors can be controlled through proper training.
Dog behaviors are actually responses that are mostly triggered by environmental and social factors. Hence, to control these responses, the owner should teach his dogs the proper way to respond to such elements.
Dog Bite
Statistics show that almost 5 million people in the U.S. are victims of dog bites annually. This is almost 2% of the total population in the U.S. What’s more, dog bites cases rank as second most common cause of emergencies in the hospitals.
So, the question is: Why dogs bite?
According to the experts, the main reasons why dogs may bite are the following:
1. Excitement
When somebody plays with his or her dog, the tendency of the dog is to get excited, and because dogs don’t have hands to use when playing, they have the tendency to use their mouth to grasp things. When this happens, there is the tendency that the dog might accidentally hurt people.
2. Protection
Dogs can be very possessive, so, whenever he wants to protect something that he owns, he will bite whoever threatens to take it away from him. Hence, when people get near the dog’s property, the dog’s tendency is to bite to make the person leave his property alone.
3. Pain
When the dog is not feeling well, he does not understand why he is feeling that way. Therefore, when a person, even if it’s his master, touches him, he may think that it’s the person who causes the pain and so his tendency is fight back by biting.
4. Fear
Dogs get fear too. That is why when somebody startles him, the dog’s only known protection for itself is to bite back.
So, the best thing to avoid these situations is to leave the dog alone. The problem with so many people is that they have this tendency to always play around with their dogs without learning how and when the dogs should be left alone.
Like humans, dogs have feelings too. When these feelings are all mixed up, their only known protection for themselves is to bite because they cannot understand the situation logically. Therefore, people should know that in order to avoid such circumstances.
As they say, it really pays to know everything.
In fact, man could teach his dog the most appropriate behavior. Experts say that dog behaviors can be controlled through proper training.
Dog behaviors are actually responses that are mostly triggered by environmental and social factors. Hence, to control these responses, the owner should teach his dogs the proper way to respond to such elements.
Dog Bite
Statistics show that almost 5 million people in the U.S. are victims of dog bites annually. This is almost 2% of the total population in the U.S. What’s more, dog bites cases rank as second most common cause of emergencies in the hospitals.
So, the question is: Why dogs bite?
According to the experts, the main reasons why dogs may bite are the following:
1. Excitement
When somebody plays with his or her dog, the tendency of the dog is to get excited, and because dogs don’t have hands to use when playing, they have the tendency to use their mouth to grasp things. When this happens, there is the tendency that the dog might accidentally hurt people.
2. Protection
Dogs can be very possessive, so, whenever he wants to protect something that he owns, he will bite whoever threatens to take it away from him. Hence, when people get near the dog’s property, the dog’s tendency is to bite to make the person leave his property alone.
3. Pain
When the dog is not feeling well, he does not understand why he is feeling that way. Therefore, when a person, even if it’s his master, touches him, he may think that it’s the person who causes the pain and so his tendency is fight back by biting.
4. Fear
Dogs get fear too. That is why when somebody startles him, the dog’s only known protection for itself is to bite back.
So, the best thing to avoid these situations is to leave the dog alone. The problem with so many people is that they have this tendency to always play around with their dogs without learning how and when the dogs should be left alone.
Like humans, dogs have feelings too. When these feelings are all mixed up, their only known protection for themselves is to bite because they cannot understand the situation logically. Therefore, people should know that in order to avoid such circumstances.
As they say, it really pays to know everything.
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