My dog bit me...

DanceInThe_Dark

Kimitatsu wrote: »

. You know your dog better than anyone, seek a behaviourists advice with your dog in front of them. Without seeing an animals body language all of this is generalist advice

Good luck with whatever you decide

Well said. Unless you actually take the anmial to a behviourist or even better get them to come out to your home advice is mainly guesswork.
Perhaps in the home environment the behviourist will spot something straight away and with a bit of work all can be sorted out.

Also I'd second the advice re going to a Vet.

Please also contact his breeders for advice. Maybe they can help or offer some further suggestions.

cheekymole

The breeders - Guide Dogs - they rejected him, but he's my little reject!

I will be on the phone first thing to the vet and behaviourist and hopefully between then they can sort him

Thanks for the advice Dance in the Dark

System

Can I ask if your dog has a crate? I know you want to get to the bottem of his agression but there will be times in the house when you will be distracted (when your on the phone or something). It would be a good idea to put him in his crate at this point. It will be for peice of mind (if there are other people around it may be safer). I do hope you are able to get to the bottem of your dogs problems.

JCR

I know exactly how you feel Cheekymole, my Golden Retriever has aggression problems with resources and such like. The other week he bit me when he thought I was going to take something away from him. Caught me on my side and was really aggressive with it. As with your case I am worried that it may occur with somebody else, luckily his aggression has been aimed just at me so far. I have scanned the internet for answers and bought a book call Sit Stay Fetch, which wasn't a great deal of help. Have taking him to classes and spoken to experts. I have tried him with a muzzle on but he has been able to get it off within seconds. The bouts of aggression do only happen very sporadically but I know he cannot be trusted 100%. I would never allow him to be on his own with children or even other adults who do not know him, and as you say mostly he is friendly and loving and you wouldn't dream he could change so much like Jekyll and Hyde.

So I have every sympathy with you and wish you all the luck, and if you find the answer please let us know.

cheekymole

I honestly now believe that it could be our fault. He is only ever like it when he seems to be scared (not that we've ever done anything to make him scared)
We have decided that he will not have any treats which take longer than a couple of minutes to eat therefore we will not need to take anything of him and also we will not try to grab his collar as we feel that he feels threatened when we do this so we are going to try this new approach from afar and in the meantime keep anybody else away from him.

Thanks again for your concerns and JCR don't give up on your pooch, I believe it is a pack thing (I'd bite if somebody tried to take my chocolate away from me!) and if they aren't put in those situations (i.e. take the causes out of the equation) then hopefully (fingers crossed) it won't happen anymore

foreign_correspondent

a book called 'the dog listener' by Jan Fennell is excellent, lots of info on dogs who get confused about their position in the pack and bite or destroy things etc as a result - lots of techniques too... Its well worth a read

Eels100

This is where I'm going to reiterate that it's very important that you find a behaviour counsellor to deal with this, because online forums can only go so far. Jan Fennell's ideas are not only harsh and out-of-date (think Barbara Woodhouse rehashed) but are fairly widely discredited by modern behaviourists and trainers. I read her book and almost claimed my money back - she's making out she's the first person ever to work out that wolves have alphas! Pack theory is great - if your dog is a wolf and so are you! But in a situation where you have a dog living with humans, which has never been brought up in a pack situation, you cannot expect that dog to live by pack rules. So you have to teach it to live by human rules. Just my opinion, but this is why you need to get a behaviourist because otherwise you're going to get an awful lot of conflicting advice from us lot.

katiekittykat

If your dog does it again - get rid of it, next time it could be a child it bites.

Raksha

Hi OP, There are 'dog bites' and there are 'dog bites' - did your dog snap but not make contact with you? Did his teeth touch the skin but not break it? Did he graze the skin? Did his teeth penetrate but not bite down? Did he bite down and shake/tear the skin/muscle? Did he bite several times in the same place?

IF we're talking about the first 3 or 4 types of bite, then it's very possible, given the correct training and management, he will never do it again......

But first things first - vet check is essential to rule out any medical reason. I know of a GSD who was put to sleep after biting a child - on post mortum he was found to have a crayon stuck in his ear canal which must have been causing him terrible pain. There are also medical conditions like thyroid or hip problems which can cause dogs to get 'grumpy'.

My initial reaction, if you were a client of mine (and I have been away at a seminar given by Ian Dunbar, probably the best known behaviourist in the world, and I have been trained by Gwen Bailey, former Chief behaviourist with the Blue Cross, just call me a name dropper ) would be that this dog has been allowed to 'resource gaurd' and not taught it's more beneficial to allow a 'swop' to happen, and a good solid 'leave' command should be taught.

Please don't worry about the authorities, as yet there are no laws I know of which affect a family pet interacting with a family member in your own home.

Dogs bite, but slippers and balloons are more dangerous - Janis Bradley.

jopsey

Hi Cheekymole
sorry I didn't reply yesterday ,your post sounded fine .
My dog has been in vets today for tests aswell as his abcess the vet has found a mass in his tummy ,hopefully get results Wednesday

I went through a lot of soul searching and cried non stop for hours when my rescued Yorkshire terrier "snapped" at my toddler (who he usually loves to bit's),I am probally going to get slated ,but this is what I decided.

My inital response was that was it he had to go, phoned SS and he removed dog from the family home asap.( was tempted to send toddler packing first but nobody would take him :rotfl: :rotfl: JOKE )

I too felt like yourself guilty, I feel I let my son and the dog get in this situation and if I had intervened earlier this wouldn't have happened.

Basically what happened was we have a small blow up boat that orignally was bought for the dog ( :rolleyes: don't laugh ,he hates swimming so when we go camping and we go into sea dog sits in boat and gets pulled along ),
DS has now decided it's "MY BOAT" yes you can guess the rest dog was in boat having a nap DS decided to hijack it ,dog growled ,DS decided to pull him out by his ear ,dog snapped , not a bite as such just a showing of teeth and a bit of a lunge (IYKNWIM)

Dog was terrified and hid ,he knew it was wrong and even wet himself in his basket (1st time)

Sorry to ramble but what I am trying to say is dogs are like humans they have instincs and when feeling under weather/threat can act in a nasty way .
In my case I belive that my toddler has to learn aswell that he can't go around bashing animals .
My vet was fantastic and he shares my view and has 4 children of his own .

We brought dog home after a few days ,but are keeping a very close eye on him and just playing it by ear until all tests are done.


Hope everything goes well and for what it's worth your not on your own