Comments on: Are You Afraid of Your Dog?

By: Donna Kagan

Donna Kagan — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 16:29:53 +0000

I acquired a 3 year old Jack Russell cross and am having dominance issues with her in that she (Molly} tries to dominate me and fights if I try to make her do what she doesn’t want to do. For example she gets furious about being left behind if I or anyone goes out so that she will be left alone. She barks, growls and tries to bite at my feet. The other day we were walking and I wanted to turn back and molly didn’t. She managed to pull out of her harness and I was frustrated and just started walking home without her. She then started growling and barking and biting at my boots in an effort to get me to turn around. That behaviour continued all the way down the road.
She is not crate trained and I am afraid she would bite if I tried to stuff her in there although I have on occasion put her in a room and closed the door. She is not particularly food motivated.

By: Allie Daniel

Allie Daniel — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 05:04:09 +0000

In reply to Chanel. I have one andd she loves me she just hates cats so she attaked me because I had a cat in my arms don't worry my german sheperd loves me.

By: Allie Daniel

Allie Daniel — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 04:59:49 +0000

I am scared of my German Shepard I was training her with a muzzle on with a cat because she hates them and the she was acting all aggressive snapping and starring. then I accidentally dropped the kitten and she attacked him I am to scared to go down stairs please someone give me advice.

By: Angela

Angela — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 02:59:14 +0000

Thank you for this post. I realize it’s 10+ yers old, but it was the perfect article for me. I’m afraid of my dog after he bit me, and am not sure how to get over my fear of him.
How were you able to trust your dog again? I guess that’s my biggest question.
I adopted Jam, a 13-year old Lhasa Apso whose bite history was concealed from me. (I learned of it when I called his former vet for some info).
Jam first snapped and growled when I picked him up one day. I later learned that he had pain in his lower back, so I never picked him up again.
Two weeks ago Jam pooped in the house (which he started doing about a month after I brought him home). I clapped my hands, said “No!” Loudly, and went to get his leash to toilet him. He went to his bed, so I walked over with the leash. (Note: He loves going outside, but I didn’t recognize his lack of interest as being an indicator of anything.
I squatted down to put his leash on, and reach for his collar. He was looking at me the entire time, then bite me, drawing blood on both sides of my right thumb. I was stunned. I’d never been bitten by a dog before, and was really freaked out I cleaned the wound, but it became infected. I took antibiotics and got a tetanus shot.
I don’t trust hum know, and the lack of trust (for me) is the biggest issue. He’s been with his coparent for the last week. Since the bite we’ve learned about his back pain, and also got some dental work for him. We’re treating the pain with CBDD because he refuses to take pills, even in pill pockets. I. know that dogs can bite when they‘re in pain, but I wasn’t even touching him when he bit me, so that can’t be the reason. I did consider canine dementia as a possible cause,.
I don’t want to be around him because I don’t know if he will bite me again, and I don’t want to be afraid in my home, as I now am.
I would love to be willing to try, but (if I’m honest), I don’t know if I can ever trust him. His previous vet (who told me about the bite history) recommended putting him down, but we (me and the coparent) wanted to take care of Jam’s pain issues before making a decision like that.
As well, the co-parent and I are on opposite sides of the euthanasia question. When we started on this path she said she’d support me if that was the path I chose 9after we got the health pieces taken care of), but now has ruled euthanasia out, and admitted she didn’t tell me that he’d bitten her and another person last week.
this is a challenging situation. Thanks for writing on the topic

By: miss cellany

miss cellany — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 12:07:57 +0000

Wow weird… I’ve never been scared of my own dogs, I know they love me and trust me and wouldn’t want to hurt me. I’ve never been bitten aggressively by any of my pets (well except my cichlids when they’re breeding but they have tiny fish teeth that do no damage).
I’m only scared of what my dog could do to someone (or something) else they don’t love or trust if they got scared or felt threatened. It’s why I put myself in between them and anything that they find scary or threatening to act as a barrier and to calm them down. If anyone should get bitten it should be me, not some innocent bystander.

By: shibashake

shibashake — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 22:22:42 +0000

In reply to american bull dog owner.

This is what I do when my dog bites on me-
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-i-trained-my-husky-puppy#bite-training

As for biting other objects,
1. I make sure to have many puppy-proof areas where puppy can be in and be safe.
2. When my puppy is not in a puppy-proof area, I make sure I am there to supervise. I play with him and show him that chewing on his toys will get him many rewards. I play with him using his toys, and sometimes, I add food to appropriate interactive toys. In this way, he learns that certain items (his toys) are a lot more interesting and rewarding to play with.
3. When my puppy goes for something he is not supposed to chew, I no-mark and body-block him away from the area. Then I redirect him to doing something else.
4. If he keeps going back to it, then I close the door to that room so that he can’t get in there anymore. In this way, he learns that if he chews on certain items, he loses some of his freedom. However, when he chews on his toys he gets a lot of rewards.
5. If he escalates his behavior by scratching on the door and more, then I put him very briefly in a safe time-out area.

In general, I try to always set my dog up for success. When my puppy does something undesirable, I start small and try to redirect him to something positive, so that he has many chances to do something else and get rewarded for it. I only escalate my “punishment” when my dog escalates his behavior.

More on how I discourage my dogs from biting.

By: american bull dog owner

american bull dog owner — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 10:20:32 +0000

Hi I have a 6month old american bull dog x and she is always biting me I sort of ignore the pain and still stop her and redirect her to a toy, how do I go about her biting wires its as if she knows she will get most of the attention from that and then bites me when I try to stop her (all the wires are under a table so she hides under it and chews them)

By: shibashake

shibashake — Mon, 12 May 2014 23:57:27 +0000

In reply to New mom. Heh, yeah, during the potty training period I absolutely do not allow any free roaming unless I am there doing full-supervision. I actually didn't have to potty train Sephy because he was already potty trained when I got him, and he is a very fastidious dog :D However, with my Huskies, I really had to supervise them closely so that I not only maximize successes but also minimize mistakes. The more successes we have, the more I can reinforce the potty outside behavior. Similarly, the more mistakes they make inside the house, the more they learn it is ok to go in the house. Lots of supervision and no-free roaming really helped to speed up the potty training process for my Sibes. Once they are fully potty trained, I can *very slowly* increase their level of freedom. More on how I did potty training with my puppy. As for timeouts, any low stimulus area would work for Sephy. When he was young, we lived in a very small house so I put him in a closed passage between the bedroom and kitchen/living room. It is a safe place for him to calm down. In addition, it also limits his freedom so that he learns that if he doesn't follow house rules or people rules, then he loses his roaming privileges temporarily. It works well with Sephy because he values his freedom very much. I also follow the Nothing in Life is Free program with all of my dogs, which is very useful to get them to follow house rules. Big hugs to Emi! She definitely sounds like a Shiba! :D

By: New mom

New mom — Sat, 10 May 2014 23:38:53 +0000

Hello!

I’m commenting on this article, to! Haha.

So I definitely empathize with this blog 110%. I’m sometimes afraid of Emi when she gets too nippy, growls, etc. Right now it’s okay, but I always think of the “what if it gets worse” scenario for when she’s bigger and more “dangerous.” Maybe I’ve been watching too many scary dogs in the Cesar Milan videos.

Since I live in a small condo, I don’t really have a laundry room/much space to put her for timeout. Anything you suggest?

Also, I’d love to allow her some freedom to roam around (e.g. living room, kitchen, etc.)…but she’s been marking things every time I try! She has pooped in the same area three times, and peed twice! And these instances all took place AFTER she went outside to pee/poo. Any ideas/suggestions?

By: shibashake

shibashake — Thu, 23 May 2013 06:12:21 +0000

In reply to Chanel.

I found that the best way to deal with my fear is through knowledge. I did a lot of reading on dog training and dog behavior, and I got help from several professional trainers.
http://www.apdt.com/pet-owners/choosing-a-trainer/