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dog attacking feet

Posted : 3/7/2006 7:58:56 AM

I have a chow/lab mix. About 5-6 years old. We got her from a shelter about 1.5 years ago. She is a good natured dog and very playful and excitable.

My problem is when someone new comes over, which is not often, she is very friendly, brings them toys and things like that. She will even lay be them when she calms down. But after about 30-45 minutes she will try to attack their feet.

She has never hurt anyone and she only goes after there shoes and can be distracted but she continues to do it. She commonly plays with our feet and we are usually the ones to initiate it, she especially loves my mothers large slippers.

She never growls or barks when doing this to guests or us.

Has anyone ever had something like this before?

I worry that she will hurt someone. Do you think it is just because we play with her with our feet? Does anyone have any advice?

alyssa howe

Posted : 3/7/2006 9:06:12 AM

My advice to you would be to NOT initiate that type of behavior with her. She can't tell the difference between your shoes/feet and your guests' shoes and feet.

When she goes for a shoe or a foot, I'd say a sharp no and then offer an acceptable toy. If you repeat this enough she'lll eventually learn that shoes and feet are not appropriate playstuff!

Another method you can try... when she goes for your shoes/feet, immediately get up and walk away from her. "Ignore the bad behavior and reward the good" is a method that I find works well with some, but not all dogs. I know my one dog is so persistant that ignoring is not effective and thus we have to use the redirection method described above.

Good luck.

forpaws

Posted : 3/7/2006 9:20:33 AM

I agree with Shandy and Beau here. You initiated this type of play and thought it was cute, now she does it on her own and you don't want her too.

You could also try the clicker training with her and get her into a good sit position. Kind of hard to bite feet when you are sitting.

Good luck.
[linkhttp://www.clickertraining.com]www.clickertraining.com[/link] good website to go to.

Mic

Posted : 3/7/2006 9:22:48 AM

Do not encourage this behavior! It can become a disaster.

I normally deal with this by staying absolutely still when the dog tries to initiate this game. It is only fun for the dog if the dog gets a reaction. If you remain calm, don't move your feet, and are silent. The dog will not find this a fun game.

alyssa howe

Posted : 3/7/2006 10:06:49 AM

I second the clicker training idea... it is a fun method that dogs pick up on very quickly. It is amazing how you can shape behavior. It's also a nice opportunity to bond and the dogs really enjoy it. It's also great for dogs that are excitable and have short attention spans. The food motivator really makes them want to work.

As forpaws said, and something I thought of after I posted, I'd definitely ask her to sit when she starts going for the feet. Another way of redirecting her attention and like forpaws mentioned, she can't go for your feet while she is sitting up.

Lisa Riley

Posted : 3/7/2006 1:41:06 PM

My golden did this as well, she would chase little kids and adults and try to get their feet, we could not get her to stop and ended up using a shock collar. She would attack and we would shock and say quit or no. It only took a couple of times and she got the idea that chasing feet wasn't so fun. I don't usually recommend shock collars, but we had tried everything else. I also suggest not initiating this type of play. My dog did this and we never played with her in this manner.

spiritdogs

Posted : 3/7/2006 7:51:39 PM

I second the idea of using a clicker. But, additionally, I'm wondering if the place you got her from misidentified her. The behavior you describe is really common in puppies from the herding breeds. If your dog has a black tongue, and a long coat, she could have been ID'd as a Chow mix, but really have some herding genes instead. Labs are known to have black tongues, too. Just a thought.