spiritdogs
Posted : 12/12/2009 10:33:09 AM
It's easier to ignore a muzzled dog;-) Muzzling might not be my first choice, but, depending on the situation, I would certainly consider it, especially if the handler is a nervous type who might not be good at follow through.
With herding and working breeds in particular, there is often a lot of what would ordinarily have been normal behavior that gets displaced and takes the form of leash biting and nipping at the handler. Some of these dogs have an inherent need to control their environment or to stop motion, and with no burglar or no sheep, they displace these out of context behaviors onto other things. So, I would want to question the handler thoroughly about how much (and, much more importantly, what kind of) exercise the dog is getting. You can physically exercise some dogs until the human is exhausted lol, yet you haven't made a dent in tiring (or stimulating the hard wired needs of) the dog! Often, it is the mental or problem solving exercise that's lacking, and that can be more tiring, and more effective in sating the dog's needs, than the physical stuff. So, for such dogs I often recommend first that they get hand fed for a week (increases the importance of the handler), then all their meals are fed to them from various interactive toys or food puzzles, and then that they get a real "job." The job is open to discussion - could be anything from agility, to herding, to frisbee, to scent games. I also find that such dogs are often corrected a lot, yet they continue to escalate because they are being corrected for what amounts to hard wired behavior (to them, even though we think it undesirable in the context in which it's exhibited). I just helped re home a cattle dog in that situation. His bites had left severe black and blues on his owner, and he had broken skin most recently. Clearly headed in the wrong direction... I did not realize it initially, but he had been alpha rolled and yelled at since age 5 months by a household member. Now, he is a clicker trained dog, living with the trainer who fell in love with him instead of fostering him, and he is a model canine citizen! He did not require a muzzle, he required a *job* which he got. I do think that it's important to evaluate whether a handler is able to comply with a behavior modification and training regimen - in this dog's case, the owner got wonderful advice from two trainers and a Ph.D. behaviorist, but was quite ineffectual in implementing it. Once the regimen was implemented the dog "got it" very quickly.
Sensitive dogs can get leash grabby if you use slip collars or prongs on them. They feel the pain and direct their activities to the leash in an effort to stop it, whereas a pain insensitive hound or Lab might think it's nothing to worry about. So, get the training collars off if you have been using them. I'm not above looking a bit ridiculous by putting a snug t-shirt on a dog if I don't have an properly fitted anxiety wrap (http://www.anxietywrap.com/About/). I've seen Brenda Aloff use these with great success on some very reactive dogs. Reactive doesn't just apply to "reactive to other dogs" it can apply to reactive to other stimuli, such as collar pressure or even air blown at them (my Aussie is so reactive to that that she will jump off the chair if I accidentally huff at her the wrong way - thankfully, she doesn't bite at my face, but I have seen that from some dogs...).
Prevention is important, so these are dogs that I generally will walk in a Gentle Leader or a Halti (after acclimation of course). I find that some dogs object to a Halti less because it doesn't sit as close to the eyes as the GL, although you can't close their mouths with one. The GL will allow a handler to gently close a dog's mouth and remain safe from the unwanted behavior, while still able to feed treats for desired responses. If the dog is mouthy taking treats, this can help: http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1355&ParentCat=54 Peanut butter is great because it has the dog lapping longer, so less time available to try to mouth the leash. You want to increase the number or duration of good responses, and cause the dog to realize that NOT biting the leash is more productive than biting it - dogs do what works.
Another tactic commonly used by working dog trainers is to have a calm well trained dog or two along for a walk. Dogs in groups tend to do things together, so if the dog in question is friendly with other dogs, this can help. The older, more experienced, or more calm, dogs serve as a model for the dog being trained (much as is done with hunting or herding dogs). Any time he mimics them, he gets a reward.
Any time I am between exercises with a dog such as this, I consider using a "settle" exercise. I simply step on the leash so that jumping up becomes impossible, but the dog is free to sit, lie down, or stand. Once I say "settle" I ignore the dog - he learns that the word basically means "at ease." Initially, I don't overuse the privilege, I intersperse it with fun exercises - to build in a shut off switch.
Always end training with these dogs on a good note. If the dog does NOT jump up to grab, jackpot his efforts at self control with a little smorgasbord instead of just one treat, and let him relax, or go off to play a game he likes.