Dog Community

Fear biting serious help

Coll

Posted : 4/23/2006 10:25:21 AM

Ok, this is a long story, but we are at our wit's end. We really need objective advice.

Two years ago we adopted Charlotte, a "Schipperke" mix (I quote Schipperke because frankly we have no idea what she is; she weighs 30 lbs, has the face of a skippee, looks a little like a small black lab, has a spotted tongue like a chow.) She was two and a half at the time, we adopted her from a no-kill shelter, and we had no history on her.

Once we got her home, she exhibited fear-growling tendencies with most of our guests pretty much from the start, although she was kind to us when we met her at the Petsmart adoption clinic.

Then one day we were having a dinner party. We had guests sitting on the floor, on sofas and on chairs around a low coffee table. We were all eating. Charli was

laying with a woman who she had met several times, and with who she was very friendly. Suddenly Charli pinned her down and nipped at her face, drawing blood from her lower lip. Needless to say we were scared - this was the first violence we had seen from her, especially so since she had met this lady on a few occasions before, and was never afraid of her.

Some time later, we had a few guests over, and we were watching a movie. Charli was sleeping belly-up in a friend's lap for two hours, totally content and comfortable. She had met this guy before also, and was soundly sleeping in his lap. For no reason whatsoever, she sat up, waited for a moment, turned to him, and snapped at him, drawing blood from his face near to his eye. This was now the second time she had snapped at someone whom she knew and "trusted."

Last night, a friend of mine was over, again someone with whom Charli was friendly. She had been playing fetch and tug with him for several hours, without incident. She began to nap and we set out to study. After some time, he got up to go to the bathroom, and walked up to Charli on the way, just to pet her. He had done this several times before this evening, but this time she snapped at him and nipped his chin, drawing blood with a small puncture wound.

Does she need to be euthanized? Is sedation an option? We are scared and we love her and we need help. Can anyone give us advice? There are people with whom she behaves very lovingly; members of our families and some very close friends. We have hired a trainer, tried leashing in the house, tried muzzling, crating her when anyone comes in the house; we are unsure what to do, but we know that something must be done.

dasher

Posted : 4/23/2006 11:12:58 AM

HI Charli

I am not a trainer but I can share my experiences as I used to have a Dal who was fear aggressive and did bite someone one time. I got Reese as a puppy (from a BYB before I knew better) and he was shy from the get go, he never had any bad experiences to my knowledge as to why he was fearful at times, but nonetheless he was. The best thing I did for Reese was take him to obedience classes, this enabled him to socialize with other people and dogs. After a while he was much better with other dogs but still a bit wary of strangers. Reese was fun of energy and I loved the experience of going to dog classes so I kept going. After I became a bit more savvy I decided to try a doggie sport. I chose agility. Reese was a great agility dog and going to weekly classes was great for him. As everyone in dog class has cookies in their pockets, it didn't take long for Reese to learn that people were great and were a great source for goodies. It also helped being around "doggie" people, by this I mean people who knew to give him some space and not grab him, hug him, etc which may trigger his fear. After a couple of years I felt pretty good and we were able to go to agility trials without incident.

With all that being said, I tried to never put Reese in a situation that may trigger his fear. When people would come over I would just tell them not to bend down and get in his face or try to hug him or anything like that. Also petting him while he was on his bed sleeping would not be a good idea either. Of course I was able to do anything to him regardless of where he was but for new people or even people he had met before I just didn't want to stress him out so I asked they keep the petting non-intrusive. Reese would have been great 95% of the time as I had worked with him a ton, but I would not want to risk it.

IMO I don't think you would need to euthanize your dog, just try not to put her in situations that may trigger her fear. I wouldn't let anyone mess with her while she is on her bed or probably not a good idea to have her sleeping on people's laps. Also, if you ask your friends who visit your house to give her a little treat when they arrive it may be helpful for her to associate people as being the "good guys". Good luck!

schleide

Posted : 4/23/2006 5:14:31 PM

Hi there - I am not a trainer either, but I have a dog who has some similar issues (although I am not altogether certain he is fearful, he is certainly pushy and he has definitely been very snarky, growled and lunged at a few people for various things). He will seem ok, and then "out of nowhere" decide he doesn't like someone coming over to him, bending over him, petting him a certain way or whatever. We discussed it with several behaviorists, personally saw 2 behaviorists, went to obedience classes and now have a private trainer who comes over to work with us... and all the work we are doing socializing him, in a way where he can be safe, but still learn that people are good as well as working really hard to make sure Wesley sees us as his leaders is really working - BUT, the most important thing is that it is our job to protect Wes from ever being in a situation where he might bite someone, and it is your job to protect Charli from herself - a dog who bites is in major danger of needing to be PTS (by law).

Please don't put her in a position where she is able to bite anyone. When people are over, explain the situation to your guests and then limit the interaction - let her say hi, have guests give her treats (maybe while she is leashed and or muzzled), and then, either keep her leashed to you and muzzled, so she can't get at your guests, or just put her away. If you are comfortable that she will never approach a person to bite/nip, she will only do so if approached, make sure you are VERY VERY clear to guests not to approach her at all. When she falls asleep, you go over and take her into another room and let her rest where she can really relax and you can really relax.

You say in your post that you have tried leashing her, muzzling her and crating her while people were in the house - what was the outcome? This is a long term issue - I think your dog could probably get a lot better and a lot more confident if you are willing to keep working on the issues. Doing some sort of activity to build her confidence, like increasingly advanced obedience classes and/or agility classes might be great for your dog. Also, making sure your dog is comfortable with your leadership and her place in the pack by putting her on a NILIF program will help some. She may never love every type of interaction with everyone, and maybe she will never be the happy go lucky dog who wants to play with, sleep on and be

etted by anyone at any time, but that is ok - she is your dog, she loves you and you love her. But again - PLEASE be careful and don't put Charli in a situation where she can bite again, it is your job to protect her, to the best of your ability from herself.

Coll

Posted : 4/23/2006 7:56:43 PM

Thank You Dasher and Shleide for your replies and tips. As for the outcomes when we leash/muzzle/crate her; all have been successful except the muzzling. After her first bite, we made an agreement to ALWAYS crate her when guests came over but we started slacking on that rule. We now realize, and understand, the importance of removing Charli from any situation where she feels the need to bite. The good part is that she does not dislike being in her crate and we never have to force her into it. Thanks again for your help.