Quote:
Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
How old is the dog and what are the circumstances? I've been bitten accidently by dogs while I was trying to pry stuff out of their mouths (labs are stubborn motherfuckers). I've been bitten by a dog while I was pulling it out of a fight with another dog (and truth be told, I don't know which of the two actually bit me, I was stupid, I should have just let go of the leash and looked for a hose). I was bitten by a dog that I accidently stepped on while he was in a deep slumber. (All of the above are break the skin bites.) My dogs are sheepdogs and will occassionally nip at heels. It's what they're bred to do. All of those bites, I thought, were due to my stupidity and inattention, not any flaw on the dog's part.
All dogs will bite if suitably provoked. It's just a question of how much provocation it will take. If there wasn't much provocation, then you should get on the phone and talk to a trainer ASAP.
The Displaced Dog was thrown in jail in Berkeley in 2000 for biting a garbage man who came into his (fenced) yard uninvited by anyone. The Berkeley animal control ruled it a provoked bite, and the guy that was behind the desk when I turned him in was very sympathetic to the Displaced Dog's plight. The Displaced Dog was carrying out his self-appointed (and welcome, since I was and am a single woman living alone,) duty as director of security. Animal control recognized that, and I am (and was at the time of the incident) very aware as a responsible dog owner that my dog is not as friendly to strangers as, say, a cocker spaniel might be.
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Thanks, all. Betty Ford says I'm still good to go.
The dog is 6. Has been mouthy, nippy, at times aggressive/possessive about being asked to get off whatever he's sleeping on throughout his life (yes, accept and acknowledge that his human parents owed him some additional behavioral training long ago that he never received). He had been improving in general behavior (he is of a very independent, not particulrarly obedient breed), but lately had been stealing food, disobeying, bitching about going in and out of the garage, etc. He disobeyed a particular set of commands last night (to get out of the kid-room, as it was bedtime), as he was on a mission to find crumbs of food or something, so I swatted at him with a magazine. He whipped around, snarled, paused and then lunged at my leg. I have a nasty bruise, it's sore, and there was some minor skin-breaking (through the pant-leg), but no external bleeding. Motherfucker. He was ashamed, etc. I take a huge amount of blame, as I believe the theory for this breed is that positive discipline works much better than negative (negative also showing that I'm not the calm alpha he needs to stay in line), but I'm not now sure what to do. Checked with the relevant rescue, and they won't even take a dog who's bitten. Considered at different points along the way finding another home for him, but like losers, we made excuses for him and focussed on alleged improvements or boundaries we felt he had, rather than getting serious about training and, if that failed, letting him go.
