I take care of two dogs from time to time for a friend.
One dog is a Shephard mix (Tony), the other dog is a Labmix (Mel).
When Mel is eating, if I try to add water to the water bowl, Mel snaps at me. If I pay any attention to Tony, other than putting on Tony's leash, Mel get mad.
When I put Mel's leash on, if I don't do it fast enough, Mel snaps at me. Most importantly, when I try to take Mel's leash off, it is almost always a very hard thing to do. He snaps, growls and shows his teeth. This morning I had put on a harness and the leash. I wasn't able to get both off. Finally, I took Mel out for a walk and quickly got the harness part off. Thankfully, I was able to pull off the collar with the rest of the leash on it. Now, Mel is safe inside (with doggie door access to outside), but I have a feeling with future walks, Mel will snap when I put on the collar (Maybe not as much because he sees we are going out) and definitely when I take it off.
So, to keep it simple, how can I get Mel to allow me to reach under his neck to take off the leash?
I also would like an answer to this question. I have a 6 year old anxious collie cross who intermittently snaps/snarls at me when I am either putting lead on or taking it off.
Other times he seems fine but he has fear aggression re dogs, strange places and nervous with touch generally.
I hope someone will give some useful advice
Growling, showing teeth, backing away, and even some snapping are not automatically aggressive or dominant behaviors. Just because they look scary to our human eyes, please don't misinterpret these signs. This is your dog's way of telling you, "Something about this situation is making me uncomfortable. Please give me more space so I don't have to resort to more extreme measures." However, as a responsible owner, these are signals which must be taken seriously and carefully managed to protect yourself, other humans, and your dog.
From the brief descriptions, there seem to be a couple different things going on that may be causing stress or pressure on the individual dogs in question.
2) Touch (and possibly motion) sensitivity. Ahimsa Dog Blog, in general, and BAT training (originated with Ahimsa). Here's another nice blog with some good videos: Fearfuldogs.com, but essentially you can pick up the basics of conditioning from any one of many excellent books or DVDs - check out Paul Owens, Karen Pryor, Karen Overall, Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson, Leslie McDevitt and onwards - and can gradually redefine your dog's feelings about your hands, body, and/or face coming close/touching him. Conditioning can also help you change your dog's feelings about all sorts of events, including the ones he currently finds stressful (such as having his collar or leash put on, being handled, meeting new dogs, being led into new places, being petted or touched by strangers, etc).
As always, safety first! If you're not sure where to start or need guidance in setting up a plan for management and training, visit APDT.org for trainer referrals in your area. As in every profession, there's a broad spectrum out there so you'll have to ask some questions in order to find a trainer you are comfortable working with, who uses positive training methods and no choking, pinning, pinching, jerking, etc. as these can be particularly damaging to an already-fearful dog.
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Your Privacy Choices