Need help my dog just took a bite out of me

[warviper]

Hello we own a 5 month old rott. on sunday I got him a new dog tag and I was reaching down to get the collar when he started snarlling at me, I calmly did not remove my hand from the neck area and waited for him to calm down. He did not stop growling so I reached down to remove the bone that he was chewing on when he turned and snapped at me. I was shocked because I sit with him when he feeds and regulary take my hand in and out of his bowl, I will also remove bowl and return just to see if he will show agression.

Today a freind gave him a pig ear as a treat and i reached down to pet him when he started to growl again I reached down to remove ear when he then latched onto my arm and did not let gow for about 10 seconds I repeated same exercise that I did on sunday by putting item infront of him but not letting him touch it.

any advice would be helpfull love my dog but I can never allow him to bit any othe people.


P.S. Im a big dude and I am fine.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by warviper

...I was reaching down to get the collar when he started snarlling at me, I calmly did not remove my hand from the neck area and waited for him to calm down. He did not stop growling so I reached down to remove the bone that he was chewing on when he turned and snapped at me. I was shocked because I sit with him when he feeds and regulary take my hand in and out of his bowl, I will also remove bowl and return just to see if he will show agression.

Your puppy is resource guarding. Resource guarding is a lack of trust that items he deems valuable are safe around you. MOST IMPORTANTLY, you are actually teaching him that they AREN'T, by sticking your hands in and out of his bowl and by taking it away during mealtime. This is a bonafide way to teach a dog to do exactly what your puppy did.

Don't antagonize him by bothering him while he eats, leave him to eat in peace. If anything, you should be dropping a tasty tidbit into his bowl while he's eating, then he'd think it was great you were there.

Originally Posted by warviper

Today a freind gave him a pig ear as a treat and i reached down to pet him when he started to growl again I reached down to remove ear when he then latched onto my arm and did not let gow for about 10 seconds I repeated same exercise that I did on sunday by putting item infront of him but not letting him touch it.

Again, this exercise is worse than useless - you are antagonizing him. He's responding in precisely the way you are asking him to. Stop it.

Originally Posted by warviper

any advice would be helpfull love my dog but I can never allow him to bit any othe people.

A bone and a pig ear are very high value items to a dog. You need to either put him in a crate to enjoy them in peace, or stop harassing him when he is loose in the house with those things.

Also, teach him the "trade it" game. The idea is for him to learn that when you take something from him, he gets something better in trade for it. Start with items that aren't so important to him....a toy is good. Ask him for the toy using a command word "out" or "give" or "let go" (whatever command you want to use, but stick with the one you choose), and offer him a yummy treat or another toy. It needs to be something he'll want bad enough to drop what he's got. When he drops what he's got to take what you've offered, praise him to the heavens for being such a good boy. Practice that every day with him, and between the trade game and ceasing to antagonize him by bothering him while eating, hopefully you'll be able to undo the damage and he'll learn to feel his "stuff" is safe around you.

Originally Posted by warviper

P.S. Im a big dude and I am fine.

LOL, glad to hear it. Remember, it's the brains that raise a puppy to be a good dog, not the brawn!

[Zumie05]

Dog's resource guard out of the fear you're going to take an item away. So what you have to do is exactly what moondog said, trade for it. Next time your dog has a bone, come up with a nice piece of meat and let him sniff it. Let him start eating the meat or whatever treat you are using, pick up the bone, and then tell him "good!!" and give him back the bone after he is done eating the treat.

He will learn it is good to have you near his high value items because he gets goodies and doesn't lose his bone.

[warviper]

Thanks for the advice. Please understand that the only reason why I do those things is in hope of putting him in situations that I imagin he might see in public. When I take item away I always give it back to him after he calms down and returns to a normal state of mind. Is it being to unreasonable of me to think that I will be able to get to the point where if for some reason I deem that an item is not best for him at that time that I can not remove item. Basicaly I do not want this to escalate into him growling = he gets his way. Thanks again and look forward to your response.

[Shelby427]

Originally Posted by warviper

Thanks for the advice. Please understand that the only reason why I do those things is in hope of putting him in situations that I imagin he might see in public. When I take item away I always give it back to him after he calms down and returns to a normal state of mind. Is it being to unreasonable of me to think that I will be able to get to the point where if for some reason I deem that an item is not best for him at that time that I can not remove item. Basicaly I do not want this to escalate into him growling = he gets his way. Thanks again and look forward to your response.

The way you are doing it is not the way that will work. You are teaching him that he needs to guard his items. You say you want to make sure he's used to it in case he might see a similar situation in public - but that's where you come in to make sure he's not in those situations. Why would he have such an item outside of the house?

He should not have a high value item in public. If you want what he has, you have to teach him to trade for it. Offer him a better treat and trade.

Are you two in classes?

If you think he has an item that is not good for him, teach him "drop it" - this way you are not taking the item from his mouth.

[brunie's mom]

Moondog gave you good advice...start the "trade" game. When he has a very special item...offer him a better item with a command....praise, and give him back the original item.

Please stop giving pig ears...they are greasy, bacteria laden items and not a good treat for dogs.

This is something you are going to have to work at, resource aggression does not disappear overnight. When feeding him...feed him by hand at least one meal per day, and at the other meals...walk by and throw in a bit of chicken or cheese or some other goodie...praise and keep on walking.

You've created this mess, by bugging him at his meal times....he does think you want to take things away.

Are you and your pup enrolled in obedience classes? This will help you with future problems that you may face with your pup as well as teach you how to teach your pup.

Gina

[moondog]

Originally Posted by warviper

Thanks for the advice. Please understand that the only reason why I do those things is in hope of putting him in situations that I imagin he might see in public.

I do understand that. We all want our dogs to be well behaved.

Originally Posted by warviper

When I take item away I always give it back to him after he calms down and returns to a normal state of mind.

He should not be upset to begin with, and that is the problem with the way you're going about it. You have skipped a whole bunch of NEEDED baby steps (aka the trade game) in order to communicate to him that his "stuff" is safe with you and that he'll get it back. He's a DOG and can only understand you from his doggie perspective. Unless you TEACH him that his stuff is safe with you in a way he can connect with, he has no way of knowing you're going to give it back.......that's why he gets upset. In his mind, you're stealing his "stuff".

Originally Posted by warviper

Is it being to unreasonable of me to think that I will be able to get to the point where if for some reason I deem that an item is not best for him at that time that I can not remove item. Basicaly I do not want this to escalate into him growling = he gets his way. Thanks again and look forward to your response.

The way you're going about it, using "power" against him, you will NEVER get to that point.....which IS my point! A relationship with a dog needs to be built on cooperation, not on oneupsmanship. If you are going to do something you absolutely need to follow through so he doesn't get the idea that he can run the show, but you have to be VERY MINDFUL of the battles you choose. It's just that you are going about it all wrong. You can't expect him to understand something he has not been taught (that you are not a threat to his food/bones). Sticking your hands in his dish for no other reason than to "see if he'll be aggressive" has absolutely no purpose in HIS mind (or mine, for that matter) except that you want his food. So he protects it. Again I'll say, Stop It!

Let him eat his meal without being bothered, give him bones in a crate, and begin working on the "trade it" game by exchanging a small treat for a toy he has. He will start to realize that by giving something up to you, that something delicious is forthcoming. That in itself will change his entire attitude. Build the trust FIRST, and the rest will fall into place.

If you do not have him in obedience classes, that is something you should absolutely get him signed up for and continue with until he is well into maturity.

[EmmysMom]

The trade game is wonderful and it really works! Emmy is going to be 6 on tax day and she will bring me things that she finds (not her toys but like paper, tissue, etc) to see if she can trade for a treat. I have said over and over that I would rather she do that than take them and go hide while she eats it!

[Weily4Life]

Originally Posted by Shelby427

You say you want to make sure he's used to it in case he might see a similar situation in public - but that's where you come in to make sure he's not in those situations. Why would he have such an item outside of the house?

There are times in public that a dog finds an item that is high value. There have been times walking my dogs that they come across a "high value item". People have tossed from their car windows left over portions of hamburgers, tacos, twinkies, chocolate wrappers with melted chocolate, etc., etc.

The "leave it" and "drop it" commands with a quick "yes", followed by a yummy training treat has proved very successful.

As the others have said, it is important to have a yummy trade when practicing this exercise.

[fostermom]

Unfortunately, old school dog training did tell people to put their hands in the dog's food bowl, which actually created food aggression in some dogs. Last year I fostered a 10 mo. old rotti...he was a great pup with no "issues". I even made a point of taking the couple interested in adopting him to a trainer who went through with them how to work with the dog...one of the things he showed the couple was the "trading up" training. The trainer took a chew bone and held it in one hand and let the dog chew on the other end...then with his free hand he took a can of velveeta cheese wiz, put the nozzle in the side of Zach's muzzle and started squirting cheese into Zach's mouth. At that point (when Zach was interested in the cheese wiz) he took away the bone. Then he reversed the process and offered Zach the bone back. Pretty soon, Zach was happily allowing the bone to be removed.
The husband, however, felt that he had been successful in training his prior rott so decided to "do things his way"...soon I was hearing about how scary Zach was around his food...I was trying to figure out what they were talking about as he was fine at my home. The wife then told me her husband had been putting his hand in Zach's food, also taking away his food and then giving it back...unfortunately, what hubby taught Zach was that he needed to guard his food.
Also, what I do with new fosters (that I don't know how they would react) when I want to remove something from them is to either call them away from what they have, or place something yummy on the floor a short distance away from them...they inevitably leave the item I want to retrieve on the floor and walk over to get the treat...I then walk over and remove the item while the dog is happily eating the treat...it's a lot less confrontational (and safer). Best of luck with your pup.

[ahhhbe]

These are REALLY awesome techniques...I am going to start them with my Sassy! The trade it game sounds like a really fun and safe game....especially when its something they dont need.

[warviper]

Thanks much for all the great advice. Looks like I need to try some thing new. Never been good with finesse. My fault not the dogs.

Thanks again to everyone that took time to give input.