Dog Bit Me

statto25

Howdy All,

Our one year old yorkshire terrier bit me this morning and tore the side of my finger with her teeth.
I let her out early this morning and she started to bark at cattle. When I went to lift her she lost it and went for my hand. Now somehow I hung onto her and brought her into the house. She stalked me for a while and then eventually she started rolling on her back like she always does when she does something wrong.

She has become far more agressive in the past few months and it came to a climax in the last two days.

If one of us is leaving we usually give her something to occupy her in the form of a tough treat. However she doesnt eat it and waits until we come home to eat it. I walk in the door and go to rub her and straight away you get the snarl and the growling as if to say back off.

I dont know what to do becasue if this was a child involved this morning then it would be a whole different story.

I do love the dog and dont want to give her away etc but Im not willing to spend my time tip toeing around the dog.

By the way its my Girlfriends dog and she loves it to bits so its not my decision to take but any advice would be appreciated.

toadfly

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056011531

Have a look at the above thread, all the info you need in there.

morganafay

I think taking her to a dog trainer would be a good idea.

statto25

Tilly - Thanks for the link.

We brought her to obedience classes when she was a pup to show her the ropes so to speak.
She was never agressive until the last two months. The "nipping" she was doing as a puppy is back and she was not playing this morning I can tell you that!. It was pure viciousness. I have no problem with dogs but I was genuinely scared she would do more damage.

I hope that we can sort this.

Another thing that worries me is that she broke the skin and my hand bled (I will be heading for tetanus shot in a while) Now she has a taste for blood will she want more?

morganafay

I don't think she will get a taste for blood really. Make sure to clean the cut out really well, maybe bathe it in some warm salt water (sea salt is better than table salt) for a while.

If she suddenly became aggressive maybe there could be some medical reason? It might be worthwhile asking a vet. Or maybe it's just because she's grown up now so her personality has changed a bit.

I don't know if it makes a difference with female dogs, but is she neutered? With some animals, they are more territorial if not neutered, but dunno about with female dogs.

And I would stop giving her the treat to eat, if that makes her protective of it and makes her growl at you.

seamus

statto25 wrote: »

We brought her to obedience classes when she was a pup to show her the ropes so to speak.
She was never agressive until the last two months.

Has anything changed? New job, new house, new baby, new routine, anything?
It would be worth bringing her to a trainer for assessment - Alex Petrelli in the DSPCA has a lot of experience with this, he assesses all of the rescue dogs which come in.
www.kingofpaws.com (ring him, he's crap at responding to emails!)

It was pure viciousness. I have no problem with dogs but I was genuinely scared she would do more damage.

Red mist, it sounds like. The dog had become riled up by whatever (the cattle?) and didn't snap out of it when you approached her. The same kind of thing that makes people punch their mates for holding them back.

Now she has a taste for blood will she want more?

No, that's a complete nonsense myth.

Agreed with morgana - stop giving her the treat unless she eats it on the spot.

statto25

morganafay wrote: »

I don't think she will get a taste for blood really. Make sure to clean the cut out really well, maybe bathe it in some warm salt water (sea salt is better than table salt) for a while.

If she suddenly became aggressive maybe there could be some medical reason? It might be worthwhile asking a vet. Or maybe it's just because she's grown up now so her personality has changed a bit.

I don't know if it makes a difference with female dogs, but is she neutered? With some animals, they are more territorial if not neutered, but dunno about with female dogs.

And I would stop giving her the treat to eat, if that makes her protective of it and makes her growl at you.

I have stopped giving her the treat but my girlfriend always does and Im usually the first one home so I get the brunt of it!

No she is not neutered as we were planning on breeding her.

The growing up thing may be valid but it still doesnt excuse the situation.
Its a shame because when the dog is good she is a lovely dog but if she is crossed she is a terror.

statto25

seamus wrote: »

Has anything changed? New job, new house, new baby, new routine, anything?
It would be worth bringing her to a trainer for assessment - Alex Petrelli in the DSPCA has a lot of experience with this, he assesses all of the rescue dogs which come in.
www.kingofpaws.com (ring him, he's crap at responding to emails!)
Red mist, it sounds like. The dog had become riled up by whatever (the cattle?) and didn't snap out of it when you approached her. The same kind of thing that makes people punch their mates for holding them back.No, that's a complete nonsense myth.

Agreed with morgana - stop giving her the treat unless she eats it on the spot.

We acutally moved house last week. This started well before that though. It went to the stage where she wouldnt even go into her bed without having a go at one of us. She would guard the door and not let us out.

Where is that Alex guy based. Im an Mayo.

ISDW

Unfortunately I don't know any behaviourists in Mayo, but I would suggest you get her spayed. I know you said you wanted to breed from her, but a dog with that sort of temperament really shouldn't be producing pups, you are worried about a child getting bitten by her, if you sold her pups to families, how would you feel if one or more of them turned out to have her temperament and bit a child?

Have you taken her to the vet to have her checked out, with a sudden change in temperament like that there could possibly be a medical reason, if she's in pain it could make her act like that.

statto25

ISDW wrote: »

Unfortunately I don't know any behaviourists in Mayo, but I would suggest you get her spayed. I know you said you wanted to breed from her, but a dog with that sort of temperament really shouldn't be producing pups, you are worried about a child getting bitten by her, if you sold her pups to families, how would you feel if one or more of them turned out to have her temperament and bit a child?

Have you taken her to the vet to have her checked out, with a sudden change in temperament like that there could possibly be a medical reason, if she's in pain it could make her act like that.

No we havent taken her to the vet but that will be the next avenue to take.

I didnt really think about the pups having the same mentality. Thats a very good point. I couldnt live it down if a pup we sold did something to a child.

She is fine at other times to touch her and loves being scratched and rubbed. It just seems like when she has something of value or if she doesnt like something we are doing to her she flips. She seems very protective and just wants to do what she wants to do.

I will have to sit down with the girlfriend later and try to solve this. If we are away for a night we often leave her with her parents who have an 8 year old. If the dog bit that girl I dont know what I would do.

kylith

The first thing that I thought when I read the first line of the OP was that if she was in an excited state and you picked her up she may well have bitten in reflex.

Along with thinking seriously about neutering (a bad-tempered mother may well have bad-tempered pups) and going to training classes, I'd leave her alone while she's eating. If you've taken food or treats from her in the past her agression could be because she thinks she has to protect her food from you. Either ignore her (possibly crate her) when she's eating or don't give her treats at all. I'd also ignore her for a while when you come home too, especially when she's eating. I wouldn't like it if someone was pestering me while I was trying to eat.

Some people recommend recommend swapping one treat for a better one so that the dog learns that if you take their rawhide chew it's because they're going to get a piece of liver. Other people recommend hand feeding so that the dog learns that food comes from your hands

Cherry Blossom

Seems to be the sort of mentality terriers get when their stuck into something almost as if they've got hold of a mouse or something and are on 'the kill'. Do loads of basic obedience with her. My Westie has taken to holding on to the bottom of my trouser leg when she wants to play and I don't :rolleyes: I'm doing some tug of war games with her with her favourite toys and teaching her 'let go' (instead of 'drop it') and just holding the toy still instead of tugging it when I want the game to end. She's responding very well to this and gets rewarded by then having the toy thrown for her to fetch which she seems to find just as much fun. Maybe trying something like this would help control this sort of 'terrier mentality' for want of a better term.

It's a different kind of action to anything you would use 'get off' or 'leave it' or 'drop it' for and so far I'm finding this use of a different command seems to do the trick.

rainbowtrout

statto25 wrote: »

We acutally moved house last week. This started well before that though. It went to the stage where she wouldnt even go into her bed without having a go at one of us. She would guard the door and not let us out.

Where is that Alex guy based. Im an Mayo.

Depending on where you are in Mayo, you could try Christine Bowyer in Banada. It's just outside Tubbercurry. I bring my dogs to her for training and find her excellent. She does the behavioral side of things too.

http://www.one2onedogs.com/

toadfly

Where abouts in Mayo are you? I would recommend you get her spayed (animal hospital in castlebar are very good). Was driving through Ballina earlier and seen a place called dogology it's a dog trainer and behaviourist. Don't know if they are any good but are located across from tasty macs near the new western people. Good luck.

ISDW

TillyGirl wrote: »

Where abouts in Mayo are you? I would recommend you get her spayed (animal hospital in castlebar are very good). Was driving through Ballina earlier and seen a place called dogology it's a dog trainer and behaviourist. Don't know if they are any good but are located across from tasty macs near the new western people. Good luck.

Oh, must check that out, thanks.:D

statto25

TillyGirl wrote: »

Where abouts in Mayo are you? I would recommend you get her spayed (animal hospital in castlebar are very good). Was driving through Ballina earlier and seen a place called dogology it's a dog trainer and behaviourist. Don't know if they are any good but are located across from tasty macs near the new western people. Good luck.

Thanks TillyGirl,

Im in Ballinrobe but there is no problem travelling to get this sorted.

toadfly

statto25 wrote: »

Thanks TillyGirl,

Im in Ballinrobe but there is no problem travelling to get this sorted.

Well I dont know anything about them, if they are any good or not!

Best of luck with it though.

beats9

Snip