Ask Me Help Desk - Friend's Dog bites

I am posting this on behalf of a friend.

She has a half chihuahua, half pekingese. She's two years old (the dog). And she bites. Always has. My friend acquired her at one-year old. HOW can I help her to stop this behavior. She is a very anti-social dog. It's not healthy.

Hi CM, Give this link a try. It has info for a lot of different behavioural probs.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma

I am posting this on behalf of a friend.

She has a half chihuahua, half pekingese. She's two years old (the dog). And she bites. Always has. My friend acquired her at one-year old. HOW can I help her to stop this behavior. She is a very anti-social dog. It's not healthy.

I don't know how to stop the behavior - at to the behavior is probably pretty ingrained - but I'm sure she knows this can turn into a very large legal problem.

Does she know what the background is?

One of my dogs is afraid of people but she has a terrible, terrible life before I got her - at 5 months. I watch her very carefully and she's not aggressive at all but she, if pushed, could be - and she's a large dog. She's absolutely fine with me, I can correct her, I trained her, she's never raised a lip, growled, showed any aggression with me. She also absolutely loved my husband and has been lost since he died.

I tried private trainers, group classes, but she trusts absolutely no one but me. I have a pet sitter and she LOVES him - but she doesn't trust him not to hurt her.

Sometimes you have to protect the dog and your friends and just keep them apart. I've investigated enough dog bites to know even the best dog can be unpredictable and the worse bits I've seen have been small dogs that people hold up close to their faces and then the dog explodes.

JUDY- I know the behavior is pretty ingrained, that's the problem. From what we know the dog was abused before coming to her, but they wouldn't give specifics on the abuse...

She does know he could be a legal problem and that's why she doesn't bring her dog anywhere and warns people before entering her home, I just think the dog deserves to go out more... and would be able to if properly trained.

I just wish there was something that we could do to stop this behavior and let the dog know that no one is going to hurt her again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma

JUDY- I know the behavior is pretty ingrained, that's the problem. From what we know the dog was abused before coming to her, but they wouldn't give specifics on the abuse...

She does know he could be a legal problem and that's why she doesn't bring her dog anywhere and warns people before entering her home, I just think the dog deserves to go out more....and would be able to if properly trained.

I just wish there was something that we could do to stop this behavior and let the dog know that no one is going to hurt her again.

I think that's the tragedy when an animal is abused - I don't know that you can ever change some of the behaviors.

I've had rescued dogs that were timid and rescued dogs that were aggressive - I guess they do whatever they think it takes to keep them safe.

Wonder if some sort of muzzle would freak the dog out or if it would enable your friend to take the dog out, the dog could see it's safe and then your friend could work at taking the muzzle off - of course, if it's a deep fear I don't think it will work.

I have a German Shepherd who is absolutely fine, she's a rescue but I've had her since she was a baby - and she's terrified of stairs because she was dropped down stairs before I got her. You can see the terror in her eyes. Some things just stay with them.

Thanks for the muzzle idea... I will tell her and see what she thinks as she knows her dog better than I do.

It's really a tragic situation and it breaks my heart that someone would treat an animal anything less than their best friend. My chihuahua is like my daughter, and it's just heartbreaking to hear of animal abuse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChihuahuaMomma

Thanks for the muzzle idea...I will tell her and see what she thinks as she knows her dog better than I do.

It's really a tragic situation and it breaks my heart that someone would treat an animal anything less than their best friend. My chihuahua is like my daughter, and it's just heartbreaking to hear of animal abuse.

Did your friend ever try a halti(Gentle Leader?) She could use that for a muzzle I'm sure it would be more comfortable for the dog. As soon as the dog lunges or the leash is pulled the halti tightens around the dogs mouth and keeps the dog from biting, but when there is slack on the leash it loosens. It also may help teach the dog that this behaviour is unexceptable.

I used the halti for Rex when he was a puppy because he used to bite all the time when he was playing(but it still hurt). Our veteranarian told us about it we even ordered it through the vet. We would put the halti on him in the house when there was someone to supervise him, and we bought a cheap leash at the dollar store and cut it down to 3 ft and attached it to the halti. As soon as Rex bit or got a bit to rough we would pull on the leash and say NO in a calm but firm voice. In about one week we no longer needed it.