noellenc
03-17-2009, 05:53 PM
Hi all, I am new here and was hoping for some advice.
In Aug 08 my husband & I rescued a 25lb 7yo cocker spaniel mix. His blurb was that his family couldn't afford him any longer and he really loved cats (which we have 2 of). He immediately bonded to me, loved our cats and was pretty good with my husband. In June 08 when he was brought to the shelter he was neutered and a skin flap growth was removed from his back end so he was pretty sensitive and we asked people to be careful of his sensitive areas. The vet checked him out and said he appeared healthy.
But anyway, he will bite sometimes and I think he might be partially a fear biter and somewhat of a territorial biter as well. He usually will bite if someone he doesn't know well is petting him while sitting next to him and either acts nervous or stops paying attention to him but continues petting him. He does not clench down and has only broken skin once bc my 10yo cousin was trying to pull him by his collar down my mothers steps on our first visit there and his tooth hit her cheekbone. Otherwise he will just sort of cover the area with his mouth for a second after snarling. The weirdest part is he will then come back for more petting and affection and act sorry for what he did!!
Only once or twice he has exhibited territorial biting. Within the first few weeks we had him he chased someone walking out of our apartment and tried to bite his ankle. Luckily his pants were thick enough. I think it might have been because he was walking out of the room and in a room by himself so the dog felt like he needed to protect our space. A few weeks after that he growled at another man that was in the apartment who walked into a room we were not all in. But he did not bite that time.
I thought he might be getting over it because he hadn't bitten anyone in a few months but he seems to get in a funk. I notice he will be stubborn about going to the bathroom outside (usually if it's rainy) so we'll have to put him in his cage for awhile. That happened a couple days in a row and then a girl he'd never met stopped by and was a little nervous of him but was petting him and he bit her hand. A few days later he bit my husbands little sister in the same manner on her hand. Then last night he bit my husband!! He does not like when my husband hugs him and he's growled before if he hugs him and buries his face in his side, but this time he actually bit him when my husband was trying to get him to accept him. I am not sure if it is because he had a strange scent on him from being at his uncle's for a few hours or if it was purely bc he got scared. My husband is harsh with him sometimes in reprimanding so I think he is just a little scared of him in general. (He yells loudly and slaps him on the butt pretty hard and sometimes throws things in anger, not at the dog but at a wall or on the floor).
Either way this is not acceptable so I think I might muzzle him in public. I was wondering if anyone has had similar experiences and if it has ever been corrected in any of your older dogs. My husband thinks that if he yells really loud and slaps the dog on the butt hard it will teach him, but I'm not sure that is true, especially with an older abused dog. I find it interesting that all of his bad behavior seems to come on at once (accidents in the house and moodiness). I wonder if he has bipolar disorder sometimes!!
In Aug 08 my husband & I rescued a 25lb 7yo cocker spaniel mix. His blurb was that his family couldn't afford him any longer and he really loved cats (which we have 2 of). He immediately bonded to me, loved our cats and was pretty good with my husband. In June 08 when he was brought to the shelter he was neutered and a skin flap growth was removed from his back end so he was pretty sensitive and we asked people to be careful of his sensitive areas. The vet checked him out and said he appeared healthy.
But anyway, he will bite sometimes and I think he might be partially a fear biter and somewhat of a territorial biter as well. He usually will bite if someone he doesn't know well is petting him while sitting next to him and either acts nervous or stops paying attention to him but continues petting him. He does not clench down and has only broken skin once bc my 10yo cousin was trying to pull him by his collar down my mothers steps on our first visit there and his tooth hit her cheekbone. Otherwise he will just sort of cover the area with his mouth for a second after snarling. The weirdest part is he will then come back for more petting and affection and act sorry for what he did!!
Only once or twice he has exhibited territorial biting. Within the first few weeks we had him he chased someone walking out of our apartment and tried to bite his ankle. Luckily his pants were thick enough. I think it might have been because he was walking out of the room and in a room by himself so the dog felt like he needed to protect our space. A few weeks after that he growled at another man that was in the apartment who walked into a room we were not all in. But he did not bite that time.
I thought he might be getting over it because he hadn't bitten anyone in a few months but he seems to get in a funk. I notice he will be stubborn about going to the bathroom outside (usually if it's rainy) so we'll have to put him in his cage for awhile. That happened a couple days in a row and then a girl he'd never met stopped by and was a little nervous of him but was petting him and he bit her hand. A few days later he bit my husbands little sister in the same manner on her hand. Then last night he bit my husband!! He does not like when my husband hugs him and he's growled before if he hugs him and buries his face in his side, but this time he actually bit him when my husband was trying to get him to accept him. I am not sure if it is because he had a strange scent on him from being at his uncle's for a few hours or if it was purely bc he got scared. My husband is harsh with him sometimes in reprimanding so I think he is just a little scared of him in general. (He yells loudly and slaps him on the butt pretty hard and sometimes throws things in anger, not at the dog but at a wall or on the floor).
Either way this is not acceptable so I think I might muzzle him in public. I was wondering if anyone has had similar experiences and if it has ever been corrected in any of your older dogs. My husband thinks that if he yells really loud and slaps the dog on the butt hard it will teach him, but I'm not sure that is true, especially with an older abused dog. I find it interesting that all of his bad behavior seems to come on at once (accidents in the house and moodiness). I wonder if he has bipolar disorder sometimes!!