April 28, 2011
Can I reverse my dog from being a FEAR BITER?
Full Question:
I was reviewing the Q&A section on your web site regarding fear biting. My questions were not really answered. Here's the situation. We have a 1 year old Lab Shepard mix. We are not sure if she has other breeds in her. We also have 4 children. 3 weeks ago, she growled and nipped at our youngest, who is 2, unprovoked. She was boarded at the vet over the weekend, and they were unable to give her a bath or give her a heart worm test. Every time they approached her to put a leash on her, she would bite. The vet said she was friendly and would let them pet her, but would not let anyone near her with a leash. When I try to put her leash on her collar at home, she pees. The vet said she is a fear biter. My question is, how easy is this to reverse, and what is the long term prognosis for reversal. Will I ever be able to trust this dog, or should we have her put to sleep? I would appreciate your response.Lynn
Ed's Answer:
You cannot “reverse” a dog being a fear biter or bad nerves. This is a genetic issue. It is not something that can be trained out of the dog – it will always have it.
What you can do is obedience train this dog. By this I do not mean to train it to sit down and stay in your home – I mean you need to train it to sit down and stay in the park, downtown or anywhere else you can think of. The dog should wear a drag line attacked to a prong collar in the house. Anytime the dog even growls at anyone it needs to be corrected – WITH A HARD CORRECTION – not a nagging tug.
I would get a dog crate and use it in the house. I would begin obedience training right now, I would train this dog that you can walk up and put a leash on it and it does not mean that it is going to get a correction. Take the leash on and off all day long – give it a treat every time you put the leash on. Get a muzzle and put it on the dog before you go to the vet. The dog should not be allowed in public without a muzzle on. I sell some inexpensive plastic muzzles.
If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. Get this tape and a prong collar. If you do not have a prong collar, we also sell those on our web site.
What you can do is obedience train this dog. By this I do not mean to train it to sit down and stay in your home – I mean you need to train it to sit down and stay in the park, downtown or anywhere else you can think of. The dog should wear a drag line attacked to a prong collar in the house. Anytime the dog even growls at anyone it needs to be corrected – WITH A HARD CORRECTION – not a nagging tug.
I would get a dog crate and use it in the house. I would begin obedience training right now, I would train this dog that you can walk up and put a leash on it and it does not mean that it is going to get a correction. Take the leash on and off all day long – give it a treat every time you put the leash on. Get a muzzle and put it on the dog before you go to the vet. The dog should not be allowed in public without a muzzle on. I sell some inexpensive plastic muzzles.
If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. Get this tape and a prong collar. If you do not have a prong collar, we also sell those on our web site.
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