Hi my dog is starting to snap at me last time deep wound in the hand, I was trying to give her a treat and she snarled and snapped today I tried to get her in the bedroom by motioning my hand to the bedroom, she jumped up an dsnapped again this has happened only recently. Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks,
Patricia
dog snapping
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Re: dog snapping
MMmm.. I think shes misinterpreting the signal, or shes expecting something unpleasant.
What happens if she ignores what you tell her to do - do you get firmer/stricter/angry (it needn't be much with a sensitive dog, so please don't think I'm suggesting you are really hard on her!).
Take a step back, and for EVERY situation where there is the potential for confrontation or a battle - figure a way around it so there is NO confrontation/battle.
So you want her to go somewhere - don't stand and point and command, toss a treat that way and she will likely follow.
Also think about your body language - so often we can actually be physically blocking a dog, using pretty aggressive deep, sharp tones and waving our arms around, and WE think we are being clear but actually the dog is seeing 'threatening' and our body language is saying 'do NOT approach or I will attack you'.
The commonest example of this is people telling a dog to get down from a sofa. For a start they use the word down which a dog has generally been taught means 'lie down', and not the word 'off' which means 'get off of something', so thats the initial confusion.
Then when the dog 'ignores' them (hes laying DOWN on the sofa already so as far as he is concerned he has complied!), they step up, stand in front of the dog and they get loud. DOWN! And they point a finger and say it again, GET DOWN!..
And what they don't realise is that the rigid stance, the firm voice, the clear command that THEY think is 'be firm and clear with your dog', is actually aggressive, threatening, confrontational. They are physically blocking the dog and he doesnt WANT to move TOWARDS someone being this way, so he shrinks back into the sofa - the human reads this as the dog being stubborn and leans over the dog 'are you stupid dog! GET DOWN NOW''..... and the dog growls, because now this aggressive lunatic is starting to get in his face and hes trapped there against the back of the sofa..
And then the human thinks 'hey how DARE you growl at me, this is MY sofa and you don't threaten me from MY sofa' and grabs for the dogs collar... and maybe the dog craps his pants and freezes, but he WILL remember this next time, or maybe the dog bites him.
But you can see how allllllllllll this situation is born out of miscommunication, and our human desire to confront and correct and command, instead of thinking our way round a problem to get the result we want, without the conflict.
What happens if she ignores what you tell her to do - do you get firmer/stricter/angry (it needn't be much with a sensitive dog, so please don't think I'm suggesting you are really hard on her!).
Take a step back, and for EVERY situation where there is the potential for confrontation or a battle - figure a way around it so there is NO confrontation/battle.
So you want her to go somewhere - don't stand and point and command, toss a treat that way and she will likely follow.
Also think about your body language - so often we can actually be physically blocking a dog, using pretty aggressive deep, sharp tones and waving our arms around, and WE think we are being clear but actually the dog is seeing 'threatening' and our body language is saying 'do NOT approach or I will attack you'.
The commonest example of this is people telling a dog to get down from a sofa. For a start they use the word down which a dog has generally been taught means 'lie down', and not the word 'off' which means 'get off of something', so thats the initial confusion.
Then when the dog 'ignores' them (hes laying DOWN on the sofa already so as far as he is concerned he has complied!), they step up, stand in front of the dog and they get loud. DOWN! And they point a finger and say it again, GET DOWN!..
And what they don't realise is that the rigid stance, the firm voice, the clear command that THEY think is 'be firm and clear with your dog', is actually aggressive, threatening, confrontational. They are physically blocking the dog and he doesnt WANT to move TOWARDS someone being this way, so he shrinks back into the sofa - the human reads this as the dog being stubborn and leans over the dog 'are you stupid dog! GET DOWN NOW''..... and the dog growls, because now this aggressive lunatic is starting to get in his face and hes trapped there against the back of the sofa..
And then the human thinks 'hey how DARE you growl at me, this is MY sofa and you don't threaten me from MY sofa' and grabs for the dogs collar... and maybe the dog craps his pants and freezes, but he WILL remember this next time, or maybe the dog bites him.
But you can see how allllllllllll this situation is born out of miscommunication, and our human desire to confront and correct and command, instead of thinking our way round a problem to get the result we want, without the conflict.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
