How to deal with adult dog biting

[bentleysmama]

Hi everyone. I've seen and read a lot of articles regarding dog biting, but a lot of them seemed to be geared towards puppy biting.

I have a 4 yr old male shih tzu who has basically learned that biting is the mechanism to get people to leave him alone. He is very affectionate but not like some other dogs that love to get constant attention and rubs by any willing human. So the biting can be in response to staying away from him while he plays with a new/favorite toy (obviously resource guarding) or as simple as "don't touch me because I'm in a comfy spot."

In general, he is very good with me because I know what he likes or doesn't like, and look for his warning cues. I also tend to talk with him when I need him to do something more than I actually physically touch him. For example, my mom was over and vaccuming a rug, and my dog was really hyper running around the rug and vacuum and basically making it difficult for her to do much. So in response she playfully reached out her hand to kind of nudge him away but he thought she was trying to reach over to pick him up and snapped at her using teeth. If it were me, I would have paused the vaccuming and verbally used my "no messing around" tone and told him to go to his mat rather than give him any idea that I was going to physically force him into some action (i.e. Picking him up and moving him.)

So for the most part, I practice an avoidance strategy for all the situations that I know he is not fond of. But there are sometimes where I too am caught off guard, so im wondering if my strategy is really the best way to go about this. For example, last night I wanted to take him out for his bedtime potty, and he was curled up on the sofa. Normally I slip on his harness with no problem because he knows this as routine. But last night when I went to do this, he snapped at me because I'm guessing he was really comfortable and had no desire to get up. My approach then was to just verbally tell him to get off the couch and "let's go" which he then followed. What I'm wondering is if there's any hope for getting him to be less aggressive in how he reacts or if I just have to keep up with what I'm doing? I would have preferred him walking away or jumping off the sofa to avoid the harness than immediately snapping at me as a way of communicating that he didn't want to get up that instant...

[JudyN]

I would keep up with the management. LIke yours, my dog will happily move on command but hates to be manhandled. My mum (who he adores) once tried to push him through a doorway he was blocking and got growled at - she knows not to do that now

Similarly, now you know he doesn't like being disturbed while on the sofa, call him off it rather than touching him while he's on it.

Make sure you're aware of his body language so you notice any signs that happen before he snaps and can respond then - e.g. turning his head away from you, a hardening of his eye, even a slight change in his breathing rate.

If my dog seems to want attention bit is lying on his bed, I tend to take a fluffy toy over to him and offer him that (he likes to nibble on them if he's unsettled) - it keeps my hands out of the way and occupies him if he is feeling a bit snarky.