Reactive Dog nipping at owner and trainer

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jlfrosty
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 12:58 pm

Reactive Dog nipping at owner and trainer

Post by jlfrosty »

Hello, I recently substituted for my co-trainer in one of her classes and in this class is a dog with a history of reactivity with other dogs. The dog was very sweet and friendly toward me at all times throughout the class and would sometimes react mildly at the sight of the one other dog in the class by barking and then turning and biting and pulling on her leash. I have never seen a dog do this before despite having seen plenty of other reactive dogs. However, the biggest concern came when another dog unexpectedly came in to view and the "student" dog began reacting as she had before but this time she turns and nipped me hard on the knee and then turned and nipped her owner on the shin. This was so wholly unexpected as I have never experienced this before. Not knowing the complete history of the dog I now understand that it was a mistake to put her in an uncontrolled environment where she might encounter a trigger, and if I continue working with the dog in the future I will be sure to take a completely different approach, but I thought I would ask if any of you had any insight into her nipping at the leash and at nearby people. I thank you for any advice you have to offer :)
Shalista
Posts: 1363
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:04 pm

Re: Reactive Dog nipping at owner and trainer

Post by Shalista »

Not an expert but i think I've read before of nipping at people. She's redirecting to people because of stress from the dog. She may redirect to other dogs shes normally okay with to. My sisters dog bit my mom when she got between the dogs for the same reason.

I would definitely advocate this dog not being anywhere near the other dogs if at all possible. a class where she DOESNT nip others or her leash should be a goal =P
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
jlfrosty
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 12:58 pm

Re: Reactive Dog nipping at owner and trainer

Post by jlfrosty »

Thank you Shalista, it's good to know at least someone who's heard of it before! It was such a shock because it wasn't as if I stepped in the path of her bite, she actively sought out something to bite, in this case my knee and her owner's leg. Her normal trainer is actually moving away shortly so I did offer to continue working with her and will have her in a private class :)
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Nettle
Posts: 10753
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:40 pm

Re: Reactive Dog nipping at owner and trainer

Post by Nettle »

It's called 'redirected aggression' in the Behaviour world. It's quite usual. Humans do it too. It's the thwarted toddler whipping round and kicking Mummy in the shins. It's the parents having a row and then one rounds on the nearest child and tells it off for something. It's the boss getting a rollocking from his/her boss, and coming back into the office to bellow at an underling.

So - it's a normal behaviour. In this case, owner and you need to be extra aware of triggers and remove the dog to a non-reactive distance before she reacts.

As you will be working with them for longer, I strongly recommend you research 'redirected aggression'. :)
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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jlfrosty
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2016 12:58 pm

Re: Reactive Dog nipping at owner and trainer

Post by jlfrosty »

Thank you, Nettle! I will do some reading up on redirected aggression, while I didn't know that there was a name for it I certainly had an idea that it was something along those lines but didn't know if it was a "normal" behavior. I'm looking forward to speaking with the owner again after having some more info, I could see the concern on her face as this was happening. She is a very sweet dog and I hope I'm able to help them!
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