I got bitten by a dog at PetCo today..

[Little Retail Rabbit]

I have a real issue with poorly trained dogs- they make me very nervous. A a kid I was afraid of big dogs, and then I went through a phase of being completely unafraid a few years back. This was because I was getting to know my fiance's father's rottweiler, Libby, who was the sweetes dog I ever met. I could actually throw my arms around her neck and hug her like a person, and she would just loll out her tongue and do that big puppy grin that says "I gets all the attentions" :P But after she passed away, I got less used to them, and now I am scared of them again.

A couple of winters ago, a teenager girl was walking her alsatian (German Sheperd to most, but in the UK we also call them alsatians) and it playfully jumped on me, getting dog faeces all over my arm and then bit my hand in what was obviously meant to be a playful manner, but did hurt as her tooth knocked my tumb joint. The girl uttered an apology but didn't chastise her dog or put her back on a leash. The couple around the corner from me have a spaniel that snapped at me randomly as I walked past one day and almost bit my hand- I was so shocked because it had approached me wagging its tail and tongue lolling happily, and I hadn't even moved to pet him or anything (I never pet a strange dog without permission) and he just snapped at me! Being as they have a toddler, I expect to hear the child has been mauled any day soon.

In the same area where I was glomped by the alsatian, I have been "attacked" by Chinese Hairless Crestd dog- the owner just told me to "stand still" because is dog didn't like strangers...I demanded to know why he had taken the damn dog off a leash in a public area, but he just ignored me. I also keep encountering "Bella". Bella is young, disobedient, but happy and friendly staffie who is NEVER on a leash and always covered in mud, and just LOVES to jump on you. She has gotten my work clothes muddy on at least a couple of occassions, maybe more, and her owner never does anything about it. I have resorted to thrusting my palms out towards her and loudy commanding "NO" at any dog that is rushing at me, but Bella one time completely ignored me and just scrabbled all over my work trousers and then bounded off happily. I gave her owner a look and said "Could you keep her on a leash please? I have to go to work like this now" and she just pretended she couldn't hear me. During the coldest months I was very anxious of running into Bella because I have a dry-clean-only coat that I love, and I am not letting some muddy dog jump all over it. Whenever I look nervous of a dog running at me, the owners just call out "Oh its ok, he won't hurt you!" and it just makes me mad. If it was my friend who has a proper dog phobia, she'd probably be in tears. I like dogs, I really do, but I wish people would control them a little better!

[ShadowBall]

I think my mother's poma-poo needs some obedience training, personally. He's a little bastard; last night, he found a tissue and was eating it, and when my mom went to take it from him, he bit her hard enough to draw blood. He's had all his shots, so that part was fine.

But man, I gotta say that my initial instinct is if something or someone hurts me, I will hurt them back a lot harder. Basically, dog's lucky he didn't bite me because he'd be limping. This is not an intentional act of abuse - this is my mind and my body going on fucking auto-pilot and lashing out. Causing me a lot of pain is like instant anger for me.

Thankfully the dogs are not taken into social situations because the pom will growl and bite if you try to take something from him that isn't his, and if you nudge him with your foot (like trying to scoot his ass out of the way), he'll do a 180 and growl/snap.

I don't know if his last owners just didn't train him enough or what, but he really needs someone to set him straight. I wish Mom would give him back since he's such a pain in the ass. You'd think people would care about this kind of thing - I'm sure there are others out there who react the same as myself and some even more severely, not to mention the ones who start screaming to have an animal put down if it so much as looks wrong at the person. Why do these people choose to endanger their pets? What's wrong with keeping Fido and Fluffy at home until they are more sociable?

I've personally been scratched and bitten by cats in stores - one was a fluffy kitty at the thrift store. He sunk his teeth right into me for rubbing his belly. Sadly, he did it to someone else and was put down as a result. I just...really hate people who can't be arsed to train their animals (or, in the latter case, keep their animals inside or alter them). It's because of the owner's neglect that the innocent animal will often die.

[Sunsetsky]

Ugh. I see crap like that at my work all the time. We once had a woman who wasn't keeping an eye on her dog and he ended up jumping on and knocking an elderly client over. The woman didn't even apologize about it and pretended that she didn't notice us shooting daggers at her with our eyes. As for biting or mouthing...I haven't seen that happen yet to one of our clients.

[jedimaster91]

I hope that guy looks into proper training for his puppy, because it will be an education for HIM as well.

I've been assisting for one of the humane society's behavior classes. Good behavior classes are more for teaching the humans how to train their dogs than for the dogs themselves. I've picked up very quickly which doggy parents will succede and which will fail based on how seriously they take the class and how much work they're willing to do. Behavior classes probably won't do the guy in the OP any good because he's not willing to listen.

This round of classes there's a little dachshund/hound mix who started out the class growling at everything. Four weeks in, he was doing better with the growling. However, the dog still cannot sit on command because the actual owner can't attend the class. The owner's mother brings the dog and makes all kinds of excuses about her dog being stupid, having ADD, etc etc blah blah blah. They also don't work with him during the week. It's sad, really.

Contrast the owners of a rather boistrious larger dog. Usually the whole family comes to the class, they work together, and are consistant. I'm not altogether sure the owners are quite all there, but they and the dog are making tremendous progress. The dog still has a ways to go, but he's a different dog than when they started.

how does one train a dog not to bite, exactly? I'm very interested to know

Others have covered this pretty well. A loud yelp and turning away for a few seconds when they clamp down too hard works really fast. Ziggy was pretty mouthy as a puppy and I think within a couple days of not getting to play when she chewed on me, she quit doing it.

You've got to take into account, wildman, that a lot of people dont know the difference between biting and mouthing. If their mouth closes on you, some people consider that biting.

Before I had vicious attack beast Oscar the cockatiel, I had a much friendlier bird named Sunny (RIP). Like dogs, birds lack hands, so they use their beaks to grab onto things. I kept having to explain to people that Sunny wasn't trying to bite; she was just trying to hold on.

Of course, Oscar is trying to bite anyone who's not me. I miss having a nice bird sometimes.

I think my mother's poma-poo needs some obedience training, personally. He's a little bastard; last night, he found a tissue and was eating it, and when my mom went to take it from him, he bit her hard enough to draw blood.

Er...yeah, that's a problem. What the dog's doing is resource guarding and it's dangerous. There's a great book called Mine! A practical guide to resource guarding in dogs that has great training tips. She should probably consult with a professional as well.

Thankfully the dogs are not taken into social situations

In the long run that's going to do more harm than good. I have a leash/barrier reactive dog. I finally broke down and asked my trainer friend for help after he was growling at some friends from his (closed) crate. I'm ok with the fact that he may never be a "people dog" and will probably always be wary of strangers. But I still need to be able to safely take him to the vet and out on walks. Keeping him away from his trigger points isn't going to make him any better. Reactive dogs need professional help to keep the people around them safe.

[ShadowBall]

It's just we live out in Nowhereland where there are no sidewalks, and my mother doesn't talk to her family anymore, so she hasn't a reason to take them anywhere but for walks in the backyard. But now that I think of it, they're usually good when someone comes to the house.

The older dog will just bark a lot until she sees the new person isn't bad. Then she'll do this thing where she sounds like she's groaning...like, "Oh you're the same person as before. I was wrong. Damn it." And once she sees someone, she remembers them - even if they don't come back for months.

And I have heard of resource guarding - both of them do it with their treats and rawhides. And that I understand - but I know enough to not stick my hand in their faces when they have a treat or some kibbles. I'd probably bite if someone did that to me too.

But the pom is the one who loves to eat stuff that isn't his, and then he gets snappy when you take it from him. Tissues, foil, cans, razors, fake flowers...whatever he can find, he will take into his little hiding place and munch on it.

I found this resource on how to train a dog to not do this shit, but I wonder if eventually the dog would catch on that he's not going to get a prize better than the one in his mouth and quit listening.

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/RG.html

Maybe I should buy a gauntlet specifically for taking things from him. Let him break a few teeth off trying to bite me.

[Seshat]

Contrast the owners of a rather boistrious larger dog. Usually the whole family comes to the class, they work together, and are consistant. I'm not altogether sure the owners are quite all there, but they and the dog are making tremendous progress. The dog still has a ways to go, but he's a different dog than when they started.

If the members of the family who do go to class are good at passing on the stuff they learn, it still works. Or at least, so I've found.

[Eisa]

That reminds me when I went with my parents and took our German Shepherd to PetCo. He's a big dog. He's also not completely trained, but it seems when he's off his territory, he's a lot shyer. The vet said that actually, he's timid and afraid of everything, he just doesn't want to show it. Poor thing.

Anyway, I remember there being a little kid around when we were checking out, and the little kid was terrified of Max. I can't remember what the parents' attitude was, but I don't think they talked to us. And there's no reason they had to. Max was just sniffing around, not barking, not mouthing, nothing.

He also has a problem with biting down too hard when playing...he didn't get very well trained in it...and he likes to jump up. He wasn't ever told not to when he was a puppy, and now that he's big, well...

Our old dog, Aspen, was much more well trained [RIP, Aspen... ]. I remember when we first got him, my dad had him bite my feet over and over while he said "no" and punished him. Weird method, I think, but it worked--he stopped nipping.

Well, except for the time he bit my sister and it bruised to the bone. Why? Well, it might have had something to do with the cowboy boots she was trying to put on his front paws...

[LadyAndreca]

I'm kind of glad for this thread and all the info in it, because it helped me today. I had a couple come to my register with an adorable golden lab puppy in their cart, so cute and friendly that everyone wanted to pet it. I was good, I asked first and everything, and he loooooved the attention. And, of course, he managed to chew on me. (So cute! I love puppies, especially labs, but I just can't deal with them when they get older. So, no dogs for me.)

They were really smart owners, though. The woman turned the puppy's head away from me and told him "No, we don't bite people" firmly, and had me stop petting him. Then she apologized and I shrugged it off as part of dealing with a puppy and we went on our way.