# 14 month old female biting/mouthing etc



## PaulandGinger (Apr 28, 2018)

So, my dog seems to have a few triggers that make her want to snarl and bite. 1.) Putting on her harness and 2.) Towel drying. I walk her everyday so I think that the harness thing could've been stopped a long time ago had I been more aware that it was a problem. After I get it on she walks perfectly and acts like nothing out of the norm happened, stops snarling almost immediately and just waits for my lead. The towel drying is way more annoying: I don't do it as often as the harness but it's a nuisance, she snarls and bites at the towels and to be honest I can never tell if she's after the towel or my hand because I have never been really bitten (when she does make contact it's more of a pinch and she lets go right away) but she goes at it the entire time. 

While towel drying I've tried giving her those chewy bone treat things but she finishes them so fast it's pointless LOL. Ginger has significantly stopped playbiting and I think after I can get her to stop on these occasions she'll stop for good. 

Allow me to introduce myself: I'm 16 years and I've spent the most time with ginger by far, potty training is going well; it's been well over a month since the last accident! I really want to get this out of the way because ginger is just a really well behaved dog without much training (I barely knew what i was doing for the first 6 months!) My mom and sister have a less of a tolerance for these behaviours so they getting angry just feeds her behavior.


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

Have you had Ginger since she was a baby puppy? Or did you rescue her? If rescued, it might be that she's had some bad experiences with things covering her or coming at her from behind. Or just was never properly socialized to these things. A lot of dogs don't like things coming up and covering them from behind (even a harness can act sort of like that), it can be scary for them. Does she need to be walked with a harness?

I would check to make sure that the harness is well fitted and not too tight. It also might be worth taking her to the vet to make sure there's not some place on her that is very tender and that there are no health issues happening. 

I'd consider enlisting the help of a trainer and/or behavioralist personally. Its hard to tell from just a description what might really be going on here. A trainer/behavioralist will be able to teach you about dog body language and communication, and can assess what might be happening (fear, overexcitement, etc) and help teach you effective ways to desensitize and counter condition. If these behaviors have been going on a while at home, it might take a while to work on them since they've been reinforced. 

If its not play behavior (and I don't think it sounds like that), she's very clearly telling you she doesn't like it and to stop, and you don't want it to escalate to the point that she feels she actually must bite to protect herself. You want to do everything you can to set her up for success. 

If she doesn't have a lot of obedience training, I would probably start that as well. Training dogs helps them act the way we would like them to act, but also helps dogs learn to understand what and how we communicate to them. 

You can start to work on desensitizing her to the actions, by having her lay quietly, bring the harness out so she can see it in your hand, and reward her with lots of treats for acting calmly at just the sight of the harness (or towel). And after lots of that, move to bringing it closer to her (reward), then touching her slightly in a safe and neutral place, from in front of her where she can see whats happening, and not reaching over the top or her head or from behind, walking on top of a towel on the ground. Then rubbing her with it a little bit, then gradually doing more with it. It might be easier to start with something very small, like a hand towel or washcloth. Keep the sessions very brief, and do it multiple times a day, every day. 

But I would probably try and get help from a professional if its possible.


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