# Jake bit my landlord



## Jake Slack (May 1, 2010)

Last night while I was at work my landlord took jake for a walk then sat down with him to watch some tv. Jake had been an angel all night she said. The while she was sitting in an arm chair with her feet on an automon jake was laying between the chair and the "footstool" and he seemed to be chewing on something. My landlord looked and saw that it was something tinfoil and she put her hand down and said his name and took the item away from him. Jake then stood up and growled and bit her foot that was on the footstool.

It did break skin and she is limping today as it is very painful. She will be going to the clinic to get it looked at today.

Why would Jake do this? Guarding? agression? He is the sweetest thing all the time except this one time.

I adopted Jake from a family and although I don't think he was abused I do believe they may have hit him with a newspaper or magazine as when you carry a paper around him he flinches everytime you move with it.

I am taking him to the vet today for his hot spot and I am going to speak to the vet about this but I want to solve this problem so it never happens again.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

How old is Jake?

It does sound like resource guarding. It's strange that he waited so long, let her take the tinfoil, and then after went and bit her foot on the footstool. I'd be more sure of what to say if he immediately growled and bit her hand. 

Do you have a certified dog trainer in your area who uses positive methods you could 
consult a few times?

The vet should check Jake's thyroid today.

A bite that breaks the skin is very serious, and I am so sorry this happened.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

You might want to contact the Guelph Vet teaching hospital and ask if they have a referral for the closest veterinary behaviorist and/or specialist.

http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/hospital/services/

We had a vet student from the school adopt a special-needs-behavior dog from our shelter and I was impressed with what she had learned regarding behavior. The school does not list behavior services, but they should be able to suggest where to look.

That was likely a resource guarding incident. The Jean Donaldson book "Mine" may be very useful to you.

Many dogs are afraid of hats/bats/brooms/papers/etc without ever being abused.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

I don't know anything really about animal behavior, but maybe he's feeling extra grouchy b/c of his hot spot? I know animals behave differently when they are in pain, so perhaps that's one of the reasons he acted this way. Regardless, I do agree with the others that you should probably contact a behaviorist.


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## Nicole74 (May 30, 2009)

The clinic will make a report to animal control that your dog bit her. It's protocal here in the US, not sure what your laws are in Canada. You may want to take your dog into the vets and get a recommendation for a behavior specialist or work on his resourse guarding issue. He is most likely to do it again. If you have children, do not let them take things out of his mouth. He will bite them too and he can do lots of damage. Good luck. My golden has bitten as well, this was last year.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

kdmarsh said:


> I don't know anything really about animal behavior, but maybe he's feeling extra grouchy b/c of his hot spot? I know animals behave differently when they are in pain, so perhaps that's one of the reasons he acted this way. Regardless, I do agree with the others that you should probably contact a behaviorist.


The only time Brady growled at me was when he had a very bad hot spot that I did not know he had. It was obvious that is was because he was uncomfortable. I think if it was my kids, maybe he would have bit them.


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## hereformaggie (Feb 27, 2010)

One of the above posters was right about how animal control will be contacted by the clinic. Dont be alarmed when you get a letter in the mail stating your pet is under quarantine for potential rabies risk, as long as the rabies vaccine is up to date there will be no problems...BUT your dog will have a mark on his record and if this occurs again it has the potential to become an issue with the city. Be proactive - get the behavioralist/trainer on board so in the event of a worse case scenario you can prove to the judge you were being responsible after the incident. I hope your landlord is a resonable and understanding woman, she does have the ability to sue to you (and so does anyone else who gets bitten - EVEN a tech at a vets office believe or not) so keep that in mind when it comes to letting other people handle your dogs. For the vet part, you may want to let them know about him snapping at the hotspot thing that way he can be muzzled beforehand and everyone stays safe. Best of Luck!


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Boy...maybe there is something in the air this week. 

We've had several threads like this...and to top it off Lucky nipped my girl when she was trying to yank him _by his collar _ away from deer poop. He didn't break the skin which is one reason why I tend to not be upset...he's careful when he bites:doh:

I think the potential is in all dogs...and I think most all dogs can be managed....


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Ranger was the same way when I got him - possessive of his food. Never with me so I was caught by surprise when it first started happening. The first incident, I had left his bag of food out and he was nosing around it when my friend went to touch him and get him away from it (I wasn't in the room) and he turned and snapped at her. Later that night, he snapped at a different friend for just walking between him and his food bowl (which was empty). Then a week later, my boyfriend (who Ranger knew) went to feed him, and Ranger snapped at HIM.

I called a behaviourist and he said the problem was Ranger didn't respect people, including myself. The reason he never snapped at me was because he loved and trusted me...but didn't respect me. So behaviourist gave me some basic training ideas and exercises that had nothing to do with food. I worked on them for 8 weeks and then the behaviourist came back out and taught me some food related exercises. Worked on those for another 3 months and haven't looked back. Ranger hasn't tried to snap at anyone who touches his bowl or food in the past 6 months and I think we're finally past this. I still do the exercises here and there to reinforce it but there hasn't been an incident.

Get a good behavourist to come out and asses the relationship between you and your dog. To note, Ranger was a rescue who used to have to scavenge for his food so I think that was a combination of lack of respect that most puppies are taught AND not being used to regular meals. Still, why I can understand it happening it was definitely not acceptable.


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## Jake Slack (May 1, 2010)

My landlord actually didn't go to the clinic and she is very understanding. I have been working with Jake and my gf has been working with him too. I have asked a lot of questions and I think I have come to the conclusion that my landlord stepped on jake while trying to take the item from him. Seeing as he bit her foot and not her hand???

Either way I brought it to the Vets attention and she said seeing as he is a rescue I should work with him for a week or two and if he exhibits any more of that type behaviour she will recommend a dog trainer. I guess that trainer will be someone who deals with this type thing.

So thus far all is good and Jake has only growled during play and not during taking anything away from him.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Glad that your landlord was so understanding. And hearing more of the story, that explains why it suddenly happened out of the blue after something was taken away. Use positive training and treats when taking something away from him. When you try to grab something away from a dog, it will try to keep it harder but will give it up when given something better. And if you havent looked it up online NILIF (Nothing In LIfe Is Free) it has alot of great information on it.


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## worried mum (Mar 11, 2010)

Hi there,

A very similar thing happened with my 13 month old Winston, except it was to my unsuspecting Jack Russell. He was playing with his chew toy, close by me... she was quiet on her own blanket. And then without warning he attacked her!!!! no skin was broken, but she, and I both got quite a fright. I gave him a big deep growl and yelled NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! and then promptly put him outside!!!

I don't know wy he does this ...this is the 3rd time. twice over food, all unprovoked!

I keep reading messages about thyroid ... please excuse my ignorance.... but can someone please explain this to me ? I would appreciate any help or advice.

Thanks


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

worried mum said:


> Hi there,
> 
> A very similar thing happened with my 13 month old Winston, except it was to my unsuspecting Jack Russell. He was playing with his chew toy, close by me... she was quiet on her own blanket. And then without warning he attacked her!!!! no skin was broken, but she, and I both got quite a fright. I gave him a big deep growl and yelled NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! and then promptly put him outside!!!
> 
> ...


One of the symptoms of hypothyroidism is aggressive tendencies. It's not one of the more common symptoms, but it does happen. I do think it sounds like your dog has some resource guarding issues.


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## Lilliam (Apr 28, 2010)

Cassie growled on her first night with us, as a fluffy eight week old, when Bob and I fed her for the first time. 
Needless to say, we sat down and proceeded to give her and remove her food bowl several times. She quickly learned that we give food and we can also interrupt her meal. 
So many threads on this issue makes me think that we will need to do the same exercise, whether there is a growl or not, on the first night with the new puppy.


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## Maya's Mom (Apr 13, 2009)

Lilliam said:


> Cassie growled on her first night with us, as a fluffy eight week old, when Bob and I fed her for the first time.
> Needless to say, we sat down and proceeded to give her and remove her food bowl several times. She quickly learned that we give food and we can also interrupt her meal.
> So many threads on this issue makes me think that we will need to do the same exercise, whether there is a growl or not, on the first night with the new puppy.


This can often actually make resource guarding worse, in spite of what many people believe. What you teach a dog when you do this is that the dog's fear of you taking her food is a valid fear. Instead you want ALL interactions around the dog's food to be positive. The best thing to do is to hand feed, to give treats whenever you approach a dog with something high value (if the dog is eating, approach the dog staying far enough away to avoid fear and throw a treat into the dog's bowl, then walk away), and trading whenever you have to take something away (if you need to take a bone, give the dog a high value treat in exchange). You want to teach the dog that good things happen when you are near. With my pup we worked a lot on this preventatively. When she had a toy, we would tell her to drop it and give her a treat, then give the toy back. We gradually increased to higher and higher value items. She learned that she didn't have to worry about us stealing her stuff. She never had resource guarding issues. I still periodically will practice this when she has a high value item. I make sure that at least 3/4 of them time when I have her drop something, she gets a treat and then gets it back. I think every dog owner should practice these behaviors to avoid having resource guarding issues.


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## nixietink (Apr 3, 2008)

Maya's Mom said:


> This can often actually make resource guarding worse, in spite of what many people believe. What you teach a dog when you do this is that the dog's fear of you taking her food is a valid fear. Instead you want ALL interactions around the dog's food to be positive. The best thing to do is to hand feed, to give treats whenever you approach a dog with something high value (if the dog is eating, approach the dog staying far enough away to avoid fear and throw a treat into the dog's bowl, then walk away), and trading whenever you have to take something away (if you need to take a bone, give the dog a high value treat in exchange). You want to teach the dog that good things happen when you are near. With my pup we worked a lot on this preventatively. When she had a toy, we would tell her to drop it and give her a treat, then give the toy back. We gradually increased to higher and higher value items. She learned that she didn't have to worry about us stealing her stuff. She never had resource guarding issues. I still periodically will practice this when she has a high value item. I make sure that at least 3/4 of them time when I have her drop something, she gets a treat and then gets it back. I think every dog owner should practice these behaviors to avoid having resource guarding issues.


This is really, really great advice. You around food/good things = positive.


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