rescue dog with a bite record

[JulianneRutkowski]

Hi everyone!

My name is Jillian and I am new to these online training modules and just thought I would come on here to describe my experiences and see if anyone can relate or has suggestions! 

I rescued my girl, Molly, 2 years ago now. She is a 4 year old American Staffy and was 2 when I adopted her. Throughout my time with Molly, there has been great progress but also a fair amount of challenges. Though I did not think rescuing a dog would be easy, I did not expect to have a fear aggressive dog who is not shy of putting her teeth on people. My first experience of Molly's capability to bite was when I had her at college and someone came around a corner and startled her. She lunged at the person and I had to pull her away. The medical records did not report that the guy needed stitches or anything serious, but it was an eye opener for sure. The second time was much worse. I was walking her on a harness and a man came up to her and put his hand out and she bit him. This case was more severe and he ended up needing stitches.

I was so scared after her second bite that I got her a muzzle and a choke chain. Some people do not find these helpful or positive, but I do for the time being. I got Molly a trainer who did not help much and only came to our house one day. I think Molly needs follow up training and I realize the only way she can get better is if I better myself. I purchased this program in hopes I can turn Molly around. Though I don't think she will ever be the dog that will be okay with strangers coming up to her to pet her, my goal of this training is to stop her jumping, nipping, muzzle punching, and allow me to be comfortable when introducing her to new people.

I would love to hear similar stories if anyone has any! Or even just advice would be great of if I am missing something or need to focus on something more than other things.

[Adrienne]

Hi Julianne,

Welcome to the forums!

I am interested in knowing more about what kind of work you did with the trainer and why this trainer came only for one day? Was this trainer doing regular training or did he/she talk about behavior modification? What plans did he/she have in mind? Do you live in the city or country? Do you meet a lot of people on walks? What type of muzzle are you using? 

Also, please provide more details on the issues you list. When does she nip or muzzle punch? 

Thanks!

 

[JulianneRutkowski]

So the trainer was actually through the rescue I adopted Molly from, Looking Glass Animal Rescue. She said she only believed in giving me tools to help control Molly instead of continuous sessions. The training was a bit all over the place and she told me to purchase a choke chain for her. After Molly's second bite I bought the muzzle before I even got the training. It is actually a rather nice muzzle, I made sure it was a basket muzzle so that she can breathe, pant, drink water etc. with it on. It is made out of a rubber molding material so it fits perfectly for her. I find both the muzzle and choke chain to be helpful with handling her, but of course they are not my first choice. I would love to be able to handle Molly without causing her to be uncomfortable but I also feel like I am out of options. The trainer did teach me how to walk Molly and how I can be in control, and I have to admit it has done wonders. I can take her into stores with me now and even just for walks without the constant pulling and lunging at strangers (she still attempts to do this but the chain doesn't allow her to).

Molly and I live in a suburban area and people are constantly outside. I usually tell people to not pet her or go near her because she can demonstrate aggressive behavior. One recent event that happened was my neighbor down the street tried to pet her and she nipped him. This is not the first time she has done this either, she is constantly nipping at people she is not comfortable with and is not afraid to put her teeth on people clearly. I know it's my fault because I am not an advocate for her and tell people to back off, but it gets hard sometimes, especially when you want your dog to be something she simply is not. 

Molly will nip and muzzle punch when she gets extremely excited. I know she is not doing it out of aggression or anger, but it is still improper behavior that needs to be fixed. She also tends to nip when she needs something, such as to go potty, is hungry, is bored etc. My theory is that she is still a puppy. Though she is 4 years old, she never got the proper chewing phase out as a puppy. She was found in an abandon building in Manhattan NY with another pit, so most likely she was a dog used for breeding or fighting (it looks like she had puppies). She clearly never got the proper socialization she needed or the essential time frames as a puppy. It breaks my heart to watch Molly be stuck in this difficult in between phase of adult and puppy, but I just want to do my best to be the absolute best owner I can for her and make sure she is living the best life she can.

[Adrienne]

Thank you for the details, they are extra helpful!

Muzzling her is helpful and I am glad that you found one that fits well and that it's the basket type. The basket type muzzle on top of allowing her to pant, breathe, drink water, also offers the advantage of being able to slip treats through so it can also turn helpful for behavior modification.  

 

It sounds like your dog trainer decided to provide tools to manage the behavior perhaps considering the high risks for relapses in dogs with a bite history. Hence the use of the muzzle to minimize the risks for bites and the choke collar for more control. However, if she is still pulling and lunging at strangers, we need to implement some training/behavior modification too, otherwise we rely too much on the tools when tools ideally should be used along with training. If your dog attempts to pull and the chain doesn't allow her, I imagine a good amount of pressure from the choke chain is going against her trachea/larynx and that she is likely huffing/coughing at the same time. This is something we want to avoid, also considering that it is possible with time for her to associate this uncomfortable feeling with the strangers she is seeing. 

 

In this case, since your dog is uncomfortable around strangers, it may help to train a strong response to the appearance of strangers, using LAT starting by watching people walk by windows or behind a screen door or fence. You can read more about LAT here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

This method is based on desensitization and counterconditioning:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/

 

Here is another method to help you grasp the idea on what we are trying to accomplish, in other words (strangers=good things)

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/

 

Now, when conducting behavior modification, it is fundamental to read the dog well and make sure he/she is not put into situations he's/she's not ready for. Sure, it's true that we have the muzzle to lower the chances for mishaps, but we should act as if the muzzle is not there, because our goal is to not allow rehearsal of the problematic behavior (the more dogs rehearse behaviors, the more ingrained and difficult to extinguish they become) and to allow all these positive associations to be made. So we really need to make sure the dog is always under threshold, and scan the environment to avoid as much startling effects and people just popping out of nowhere. 

 

Here is a read on dog threshold levels:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

 

Ideally, we would start by creating controlled set-ups. Like the window exercises, and then next, we could employ the use of a trainer/behavior consultant, who can act as a "stranger" or have a helper to do so, using distances where the is most comfortable while you do the feeding of high-value treats. This controlled setting paves the path in increasing you and your dog's confidence level creating a starting point.

 

After obtaining a solid response (the aim is obtaining  conditioned emotional response), this conditioning can then be brought on walks by making a smacking sound with your mouth and slipping a high value treat every time you spot a stranger approaching from a distance. The goal here is to reduce the lunging and pulling and create an automatic, almost reflexive response where the dog turns your way upon spotting a stranger. We need to go very gradual here, always gauging the dog's responses and not going over threshold. So we may need to adjust distances based on how your dog reacts. If at any time your dog reacts, it's a sign we need to go back some steps. 

 

Now, we need to tread with caution here. There are no guarantees that once we attain a solid response, we can take off that muzzle and start to relax. There are always chances for setbacks and relapses. So a disclaimer is warranted here. Also, we need to consider that behavior modification comes with risks and should be conducted under the guidance of a dog behavior professional for safety and correct implementation.

 

I will be posting about the other issues you are facing in my next post. 

 

 

[Adrienne]

"Molly will nip and muzzle punch when she gets extremely excited. I know she is not doing it out of aggression or anger, but it is still improper behavior that needs to be fixed. She also tends to nip when she needs something, such as to go potty, is hungry, is bored etc. My theory is that she is still a puppy. Though she is 4 years old, she never got the proper chewing phase out as a puppy. She was found in an abandon building in Manhattan NY with another pit, so most likely she was a dog used for breeding or fighting (it looks like she had puppies). She clearly never got the proper socialization she needed or the essential time frames as a puppy. It breaks my heart to watch Molly be stuck in this difficult in between phase of adult and puppy, but I just want to do my best to be the absolute best owner I can for her and make sure she is living the best life she can.

It helps in these cases to take steps to lower the excitement and to better improve a dog's impulse control. 

Here is a guide to reduce jumping:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/jumping/

Here is a case study of a dog who jumped out of excitement:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/02-maggie-assessing-jumping-behavior-desensitization/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/02-maggie-practice-greetings/

Here are impulse control exercises:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/

The nipping when she needs to potty or is hungry  sounds like her way of communicating, albeit in an undesirable fashion. Now, we don't want to totally extinguish this behavior as we want our dogs to tell us when they need to go potty. So we need to evaluate things carefully as we don't want to set her back in her potty training progress and cause her to have accidents in the home just because we don't want to reinforce the biting behavior. So perhaps the best approach here is helping her find a softer way of communicating to you her need to potty. 

So how can we accomplish this? Here are a few ideas:

 

-We can be really attentive and reinforce milder signs of needing to go out. For instance, the moment you notice she is walking towards you with an intent to bite, you anticipate her and walk towards the door. This may or may not work depending on how ingrained her biting behavior is and her level of arousal over the whole situation. With this method though, there is a drawback: if we ignore her one day because we failed to take notice or a bit distracted, she will likely revert to the biting to get your attention. 

-A better option may be to offer something that will distract her for just enough time to keep her mind off of biting you and giving you a way to break the chain.So she is coming towards you to bite? You can toss her a handful of high-value treats on the floor (or her kibble is she really likes it) and as she eats you walk away to grab the leash (if high value enough she should choose eating the treats rather than biting you), then hand feed a treat while you put on the leash on, then do several steps of attention heeling with a treat at eye level, give it and head together outside.  To make your life easier, keep treats handy in your pocket or treat bag, keep the leash ready by the exit, have nothing blocking you so that you can swiftly get prepared as she eats the dropped treats and you can get her out quickly reducing the chances for biting. 

 

To tackle her boredom, do brain games (see Braining Training section of the course), encourage her to us interactive toys (Kong Wobbler, Buster Cube, Licki Mats, Snuffle mats), provide appropriate chew toys and rotate them, do several brief and fun training sessions throughout the day. 

 

Try to prevent her from nipping you as much as you can (rehearsal of the problem behavior makes it become habit-forming and puts roots).Also consider that, if your dog nose pokes you to get you to interact with her, and you do interact, then you will have fueled the behavior, and therefore, the nose poking behavior will strengthen and repeat. If you notice she's coming your way with an intent to bite (and you know with a good level of certainty that it's not due to an unmet need, but boredom since she already ate and went potty), ask her to sit, and toss a kibble and rinse and repeat this exercises several times. You can also ask for hand targets: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/

 

I hope this helps,

Let me know if you have any other questions,

Happy training!

 

 

[JulianneRutkowski]

Thank you so much! This all looks extremely helpful! I have been starting with the introduction section with just the basic commands, which she does know how to do, but I have been practicing the sit from a distance and she get so tired so quick haha. I definitely will look into all the sources provided and keep you updated throughout this summer!! Thank you again!

[Adrienne]

Sounds like a plan!

Yes, please keep me posted.

 I am here if you have any questions or want to provide updates. 

Best,

Adrienne

[CaseyStephens]

Thank you for this post. So much of this reminds me of my dog. She is so fearful of new situations though I have been walking her and giving her lots of praise when she walks past a dog or person without lunging or barking. I’m excited to see all the resources on how to stimulate and tire her mentally to hopefully release some of that anxiety. 

[Adrienne]

Hi Casey Stephens,

Welcome to the forums!

Another helpful behavior modification method for fearful dogs is the Jolly routine, you can read more about it here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/using-jolly-routine-fearful-dogs/

I am glad you are finding the resources helpful, let me know if you have any questions in regards to your specific situation,

Best,

Adrienne

[JMFS]

On 6/4/2020 at 9:50 AM, JulianneRutkowski said:

Thank you so much! This all looks extremely helpful! I have been starting with the introduction section with just the basic commands, which she does know how to do, but I have been practicing the sit from a distance and she get so tired so quick haha. I definitely will look into all the sources provided and keep you updated throughout this summer!! Thank you again!

Hi Julianne - I'm curious about progress.  I've been away from the forums for several months and am catching up with all the new faces and situations.  I have a resource guarding pooch, Momo, and while it's a totally different trigger for him, the feeling of exasperation is the same.  I went 8 years without any real help.  Between Adrienne and a behaviorist we've been growl and "air snap" (he has yet to actually bite, though there's always the potential) free for about 6 months now.  6 Glorious months, lol. 

In any event, I read your post and would love to know how things are going now.  I can tell you we've had numerous steps back throughout the process, and that can be discouraging, but we kept up with the regimen (and I checked my hair trigger response to yell) and it's paid off.  I hope to get to read an update about Miss Molly. 🐶

[JulianneRutkowski]

On 7/7/2020 at 4:23 PM, JenniferM. said:

Hi Julianne - I'm curious about progress.  I've been away from the forums for several months and am catching up with all the new faces and situations.  I have a resource guarding pooch, Momo, and while it's a totally different trigger for him, the feeling of exasperation is the same.  I went 8 years without any real help.  Between Adrienne and a behaviorist we've been growl and "air snap" (he has yet to actually bite, though there's always the potential) free for about 6 months now.  6 Glorious months, lol. 

In any event, I read your post and would love to know how things are going now.  I can tell you we've had numerous steps back throughout the process, and that can be discouraging, but we kept up with the regimen (and I checked my hair trigger response to yell) and it's paid off.  I hope to get to read an update about Miss Molly. 🐶

Hey Jennifer! I haven't been on the forums for a bit as I just moved both Molly and myself into my college apartment! Progress wise she has been doing great actually! The brain games definitely tire her out and she absolutely LOVES the mental stimulation. I also have taught her most the basic commands in the training and she has responded extremely well to everything! I am curious as to how you got your dog to stop air snapping, that is something huge I always have struggled with regarding Molly. With me and people she is friendly with she is usually fine but she tends to get so excited to see the people she loves that she does that muzzle punch/air snap thing and she is clueless to how big and powerful she is. I've looked up how to stop it and I struggle with getting straight answers. If you could share some of your experiences with me and how you managed to control that behavior that would be wonderful!! Thank you!

[JulianneRutkowski]

On 6/27/2020 at 2:15 AM, CaseyStephens said:

Thank you for this post. So much of this reminds me of my dog. She is so fearful of new situations though I have been walking her and giving her lots of praise when she walks past a dog or person without lunging or barking. I’m excited to see all the resources on how to stimulate and tire her mentally to hopefully release some of that anxiety. 

Thank you for responding! It is so relieving to see other people struggle with the same issues as I do. It's definitely a difficult journey but at the end of the day she is worth it, as I am sure your dog is as well ❤️ Walks have been pretty good lately, my dog just needs to work on her manners lol. She is a jumper and has absolutely no idea how big she is. She tends to muzzle punch and, we call it "open mouth kissing" hahaha. She just has so much love to give and I don't think she knows exactly how to deal with being excited. The mental stimulation has done absolute wonders but the jumping and muzzle punching is going to be the next thing we work on! Let me know how you are doing with your baby girl!!

[JMFS]

39 minutes ago, JulianneRutkowski said:

Hey Jennifer! I haven't been on the forums for a bit as I just moved both Molly and myself into my college apartment! Progress wise she has been doing great actually! The brain games definitely tire her out and she absolutely LOVES the mental stimulation. I also have taught her most the basic commands in the training and she has responded extremely well to everything! I am curious as to how you got your dog to stop air snapping, that is something huge I always have struggled with regarding Molly. With me and people she is friendly with she is usually fine but she tends to get so excited to see the people she loves that she does that muzzle punch/air snap thing and she is clueless to how big and powerful she is. I've looked up how to stop it and I struggle with getting straight answers. If you could share some of your experiences with me and how you managed to control that behavior that would be wonderful!! Thank you!

Yes, the muzzle punch!  He still does it, lol.  It's soft now, but wet - yuck!  I'll tell a funny (to me) about this muzzle punch.  When Mo was but a wee pup my ex-husband came over to drop off my daughter and he exuberantly greeted Momo.  Well, Mo is Just the right height to do some damage to a guy and I hadn't quite broken Mo of the crotch sniffing bit, yet.  With my ex doubled over in pain and me trying to suppress a guffaw (I'm going to Hades for that, haha), I managed to get Mo, and myself, under control.  So, yes, it's important to curb that behavior.  😉

When I describe our air snapping it's what he does instead of a bite - it's like a warning shot, "hey, I don't like that, next time you won't be so lucky!"  With Gertrude I can get as excited as I want to be (she just enthusiastically followed me downstairs because I was running away from a roach and she knows I don't run unless something bad is around, lol).  Momo is trickier because that boy is wired for sound.  It seems common in the smarter dogs.  Brains = energy = need brain games 🙂  Sometimes I wish he were a little dumber!  It sounds like Molly is more like Gertie and doing it out of joy rather than annoyance like Momo.  I do have a suggestion.

I believe Adrienne has a lesson on this, in fact.  We play a warm up, cool down game.  I will start moving erratically and jumping or making high pitched nonsense sounds and as soon as Gertie starts jumping I freeze and turn my back to her.  When she settles down I tell her, 'yes!" and give her a treat.  I repeat that until either she stops getting excited when I start getting hyper or she shows signs of getting bored with the game.  The great thing about this lesson is you can control the level of enthusiasm.  Since Molly already reacts to excitement you might start training at a lower energy level and as she gains an understanding of how to play you can ratchet up the energy.  This Should help to desensitize her to all the hub bub going on.  I really do need to practice this with Momo . . ..

Congrats on the move into your apartment.  Did that bring any new challenges with Molly, or did she adjust okay?

[JulianneRutkowski]

On 8/5/2020 at 12:47 AM, JenniferM. said:

Yes, the muzzle punch!  He still does it, lol.  It's soft now, but wet - yuck!  I'll tell a funny (to me) about this muzzle punch.  When Mo was but a wee pup my ex-husband came over to drop off my daughter and he exuberantly greeted Momo.  Well, Mo is Just the right height to do some damage to a guy and I hadn't quite broken Mo of the crotch sniffing bit, yet.  With my ex doubled over in pain and me trying to suppress a guffaw (I'm going to Hades for that, haha), I managed to get Mo, and myself, under control.  So, yes, it's important to curb that behavior.  😉

When I describe our air snapping it's what he does instead of a bite - it's like a warning shot, "hey, I don't like that, next time you won't be so lucky!"  With Gertrude I can get as excited as I want to be (she just enthusiastically followed me downstairs because I was running away from a roach and she knows I don't run unless something bad is around, lol).  Momo is trickier because that boy is wired for sound.  It seems common in the smarter dogs.  Brains = energy = need brain games 🙂  Sometimes I wish he were a little dumber!  It sounds like Molly is more like Gertie and doing it out of joy rather than annoyance like Momo.  I do have a suggestion.

I believe Adrienne has a lesson on this, in fact.  We play a warm up, cool down game.  I will start moving erratically and jumping or making high pitched nonsense sounds and as soon as Gertie starts jumping I freeze and turn my back to her.  When she settles down I tell her, 'yes!" and give her a treat.  I repeat that until either she stops getting excited when I start getting hyper or she shows signs of getting bored with the game.  The great thing about this lesson is you can control the level of enthusiasm.  Since Molly already reacts to excitement you might start training at a lower energy level and as she gains an understanding of how to play you can ratchet up the energy.  This Should help to desensitize her to all the hub bub going on.  I really do need to practice this with Momo . . ..

Congrats on the move into your apartment.  Did that bring any new challenges with Molly, or did she adjust okay?

Oh that sounds like a great way to curb the behavior! I have been telling my roommates to turn their backs to her when she jumps instead of giving her any sort of attention and that actually has helped and we have only been doing it for a few days now. Moving in definitely came with challenges. She has met a few people over the past week or so and she seems to be more stressed than usual about it. I usually muzzle her and allow her to sniff the new person and get to the point where she will shake off and depending on how she responds to the person I will unmuzzle her or keep it on. She definitely does not like anybody in her face and I tell people no eye contact, no touching, no talking upon first meetings because it will overwhelm her. The people did pretty well with it I just always get nervous as well because of her past so I always make sure I'm taking extra precautions. I think she is a little stressed as well because we moved to a new apartment. She is used to going back and forth from my school to my parents house but not used to this apartment quite yet. She seems to be adjusting alright though, I have not put her into positions where she would harm anybody and I always have her muzzled but it does take a toll seeing her uncomfortable. Our neighbors have 3 dogs and we would like to do a slow introduction to at least one of them over the weekend so crossing my fingers it goes well! We are planning on taking them for a hike which Molly really loves!