Bitten by your dog?

[IVFNewbie]

Hi! Has your dog ever bitten you (other than puppy-related relatively harmless mouthing?)

No, I’ve owned 8 dogs and have never been bitten by any of them (or even close!)

Not sure I could live with a dog that did to be completely honest.

I don't see how useful or representative a random thread is. You don't want any advice. In 64 years no dog has ever bitten me whilst guarding their "resource". Largely because all of them have understood from training at an early age that all resources are mine. Did that help you any?

Resource guarding has become more common in recent years as it is a strong Spaniel trait, and whereas Spaniel owners are usually aware of this and work on it from puppy, owners of the increasingly common Cockerpoo are not, and therefore it develops and leads to bites.

No, not by my fosters, rescues, or pet-sits either. I've only ever been bitten once, when I fell on a sleeping dog as a child.

I once tried to take a chicken, bacon and sausage sandwich off my Akita. Really stupid!

He is a resource guarder... probably because I used to take meat sandwiches from him as a pup.

He has been trained. We've got it out of him as much as possible and just don't steal food from him or go near him when he is eating. If we need him to stop for any reason, we tell him. He isn't happy about it but he does.

Keep at it, you'll be fine. If you have kids, make sure they understand and make sure you as the adults understand that risk and make suitable changes.

I completely agree that the thread seems a bit odd if OP doesn’t want want advice. Some online research into the numbers would have given a better picture if that’s what OP wants.
That said, pack theory including the concept that the dog has nothing and all resources belong to the human, is now seen as outdated so it may not be the way forwards for the OP (not that she’s looking for advice 🤦🏻‍♀️)

I've had it on a few occasions in two circumstances - firstly when he's been utterly terrified of something and redirected a bite onto the nearest thing which just so happened to be my lower leg. Secondly, a couple of instances involving a scrap with another dog where I've been bitten while trying to break it up (couldn't tell you which dog bit though).

It's probably more common than people let on about; there's a certain stigma around such incidents, invariably coupled with absolutely no understanding whatsoever of why bites occur in the first place.

Once our spaniel bit my husband when he was being attacked by another dog and my husband separated them. Once he caught my fingers when jumping for a ball but never a bite bite.

No. Not one of the dogs in my life for the last 46 years has bitten me past the puppy "teething" stage. The dog I have now (rescue, neurotic) will occasionally mouth a bit harder than necessary and then spend the next 5 minutes or so apologising to me over it - she likes to play by digging me out of bed in a morning, and has enthusiastically gnashed her teeth against me, I've said "OW!" and she's then slunk up next to me for reassuring cuddles and licked my hand in apology. But bitten me? Out of the 14 family dogs in my entire life? Not one of them.

Thanks for your input- much appreciated. I am getting advice from a professional.

Frequently! I have a nervous rescue who resource guards, we’ve been working with a behaviourist and he’s slowly getting better but he has his odd freak moments.

That’s great if you have your dog from 8 weeks. Those of us with rescues where the damage has already been done don’t always have it so easy! When your dog has had to survive off rubbish tips, they tend to get a bit overprotective of ‘their’ stuff and sometimes struggle to understand that you’re not going to rob them blind.

I think OP is just looking for a bit of reassurance that she's not alone.

I wouldn't take any advice from a stranger online re. a dog that bites, though. It's something that needs to be seen in person by a professional before advice is given.

Glad the behaviourist is helping. Ours starting going down the resource guarding route. We basically ‘swap’ (give a treat that’s better than the item he’s guarding) absolutely anything that might be perceived as too good to give up without a fight. He hasn’t shown signs for years and is a great dog but we’ll continue to ‘swap’ for his whole life, just in case.

You have my sympathy!

It's a good thing you're seeking professional advice and openly saying you don't want advice from strangers on the internet.

I've never had a dog do it until this one which was such a different type of dog (due to breed) that I essentially had to relearn everything.

Good points from PP. Sorry if I came off as snarky OP. I really hope you get it sorted.

Good points from PP. Sorry if I came off as snarky OP. I really hope you get it sorted.

oh yes. My 5 yo Cockapoo was really reactive to cars and would go nuts, barking and then round on me and nip me really hard on the bum. It was agony and there was a long period when I had to drive him miles away to walk him out of sight of cars.

I would say he's 90% cured following 2 quite intensive 10 week blocks of group classes- he's not bitten in ages and can now walk relatively calmly next to roads. A lot of the changes were about how I interacted with him (he's my first dog), and ironing out stuff like pulling which probably wasn't my first priority but seems to have been foundational. I had to put very clear boundaries in place and of course it was mostly about changing me. I feel quite evangelical about it because I was feeling pretty desperate.

No ddog did snap at me once when she was recovering from being speyed and I moved from sitting at the side of her. Suspect my moving tugged on her stitches and she snapped in pain. She missed me hopefully intentionally. I felt awful for hurting her.

We have a resource guarder too, so whilst I haven’t been bitten, my husband has. Also getting help from a behaviourist but know you’re not alone!

There's some smug owners on this thread!

No, never been bitten but one of ours has given us some warning signals over the years.

my dog hasnt bitten since he was a little puppy but he does mouth enthusiasticly leaving an occasional bruise my friends chihuahua on the other hand bit my legs and broke the skin leaving nasty scars

Yes. Although a nip not a full bite. She was a rescue with fear aggression towards people. We adopted her at 6 months. We kept her safe for 16 years and she led a full and happy life and never bit anyone other than us. She didn’t bite us once we learnt her warning signals and lowered her stress levels so if someone ignored us out and about and touched her she was able to deal with it. We loved her. Lots wouldn’t have. The only place we had significant issues was obviously at the vets who were and are wonderful and worked with us where they could and sedated her if they couldn’t.

Great you’re getting help. It is manageable if not fixable. Dogs bite for all kinds of reasons. It’s not uncommon but can be helped by bringing stress levels down or dealing with pain. Great if your dog never has but it says nothing about you as an owner if it has.

Its isn't uncommon at all. My little dogs sometimes temper chew at my hand, which doesn't and isn't meant to hurt. As long as there is a reason for the biting, in your case you identified resource guarding, there are lots of things you can do to stop the behaviour. Random attacks are another issues altogether.