When a bite is a good thing

[rudy]

Lou bit someone today.

This time though it is good news, mostly. Or I should say, news of improvement.

I am under a huge deadline this weekend so Lou has only done pushing for meals - no bite work, no tug.

We had visitors from our previous neighborhood on Saturday. Before we moved, Lou had a run-in with one of these guys and so, of course, this guy was no fan of Lou. Lou did spectacularly well. The guy even commented on how calm Lou was - they thought the box idea was genius! They got Lou to speak for food. He was as calm as could be with them when we were outside.

So, back to the bite. My husband breaks all the rules - talks, even baby talks, to Lou in the house. Lots of attention in the house. Lots petting and cuddling in the house. He has not done even 1 second of NDT training with Lou. He likes to take Lou running with him sometimes and that happened today. They were waiting for me to pick them up at the end of the run when, so I'm told, a man, woman and cocker came walking up. (Lou is human and dog aggressive) Husband said he put Lou in a down. Lou was not barking or lunging. The woman walked up to Lou and extended her hand. Lou got up from the down position and husband pulled back so Lou was up on two feet.

Lou bit her hand.

The good news: Lou only nipped her - didn't bite hard enough to hurt her. This is massive progress! Lou was not with his usual handler at the time - me - so there was no normal routine or NDT things going on and it still wasn't very bad. I drove up right after all of this and Lou looked perfectly calm. As did the humans. No frenzy or barking at all. They were all just standing around talking. That ALONE used to be enough to set Lou off.

And more good news, the woman he bit laughed about it and said that she had always had Cockers and knew they were crazy and wasn't even remotely troubled by it.

I had been unwilling to test Lou's progress by letting a stranger get that close, much less extend a hand that didn't have food in it. Now I know that is too much for him, though he handled it much much better than he would have 6 months ago.

If she had offered him food that scenario would likely have been much different.

[donnieo]

So, did the experience encourage your husband to start using NDT?

[SchnauzerMan]

I'm glad you are taking this as a positive instead of a setback. Hopefully Lou can continue down the NDT path and stop nipping completely. Still, I think the bigger issue here is that your husband is not supporting you at all in your training. Does he think it is stupid? Is he just a little too lazy to try? I think you need to clear this issue.

[rudy]

Dogs are "not his thing". So I am keeping my expectations low, to none.

Nah, there are no real setbacks with NDT. What is it that we say around here...we learn through the crevices...? When things look like they are taking a turn for the worse is really THE time of improvement.

I have no doubt that a year from now Lou's public face will the the cool fun sweet Lou that he is in private

[Sang]

Roxy bit someone a few years ago in a similar situation. The guy reached out to pet her, and before I could react she jumped up, bit his hand and pulled his glove off. Luckily he was wearing gloves. But his response to my apologies was "That's ok, she's just being a dog". Thankfully there are still good and understanding people in the world.

It happens to all of us.

[rudy]

It would be nice, though, if people would LISTEN.

I swear people walking their Goldens on flexi leads is my worst nightmare!

Their dog doesn't bite (probably needs to though) under any circumstance and thus doesn't believe me when I ask, plead, demand that they keep their distance from me and Lou. I've been dragging Lou backwards into the woods away from them and they keep on moving in!

"Aw he just wants some attention"
"He just wants to meet my dog"
"He just has a lot to say"


They don't get it.