We have a 6 year old English Black Lab. She's a fantastic dog, warm
and friendly around people and other dogs she knows. However, in the
last 6 months or so, she's all of a sudden started biting! It's
happened 4 times to people we've had over. The people were basically
strangers to her. And each time she was fine with them, until they
turned their back on her, then she nips them in the back of the leg.
Yesterday we had friends over. She greeted them, they pet her, they
watched TV with us for a while. She was fine. She laid down, wasn't
agitated, just slept. All of a sudden, one of them gets up and walks
away and she got up and bit the back of his leg. How do I stop this
behavior? I want to train her, but if it's a good friend we know, she
doesn't do this. And I can't as someone she doesn't know to "come on
over and help us teach our dog how not to bite you"! We're mortified
that our sweet little lab might bite the wrong person. Any thoughts
are greatly appreciated...

in rec.pets.dogs.behavior, Ian Gendreau
wrote in news:7ebf3c88-c30b-4ac4-b234-
:

We have a 6 year old English Black Lab. She's a fantastic dog, warm
and friendly around people and other dogs she knows. However, in the
last 6 months or so, she's all of a sudden started biting! It's
happened 4 times to people we've had over. The people were basically
strangers to her. And each time she was fine with them, until they
turned their back on her, then she nips them in the back of the leg.
Yesterday we had friends over. She greeted them, they pet her, they
watched TV with us for a while. She was fine. She laid down, wasn't
agitated, just slept. All of a sudden, one of them gets up and walks
away and she got up and bit the back of his leg. How do I stop this
behavior? I want to train her, but if it's a good friend we know, she
doesn't do this. And I can't as someone she doesn't know to "come on
over and help us teach our dog how not to bite you"! We're mortified
that our sweet little lab might bite the wrong person. Any thoughts
are greatly appreciated...

Have you taken her to the vet and had her checked out?

--
Marcel Beaudoin and Moogli

"Ian Gendreau" wrote in message
...
We have a 6 year old English Black Lab. She's a fantastic dog, warm
and friendly around people and other dogs she knows. However, in the
last 6 months or so, she's all of a sudden started biting! It's
happened 4 times to people we've had over. The people were basically
strangers to her. And each time she was fine with them, until they
turned their back on her, then she nips them in the back of the leg.
Yesterday we had friends over. She greeted them, they pet her, they
watched TV with us for a while. She was fine. She laid down, wasn't
agitated, just slept. All of a sudden, one of them gets up and walks
away and she got up and bit the back of his leg. How do I stop this
behavior? I want to train her, but if it's a good friend we know, she
doesn't do this. And I can't as someone she doesn't know to "come on
over and help us teach our dog how not to bite you"! We're mortified
that our sweet little lab might bite the wrong person. Any thoughts
are greatly appreciated...

I think if it was me, I'd keep her on a leash when ever someone is over so I
could at least *correct* her before she is able to bite them.

td

tiny dancer wrote:

I think if it was me, I'd keep her on a leash when ever someone is over so I
could at least *correct* her before she is able to bite them.

I think if it were me, I'd look for a good trainer or behaviorist to
do an in home visit. Otherwise, I might inadvertently make the
problem worse.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

In article ,
tiny dancer wrote:
I think if it was me, I'd keep her on a leash when ever someone is over so I
could at least *correct* her before she is able to bite them.

WTF? Why would you do that?

Biting is potentially a really serious problem. After
ruling out a veterinary problem (including endocrine) I'd
see a behaviorist or trainer. This really isn't the sort of
thing that's a good idea to "help" [rolling eyes] with
without expertise or seeing what's going on in person.

Seriously. Show a little self-control about things that
matter.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

"Shelly" wrote in message
...
tiny dancer wrote:

I think if it was me, I'd keep her on a leash when ever someone is over
so I could at least *correct* her before she is able to bite them.

I think if it were me, I'd look for a good trainer or behaviorist to do an
in home visit. Otherwise, I might inadvertently make the problem worse.


Which is why I said 'at least'. I suppose, until you've solved the
problem, you'd continue to let the dog bite people in the meantime? The OP
said 'the dog has already bitten four people.' Me, I'd keep it on a leash
and not allow it to bite anybody else in the meantime.

ymmv

td




--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

tiny dancer wrote:

Which is why I said 'at least'.

By following the advice you gave, the OP could make the problem
*worse*.

I suppose, until you've solved the
problem, you'd continue to let the dog bite people in the meantime?

Absolutely not. But not allowing the dog to be in a position to
bite people does not equal correcting it for biting people.

The OP
said 'the dog has already bitten four people.' Me, I'd keep it on a leash
and not allow it to bite anybody else in the meantime.

Whether or not that's a good idea, it's *not* what you advised the
OP to do.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

In article ,
tiny dancer wrote:
Me, I'd keep it on a leash
and not allow it to bite anybody else in the meantime.

I'd be concerned about restraining a biter by the collar and
making the problem worse, but hey, maybe you've seen
something about this on Judge Judy.

ymmv

Saying "It's my opinion" makes it clear that you're not
asserting it as fact, but it does not remove your
responsibility for posting stuff that can cause problems.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

Melinda Shore wrote:

I'd be concerned about restraining a biter by the collar and
making the problem worse,

Leash aggression, mayhap? Actually, that can be a recipe for a
committed biter to come up the leash at you, if the dog gets too
frustrated.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

In article ,
Shelly wrote:
Leash aggression, mayhap?

I dunno and neither does tiny, which is the point, I think.
Right now the dog seems to be loose when it bites, so that's
obviously not leash aggression. However, depending on
what's going on, leashing it may make the problem worse or
it may not. There's no way of knowing based on a sketchy
description and without seeing the dog, and without more
expertise than I have or than tiny sure as hell has. This
is one of those cases where you say "Gosh, I don't know, but
I think that the *experts* you should consult include a vet
and a behaviorist/trainer."
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community