Corrections in Public - Page 6

I was bitten several times by Murphy, the dog I mentioned earlier in this thread. The bite itself was no big deal. But I was very concerned about how I would deal with the situation. Last thing I wanted to do was fight with a 100# GSD everyday. Murphy was the only dog I've ever own to bite me. I have to be honest, I considered re-homing him as I worried he would become too agressive for me to handle.

I believed that causing Murphy pain would only make him worse. So I watched Murphy's body language First sign of aggression was usually in his eyes. Without even turning his head he would "lock in" on my hand out of the corner of his eyes. I didn't really corrrect him but would immediately try to distract him and diffuse the situation. Maybe it was dumb luck but it worked. He was still fiesty as heck, but no more bites and I was finally able to bond with him.

A terrier is not necessarily a powderpuff, having grown up with terriers IMO they can be same attitudes as big dog like GSD, and not all are mushballs, really some GSDs could even be easier than some terriers since a GSD is bred to work from human instruction, terriers more on their own and with great tenacity.  To say a small dog like a terrier doesn't need a training collar, I think is too general and possibly incorrect of a statement.  An e-collar can be a good tool for a potentially handler-aggressive dog, because the handler is taken out of the correction, there's no winding up or physical correction from handler, it's just cause-effect.  I don't think it's useful in this case though.  He goes after you, he gets zapped, that's not going to solve it.  You have a reactive dog.

To the original post:
First, I would not be using my hands to fix a dog for a crooked down, I would either use only the collar/leash (with directional pulls the dog understands) or I would very quickly have the dog do it over and reward only the correct downs.  There's other ways to teach this besides using your hands to push the dogs body.  You have a few issues.  One is physical manipulation of the dogs body.  A bigger one is trust.  He was likely confused by what you were doing prodding at his body.  Confusion leads to frustration, which leads to aggression (in a dog of such temperament).  So why was he already in a state of defensiveness?

Practice physical body manipulation and handling, in a positive way.  Some dogs are reactive about their flank area, some it's their paws, or whatever.  Teach him "settle" or whatever word you use, think of the dog trick "bang" where the dog flops onto its side playing dead, using your hands to push him onto his side and mark the behavior.  Go about this when the dog is relaxed and you have a happy attitude.  Develop trust and acceptance of hand-body manipulation.  Another valuable tool to you is a comfortable open-mouth muzzle.  You have to condition the dog to wearing it, and never ruin it by making an association between him wearing the muzzle and you acting differently or being hard on him.  It's a slow process, he should wear it like a normal piece of equipment, and you can work through some of the aggression triggers, fairly.

If you are correcting a dog for aggression, there is a correction to END a fight and a correction that starts a fight.  A dog needs a clear way out, a chance to stop the aggression and finish the behavior you were asking him to do in the first place.  You mention smacking the dog, and while I'm not condoning that, was it a smack that ended a fight or was it actually inciting a fight?  What is fair and unfair to the dog.  And the last thing you want is to teach your dog to fight harder next time.  You know the saying "You may have won this battle, but I will win the war," if you have that adversarial relationship with a dog, it's not a good road to go down.  What is vital is giving the dog a consequence but also an easy way out in which to reward them.  So for example, let's say I go to correct a dog for a down, and he turns and bites my hand.  I may administer a correction that is suited both for the situation and for the dog.  I will give the dog a moment, and a loose leash, to compose himself and think, clearly asking for what I want "down," I will give no emotion, no pressure, and no choking.  Dogs can smell adrenaline, and if you have that anger or fear, no good.  I am going to hold my hand right there and not pull away, wanna bite my hand again, go ahead, I dare you.  Now down.  Think of a cost/benefit analysis, is the "cost" of being aggressive worth the reward?  You mu

...st diffuse the situation and give the dog an alternate to being aggressive, and some of this probably goes back to your foundation work and relationship.  Each response given by the dog gives the same consequences, every time.

Be predictable.

RE correction in public- Yes, I will correct a dog wherever I am, if needed, because as another poster said, it has to come then and there.  You are not predictable if one time you let him get away with it then you take him to another area and beat him up over it.  If you can't correct your dog in public then maybe he's not ready for the distractions of street training, and you have a lot of work to do before that point.

Ok I read all six pages of this thread with interest. To answer the posters question. I make no apologies when I correct in public. Ive had some frowns from onlookers but other than that I really dont care much.

Poster you come to a Natl forum and post then ask for suggestions. Some very knowledgeable people responded and you get mad. Maybe they, like myself, were surprised to read that your dog is biting you when you correct him. I too have been around my share of terriers and none of them bit their handlers when corrections were made even ones I thought were extreme. These dogs that Ive been around were not pets but dogs bred specifically to hunt so there werent pansy dogs. I read what you said and immediately thought Why would the dog even want to bite you? So to me either the dog was poorly bred or something has happened to make the dog think he has the RIGHT to bite. We all know that eventually your harsh corrections will not work and most likely will backfire. Because even though you may think this behavior is normal it isnt. Maybe this is the point we want to make. The behavior is abnormal even for a terrier and instead of having things turn out bad, others who have posted are trying to help you avoid that.

Wouldnt it be nice to make all the corrections you want and the dog is happy to do it. I have a dog that trys so hard, he is thinking ahead and trying to second guess what I want before I say anything. Wouldnt it be nice to have a dog like that? He has balls, just not with me.

I have rescued over 150 Jack Russell Terriers and own an ederly (only in age) one right now.  That being said.  I would say all but two of those dogs were aggressive in some form or another.

If there is ANY BREED in the world you can't give an inch to when raising... its a terrier.  

Their prey/play drive is incredibly high.  And as with most dogs, praise for good behavior goes alot farther than correction for bad behavior.  

Best of luck with your dog.