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I rescued my dog off the street about a year and a half ago. She's almost 2 years old now. I'm not sure what she's mixed with. I did one of those DNA tests and it said that she's about half Boxer, a quarter German Shepherd, and a quarter Labrador. She looks like a pit bull mix. She has never been aggressive with people or animals.
Today, I bought her a Thundershirt because she gets anxious in the car when people walk by. She also gets anxious when strangers come over and she's crated. I put the Thundershirt on her and let her wear it for a couple of hours. She was real chill the whole time. When I tried to take it off, she kept running from me. When I finally got a chance to pull off one of the straps, she tried to bite me and started baring her teeth. When I started to undo some more straps, she kept whipping around and managed to catch my hand. She bit me so hard, it broke the skin in a few places. When I finally got the shirt off, she was back to her normal self.
Out of all of the reviews I've read, I have never heard of this happening. I'm returning the Thundershirt ASAP and will try to find a better professional to help me with training. Previous training experiences for other issues haven't worked well.
Makes me wonder if the contact between shirt, her body and you was not maybe causing some static electricity and she decided that the charge was coming from you? I mean I know it is supped to calm them when a storm is brewing....
I honestly do not think it had anything to do with the shirt. Dogs that were never properly socialized during critical puppy periods, lived on the street, etc., can sometimes panic easily, especially if you have body language that keeps going after them, standing over them, reaching for them etc. She probably had a fight or flight episode and panicked into fear-biting.
Next time, call her to you and offer her a treat while calmly and silently removing it. Dont go after her - you can easily create an issue with avoidance behaviour in the future when you try to retrieve her. She will remember this episode and start avoiding being approached.
Makes me wonder if the contact between shirt, her body and you was not maybe causing some static electricity and she decided that the charge was coming from you? I mean I know it is supped to calm them when a storm is brewing....
Does she have any vision issues?
She has no vision issues.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bmachina
I honestly do not think it had anything to do with the shirt. Dogs that were never properly socialized during critical puppy periods, lived on the street, etc., can sometimes panic easily, especially if you have body language that keeps going after them, standing over them, reaching for them etc. She probably had a fight or flight episode and panicked into fear-biting.
Next time, call her to you and offer her a treat while calmly and silently removing it. Dont go after her - you can easily create an issue with avoidance behaviour in the future when you try to retrieve her. She will remember this episode and start avoiding being approached.
I didn't use a treat, but I tried to call her to me a few times. Every time I reached for the velcro fastener, she would run off.
It sounds silly, but maybe the velcro sound scares her. Did you have to redo the fasteners as you were putting it on so she heard it, and didn't want you to mess with them again?
Something weird obviously happened. I'll bet if you knew the real reason that episode occurred you'd kick yourself. I just have a feeling. Your dog has other issues to begin with so bringing in a really good trainer is a perfect idea. If a trainer tries to use any form of "corrections", punishment, intimidation, or force with your anxious girl - fire the trainer immediately!!
Sorry you had this unfortunate experience. Don't let it change the way you think of your girl. She's never done anything like this in the past and like I said I bet if we knew the real reason behind what happened we'd be like .
Sounded like she was panicking before he even got a hold of the velcro - when continually going after her while reaching for it? Sounds like she was fine when it was put on and the velcro was adjusted a few times initially.
Maybe the velcro was the issue. I can't exactly remember if she panicked before the sound or after when I first tried to take it off. When I first put it on her, I made a few adjustments; but, she was fine. My first attempt to take it off, she was sitting next to me on the couch and facing me. That's when she jumped off the couch. She's well socialized. I regularly take her for walks and she goes to the dog park once or twice a week. She also goes to dog camp on occasion and is always super friendly. I have no problems with aggression when I put on and take off her harness. I'm just not sure if the velcro sound was bothering her or if she just didn't want the shirt to come off.
Something weird obviously happened. I'll bet if you knew the real reason that episode occurred you'd kick yourself. I just have a feeling. Your dog has other issues to begin with so bringing in a really good trainer is a perfect idea. If a trainer tries to use any form of "corrections", punishment, intimidation, or force with your anxious girl - fire the trainer immediately!!
Sorry you had this unfortunate experience. Don't let it change the way you think of your girl. She's never done anything like this in the past and like I said I bet if we knew the real reason behind what happened we'd be like .
Wishing you & your dog the very best.
Thank you for the information. I am in Texas.
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