Our black lab little boy is now 14 months old and quite a great little guy. However, for some reason he does not like his paws touched only at certain times, for instances we wipe both boys paws after coming in from outside, he does not like it and he will try to bite us, and it's hard and he will growl. I have to drop treats on the floor in order to wipe his paws. From the day we got him we played with his paws and wiped them from the beginning, we are gently when we wipe. He is ok with us touching them other times. He was licking his leg today and we though maybe he hurt it and when I went to look at it he tried to bite me. I don't just go up and grab it, I gently talk to him, pet him and gently work towards touching but the moment I start to look at it he bites. What can we do about this? he doesn't bite us anymore other times, our other lab never did this.
To me this sounds like he has some pain in his paws tbh. Have you asked a vet about it already? If not i'd strongly advise you to take your dog there and let his paws be checked. He might have stepped in something nasty like thorns or toxic like poision ivy which makes him feel uncomfortable.
As Chris has said, my first port of call for this one would be the vet. Make sure it's not sore, and that's what is causing the issue. If it's not pain related, then i'd book a session with a canine behaviorist (one that uses positive reinforcement) and get some advice on helping him to get used to this type of handling. We do have an article on getting dogs used to things like this, but as he's already biting I think a second layer of caution in terms of a professional might be a good idea. Do let us know how you get along!
So, during the socialisation process, it's really important to closely watch how the dog is reacting to what you are doing. Because the first signs that a dog is not comfortable, are not obvious things like biting or growing - they are subtle things like the dog turning away or trying to withdraw their paw. It's only when these early signs of discomfort are not respected and when the owner just continues doing whatever it is, thinking that if they just keep doing it, the dog will accept it and somehow learn it is 'ok' - that the dog has to escalate what they are doing to growling or biting - because other types of communication just didn't work. Often new puppy owners think the thing is just to handle the dog over and over to 'get the dog used to it'. Whilst this may work with some puppies who have neutral feelings, with other puppies it has the opposite effect and instead sensitises the dog to being handled. And sensitisation is the opposite of good socialisation. Whilst a vet check is a good idea, I would be careful about which vet you choose to do this and try to ensure it is a vet who is going to try to work in a fear-free way with your dog - because otherwise you will only make things worse if it is a behavioural issue and the vet tries to manipulate the legs and the dog reacts. It can generalise to a fear of vets... and so on. Check out https://fearfreepets.com and see if there is a fear-free vet near you and discuss your approach to the consult before you bring the dog in.
We did ask the vet about it when he first started doing this and they did not see anything wrong with his paw. He seemed fine when the vet was looking at it, not sure they are a "fear free" vet but he did not seem uncomfortable. When we played with his paws when he was younger, I do not remember him ever looking away but I honestly don't know. He lets us touch them when he's lying down no problem, and he does not look away or seem uncomfortable, we have looked in there ect. It's usually ONLY when we wipe them from coming in from outside, although last night he did not do it and didn't have any treats to give him. He has another appointment with the vet soon and we will ask them about it, i also will look at the website to see about the no fear vets near me. thanks
It might just be something about the wiping process itself which he dislikes, then. Perhaps having something wet applied to them? One suggestion, is to teach your dog to wipe his own paws. This isn't that difficult. When dogs dislike husbandry stuff we have to do to them, the solution is to help them to feel empowered in that process and not out of control and forced to do it. Nothing is more empowering than wiping your own paws...:
Vid is good but doesnt really clean in the pads where the mud seems to be. Not to mention having to teach lay and drag on rug to clean underbelly and backs of legs. I had a lab I taught to walk thru a small kiddie pool but I still had to wipe her dry. Hopefully not an injury and just a dislike that you can work at. The hardest time for me was The first out before eating so I had to really up the reward for being patient letting me wipe her.
