i have a problem with my dog when he comes inside from doing his business when I try to wipe his paws off with a towel he bites my arm enough to sometimes break the skin. What is a way to get him to stop that behavior? Thanks in advance.
OK, first off, think of your dog's motivation for doing this. I guess he doesn't like you rubbing his feet and this is his way of trying to get you to stop. Ignoring it isn't a good idea, as, if he really dislikes it and biting isn't working, he only has the option to escalate to biting harder. Instead, you should look at reprogramming him so that he actually doesn't mind his feet being touched. Do this in really small increments; you would put your hand next to his feet (outside of the context of him coming in after toileting) and feed him tasty treats for that. Then, briefly stroke his foot and give him treats. If he ever looks uncomfortable, go back a step or two and start again. Don't rush, you'll just make it worse. This will probably take many sessions over a few weeks at the very least. Once you can touch his feet with him remaining comfortable, start to massage them gently. Then do the same starting at the beginning (just a brief touch of the paw) but with a towel. You have to be guided by the dog as to how fast or slow you have to progress, and never move onto the next step until he's entirely happy with the previous one. Then, go back to the beginning, but in the context of coming in from outside. So, when he comes in, just touch one foot very briefly and give him a treat. In the meantime, don't try to rub his feet after he's been outside; if you're worried about your floors, confine him to an area lined with towels until his feet are dry. One more note, make sure you're not waving the treats in his face and using them as a bribe for compliance, as this won't change his emotional response. What you're after is the treat becoming a consequence of you touching his feet, not the treat being an indication that you're going to touch his feet. I hope that makes sense.
Thank you for the quick reply, that never even crossed my mind that he might not like having his paws touched, I thought he was just being difficult. I will try this and see if it works for him. I might be back for for advice about this! Thanks again!
We used Snowbunnies method from day one rubbing Duggan all over, in between his toes all while putting a toy between us and his mouth. It worked a treat. When he comes in from the garden with muddy feet or after a heavy rain he just sits and waits for us to get the towel out and even helps by lifting his feet one at a time. Then after he’s all clean he saunters over to the treat bowl and looks up at it then over at me and I treat him. Doesn’t even view it as an opportunity to play or run off with the towel anymore, just another moment in our day. We started the rubbing from day one but he was around 4-5 months when he started getting wiped with a towel because of the weather and had a very soft mouth by then due to some of his gun dog training. Good luck.
