Dudley bared his teeth at me!

[Jeni D]

I'm actually in shock to tell you the truth. I was trimming the hair around Dudley's pads, and granted, this is the first time we have tried to do this...normally the vet does. He seemed really nervous about the clippers and the next think I know his lip starts twitching and he growls and bares his teeth at me! I immediately gave him a firm "I don't think so." and he gave me a blank stare for a second before calming down. For a split second I thought he was going to bite me. I finished trimming his paw and left it at that.
My questions are-Should I have done anything differently? In hindsight, it probably would have been much smarter of me to introduce him to the clippers slowly, especially I know he is not fond of having his paws touched or his nails clipped.
Should I be concerned about his behavior transferring into other things? He is almost one year old now, does this have anything to do with his behavior? Could it be that his allergies are bothering him and he has been chewing on his feet...maybe he is in pain?

I'm really interested in any suggestions you have.
Thanks
Jeni

[Cheyenne60041]

My personal experience with my Rottweiler when he was about a year old and did that the first time over grooming issues was not because he was in pain, but bacause he didn't like what I was doing and decided that he was old enough to stand up to me. And let me tell you, I did not take kindly to that!
I garbbed his nose put it up to my face and said in my stern voice "No!" and what do you think he did? He did it again louder right in my face. I dragged his ass in the kitchen, rolled up a small newspaper and started smacking him on his nose (not hard at all, but with a lot of noise) until he stopped baring his teeth and growling back and admitted my superiority. Every once in a while he needs a reminder of who is in charge, which is NOT him.
Another thing that Lord really gets punished for is talking back to me. Not often, but once in while you tell him something and he starts barking right in your face. That is just not allowed in my household.

[manymuddypaws]

In my opinion you did the right thing. You didn't over react and punish him- nor did you snap your hand away and not finish what you started. By over reacting you may have been bitten- and by being scared and backing off you would have told him that he can boss you around by showing a little teeth.

It is hard to know exactly why he acted that way- without knowing the dog- but my advice would be to keep an eye on him and maybe enroll in some obedience classes (if you haven't already) sometimes something as basic as an obedience class can really help the relationship between you and your dog. As for the being in pain it doesn't sound like that was the situation at all- but you never know. Nonetheless- pain or not Dudley should never growl at you.
-amanda

[manymuddypaws]

Do NOT follow cheyennes advice. That is a good way to get your face bitten off- there is NEVER EVER a reason to hit your dog like that....EVER!

Cheyenne- you should carefully reconsider giving advice like that. I think that pretty much everyone around here knows better than that but I pity the fool who actually listens to you and gets bitten or scares their dog to death. That was really horrible advice to give.

[Cheetah]

I have to agree - You should NEVER have to hit your dog to make it behave - this knowledge is becoming more common each day.

Shippo has growled at me a few times over a few things, and I NEVER had to hit him or yell at him to get my point across. Dogs do not hit each other in the first place. They do not understand hitting - it is not a part of their vocabulary. To them, it is something we humans do when we are being unpredictable and violent for no reason. >O.o<

Cheyenne, are you familiar with "The Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson and "The Other End of the Leash" by Patricia McConnell? They are both very good and informative books. I found the second one on Amazon for like 4 bucks!

[Cheyenne60041]

Originally Posted by manymuddypaws

Do NOT follow cheyennes advice. That is a good way to get your face bitten off- there is NEVER EVER a reason to hit your dog like that....EVER!

Cheyenne- you should carefully reconsider giving advice like that. I think that pretty much everyone around here knows better than that but I pity the fool who actually listens to you and gets bitten or scares their dog to death. That was really horrible advice to give.

That was NOT an advise just something that I did with my Rottweiler. I might not understand people, but I do know what dogs are thinking, especially Lord. He would NEVER bite me. All the newspaper did was show him that I was very displeased with him and he doesn't want me to be mad at him. Also Lord is not afraid of anything that I know of, certainly not a rolled up newspaper. lol He was about 100-110 lbs at the time.
I walked up to a rather vicious 1.5 year old Rottweiler tied up by the house on our street in order to return their escaped Lab one morning. That dog has never seen or met me and I was on his property. He wanted to bite me sooo badly, I could just see it his eyes and posture. He growled at his owner too when she came to get the Lab. I am not afraid of dogs at all, no matter what they are. I let him sniff my hands and etc. He wanted to bite me, but I never gave him a reason. I have been around a lot of large breeds like Rottweilers, all variations of "pit bulls", Preso Canaro's, Doberman's, German Shepards, etc. a lot of them I have caught running loose and return to owners and others I have dealt with when I was volunteering at the animal shelter. But the point is I seem to know what dogs are thinking and I guess I know how to behave around them.

[corgimom]

Cheyenne

I have to agree with Amanda and Cheetah,

First off, I would not put a growling dogs nose up to my face to correct it and secondly, I do not believe in smacking dogs with anything either.

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by Cheyenne60041

But the point is I seem to know what dogs are thinking and I guess I know how to behave around them.

Yea, right

Debbie

[glencorgi]

Jeni,

You did exactly the right thing and acted appropriately, just like Amanda said.

Debbie

[Chip's Mom]

Jeni:

In my personal opinion - you did absolutely right. Of course you know that My Chip is absolutely pawsitively perfect but the first time I tried to clip his nails, he growled at me and I thought it was funny. Well I created a pawsitively perfect monster. Every time I tried after that he growled. We now have that taken care of - my husband holds him on his lap and feeds him cookies and I clip his nails but it is not something I look forward to. I am always afraid I will clip them to short. You were very smart to nip this in the bud and your handling of the situation was awesome.

[Dillydoodle]

Jeni, You did the right thing. Dillon tried that with me one time, and I gave him a stren NO, the continued on with what i was doing. What i have done, is a foot grooming sesison once a week, and when it is all over, he gets a cookie...now he lets me do his nails, and toe hair without any concern at all, sometimes he nearly falls asleep while i clip. I think you did just fine and i agree with Amanda on this one.

As far as Cheyenne goes, I am once again in shock ( though i guess i shouldnt be) there is never EVER a reason to smack your dog, no matter the breed...I am horrifyied that you would think this is ok . if you hit him hard or not hard -no matter, it is still hitting. One day, your sweet dog might decide that he has had enough and bite you...and it will end up being YOUR fault not his. You are setting him up for failure...same as you are doing by allowing the bad behavior and biting by your corgi...very sad for them..

Emilie

[Jeni D]

Thanks guys! I will say that it caught me off guard when my sweet little Dudley showed me his big scary teeth, but I wasn't going to let him know that! I work with kids with emotional disturbances and on a daily basis they try to make me feel intimidated...so I'm a pro at not flinching

I would never try to "whack" Dudley into submission...seems really counter-productive and a good way to get bitten.

Just for curiosity...when you are trimming nails, do you have your dog standing up or laying down. I've seen it done both ways. We lay Dudley on his side, but he will immediately flop over onto his back. Maybe this is another reason he gets so uptight...I'm hovering over him with big scary utensils...I don't know, just trying to brainstorm ways so this doesn't happen again