Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hey all, Koda hurt himself pretty bad and I'm trying to see what is going on. He ran away from me so it can't be too bad(no broken bones). While getting ready for work this morning, I went to check it a second time. I noticed that his dew claw was cracked and the wick was showing. Not only that I noticed two of his paw nails were cracked as well. I didn't expect it but he went right to my face and punctured my lip. Needless to say it was not a good morning and I did not take that lightly. I know he's hurting bad but what was with the bite? Usually he growls when I try and put some treatment on it or super glue.. although that is typically just one nail. Is he in so much pain that he wants to be left alone(which as a owner I just want to make sure it was not serious)? I'm still furious over the whole incident so he's not getting anymore fun time for a couple days.

Has this happen to anyone else? Hopefully this doesn't happen again, he usually learns really quick whats right and whats wrong.

Ignoring him or removing fun time for days isn't going to fix it. He won't remember what you're mad about for very long and might equate your distance with his pain and get even more confused.

Times like these are why I stress the importance of muzzle training. Conditioning a dog to associate positive things with a muzzle during low stress times will make it much easier to safely look at injuries or apply first aid when needed. All of the signs were there that your dog was going to bite, yet you pushed past them. A growl is a bite warning while it usually doesn't escalate to a bite with most dogs with good bite inhibition, if you escalate the cause of the growl, it will. If your dog is growling every time you look at 1 nail, this incident sounds much worse and would obviously have worse consequences to you because you don't listen to growling and the dog wants it stopped.

I would work on the muzzle training for management during emergencies and then work the dog to positively associate your touch and exam to mean great things so that it's not a stressful thing when you want to take a look.

I have successfully muzzle-trained and it has been a wonderful experience for dogs and me. All I have to do is put my hand on the muzzle and heads go in without a command and before I barely have it lowered. I will be candid, however, and mention that some of your posts in the past have led me to think that you may take a macho or bully approach with your dog(s). It's probably just how you express yourself (and you don't regularly post), so if I am misreading you, and I'm taking it the wrong way, my sincerest apologies...otherwise, the bite is likely indicative of something other than you touching a sore spot. Again, I apologize if I have misread you.

Good replies above already. I'd just like to add that you don't seem to be looking at this from the dog's point of view. The dog is hurting. His instinct is to hide the injury so that other members of the pack don't see his weakness. You come along to focus on the injury and make it feel worse by poking and prodding. He probably doesn't know you're trying to help. He's going to react to the pain regardless of your intent.

Getting furious and emotional about the bite is not going to help matters. He will certainly sense your fear of future bites, and he will exploit that power over you in subtle ways to compensate for his injury weakness. First priority is to get the injury properly attended to with the least stress for him. Second, find and remove the cause, if possible. Third, and just as important, work on some training and communication between you two. The relationship can be really amazing when communication works, but when it doesn't it can spiral out of control horribly.