Does your dog show you his teeth when you try to groom him? (Photo: Pomeranian wearing a pink towel on her head. Owner is holding a comb.)
Does your dog show you his teeth when you’re trying to wipe his dirty paws?
Does he snap at you when you try to take a burr out of his fur?
Are you scared to brush him? Terrified of clipping his nails?
You’re not alone.
Here are a few things that will help you begin to unravel this lack of trust.
The first thing you need to check on is your dog’s health. Is he limping? Stiff and sore? Does he have an injury? Schedule a visit with your veterinarian to ensure that there’s no underlying health issue causing your dog to be guarded about certain areas of his body.
If you get a clean bill of health, and the veterinary team said handling him was no problem at all (no snapping, growling, or showing teeth,) then there is a high probability that the issue lies within your relationship with your dog. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you, or that you don’t love him. Right now, the issue is trust (and possibly respect as well.)
When your dog doesn’t trust you, activities like this are very difficult on both the dog and the owner (Photo: Golden Retriever getting a bath)
Make a list of any other times in the day when your dog shows you his teeth.
For many people, the list will include:
-when I ask him to get off the couch
-if he steals something (towel, cushion, slipper, sock, etc) and I try to get it back
-when I ask him to get off my bed
-when I walk past him when he’s eating
-if I walk near him when he has a bone or special chew treat
-if I need to move him out of my way and try to push past him
This is a great list to show your trainer. All of these issues need to be resolved, not just the grooming/handling piece of the puzzle. I shouldn’t have to mention this, but since one of my current clients recently had a “trainer” tell her to throw a bean bag full of metal bits near her dog to startle him out of growling at their cats and to carry Ziploc bags filled with water on her walks to stop leash reactivity (yes, to throw water on her dog), please find a trainer who will help you improve your relationship and build trust.
If you are truly nervous, worried, anxious, and/or scared at the thought of touching your dog’s paws, removing a burr from his fur, or brushing him, definitely work with a professional to help you over your fear. Schedule your free call with Beyond Dog Training by clicking the button below.
Things you can do in the meantime to build trust with your dog:
-wait for natural eye contact before going in and out of doors
-teach him something new (how to heel, a new trick, how to play fetch, how to lay down, the stay command, etc)
-work on his recall inside your home (keep a leash on so he can’t ignore you - reel him in if he tries to blow you off)
What about muzzle training?
Teaching your dog to love wearing a basket muzzle may help you feel more confident as you work on your grooming goals with your dog. The muzzle provides you with peace of mind that your dog can’t bite you, so that you can practice handling and grooming activities. If you’re nervous about muzzle training, work with a trainer/behaviourist who can teach you how to condition your dog to love wearing a muzzle.
Teaching your dog to love wearing a muzzle will help you, or a professional groomer to groom your dog. It will also reduce your dog’s stress. (Photo: black dog wearing an orange basket muzzle)
Is there anything you should stop doing which may be accidentally promoting mouthing/snapping behaviour?
If anyone in the family allows mouthing behaviour during play, stop that behaviour because it is working against your goal. Waving your hands around your dog’s face is not only teasing the dog, it’s teaching him that mouthing and snapping are what you like. When you go to wipe his paws, he’s mouthing and snapping. This is all connected. What you allow, you agree with. Stop allowing rough play and choose a game like tug of war that has rules (no biting human body parts and drop it when I say.) Your relationship with your dog will improve very quickly.
Are you confusing your dog? (Photo: a puppy biting his owner’s hand)
This blog post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning body language. Dogs are masters of reading body language. They don’t speak English. They are paying attention to the way our bodies move. One of my clients was struggling to wipe his new rescue dog’s paws. He said his dog would growl and snap at the towel and that he was afraid he was stressing him out too much. I asked my client to show me exactly how he wiped the dog’s paws. We didn’t use the dog because we didn’t want to set my client up for a growl or a bite in the face. This client was quite tall and he showed me how he would bend over at the waist to wipe his dog’s feet. Then, he would kneel down on the floor and lean over the dog to reach his back feet. Remember that when dogs show dominance to one another they put their head over the top of the other dog’s shoulders. My client was accidentally creating conflict between himself and his new rescue dog, when all he wanted to do was wipe his dog’s feet after a nice walk together.
The other thing we looked at was the small space where he wiped the dog’s paws — a 3 foot X 2 foot area with the back door on one side and a few stairs leading upstairs on the other. Some spaces are really cramped, so you need to be even more mindful of what your body language is saying and what your new rescue dog’s body language is saying too. We solved this by practicing wiping his dog’s paws in larger spaces (the front hall had way more room, as did the covered porch.) Once his dog trusted him (because they’d built a relationship over time,) he could wipe his dog’s paws in the tiny basement entrance without a problem.
Always be mindful of your own energy and body language (Photo: woman standing in a bathtub leaning over her Golden Retriever as she bathes him)
Relationships with dogs are built over time. If you accidentally taught your puppy not to trust you and he shows you his teeth, I would recommend working with a trainer who can help you repair that trust.
Prevention. Prevent this behaviour from developing with your dog by calmly handling your puppy every day when he’s young. When you introduce calm foot wiping as part of your daily routine as a puppy, you’ll raise an adult dog who will happily stand still to have his paws wiped.
We know how scary it can be when your dog shows you his teeth. If you’re nervous to try asking your dog to get off your couch or scared to brush him, schedule a free call with us. We’ve helped so many owners overcome this issue and go on to build amazing relationships with their dogs. You deserve to be next! Click the Take Action button and schedule your free call today.
Have a wonderful weekend, Dog Leaders!
Alyssa
Photos by: Hayffield L @hayffield (pomeranian wearing a pink towel on her head. Owner is holding a comb.); Autri Taheri @ataheri (Golden Retriever getting a bath); Annie Spratt @anniespratt (black dog wearing an orange basket muzzle); Upsplash Images (a puppy biting his owner’s hand,) Autri Taheri @ataheri (woman standing in a bathtub leaning over her Golden Retriever as she bathes him);