How to Stop Dog Bites From Resource Guarding in Hollywood

For this LA dog training session we worked with four year-old Pomeranian Bowie; sharing a quick and easy way to stop dog bites in Hollywood

Bowie was surprisingly calm for our session. I’ve worked with the number of Pomeranians before and they usually are fairly animated and theatrical. One of Bowie’s guardians did mention that he seemed to be particularly well behaved for our visit and was showing a little bit of abnormal behavior

We took advantage of that and ran through a lot of fundamentals. We introduced a marker word, used hand targeting to practice using it as well as the benefits of repositioning a dog without physically touching them. Its also a great way to guage dog consent. And can help anyone whos goal is stopping dog bites.

Next I spent quite a bit of time discussing the importance of celebrating desired behaviors. This is probably one of the easiest dog behavior tricks I share with my clients and the one that’s probably the most often overlooked.

But rewarding dogs when they offer us the behaviors that we want, when we don’t ask for them, is super easy and incredibly impactful. I’m hoping that both guardians will go out of their way to start recognizing and rewarding Bowie when he offers them a sit, lay down, drop an object, go to the dog bed etc.

I also went over my manners lesson, shared some creative exercise tips like cookie in the corner and feeding out of a snuffle mat. Like many people, Bowie’s guardians are busy and don’t always have enough time to give him the exercise that he needs.

Just like kids, dogs who are under exercised or are bored are prone to get into trouble. I think that some of the behavior problems the humans were encountering were directly impacted by a lack of sufficient exercise

Because a top priority was to stop dog bites, we made sure to spend a lot of time going over dog cut off signals, consent, affirmation signals and body language.

Dogs don’t bite for no reason; either they’re protecting something or feel threatened. They almost always give a warning unless we catch them by surprise which I think happened in one of the dog bites.

Showing people what their dogs cut off signals is one of my favorite things to do because most people are unaware of how many things they do that their dog does not like or is scared of. I know that once the people understand what to look for, I’m making a huge quality of life difference for the dog.

I also went over the importance of incorporating some impulse control into daily activities by showing them how to play the game of fetch a little bit differently. I also recommended they start asking for a sit before petting Bowie or before he gets to do various activities like; being let out of his kennel, being invited up on the bed, before they put his leash or harness on, before they put his food down, before they open the door to the apartment, etc.

We also tackled Bowie’s jealousy. He would start to get upset, jump up or get agitated when his humans, held hands, hugged or decided to kiss. I ran through a counterconditioning exercise to help Bowie not feel jealous or left out when his humans embrace.

I always get a kick out of solving this problem because I’m directing people to kiss in a very progressive way so that the dog sees their acts of intimacy as an indicator it’s about to get a treat.

An Easy Way to Stop Dog Bites in Hollywood

After tackling the majority of the issues it was time to address Bowie’s potential guarding problem. The guardians wanted to stop dog bites when Bowie is under the bed.

Since I wasn’t there when Bowie bit his guardian while he was under the bed, I can only guess. But from the sounds of things I’m guessing Bowie was guarding his position under the bed or potentially had an object with him when she walked by and he lashed out and bit her.

I headed into the bedroom and handed my camera to one of the guardians so that I could show them an easy way to stop dog bites when the dog is under the bed. Stopping dog bites is all about making sure the dog feels heard when it communicates its uncomfortable or threatened.

If you have a dog who has nipped or bit someone, you should definitely check out the free positive dog training video posted below.

By recognizing the instant Bowie feels uncomfortable and then stopping, we can help him feel understood and heard. This is the first step in stopping dog bites.

By returning and stopping a little bit further away before tossing treats, we can help Bowie stop feeling the need to guard the location or object.

Due to the location, I would recommend the guardians get a security camera that they can put under their dresser across from the space to the bed. If they get a security camera that has a motion sensor activated, they should be able to get an alert as to when Bodie is going Under the bed.

When they get this notification, they can immediately test to see if Bowie is guarding. And if he is, use this technique to stop dog bites.

Dog behavior modification and training are simply a numbers game. The more often something happens and the dog is rewarded or gets what it wants, the more likely they are to offer the behavior. In this case, we want to reward Bowie for not biting. This seems a little bit odd, this is one of the best ways to stop dog bites.

The guardians had asked a tremendous number of questions throughout this in-home LA dog training session. While many were on stopping dog bites, there were quite a few other things that likely contributed to the bites. To make sure that they can remember them all, I recorded roadmap to success summary video that you can watch below.