Dog Aggression or Just Testing?

[ShihTzuLover62]

Hi everybody, I was just wondering if any of you have ever come across a dog who grabbed your arm and then held it in his mouth waiting to see what you would do? I have had this happen so many times and I feel that the dog is just checking me out to see if I am friend or foe. People think I am crazy to let the dog grab my arm or hand, but I tell them that the dog is just checking me out to see how I will react. I usually let them hold my arm for a minute or so then ask if I can have it back, but I am sure most people would probably pull away real quick, which excites the dog and then the dog goes on the offense and bites them. I feel most dogs don't want to bite, but due to past experience with other people, they can feel threatened and therefore they are not sure wether they can trust someone they don't know. Anyone else have any comments on this subject?

[homelessdog]

I don't think that's dog aggression. One of my favorite dogs at the shelter does that. I call it mouthing, and it tickles. I pull away and tell him no. I don't think they're testing you though. It's just a behavior they learned as a puppy and were never trained out of it.

[YorkieLover]

This is a good question because one of our older yorkie boys (Houdini) is nipping at me when I put him in his crate. He doesn't bite hard enough to hurt you, so I think he is just letting me know he doesn't want to be in there. I'm trying to figure out a better way to get them both in the crate at the same time without him getting me when I pull my hand out.

[homelessdog]

YorkieLover, would he go in the crate after a yummy treat? When I have a dog at the shelter that doesn't want to be crated, sometimes it works to toss a hot dog bite towards the back of the crate and then they go in after it. Of course with crate training you want them to eventually like being in the crate enough that they'll go in there on their own without trickery. Nipping is different from mouthing. When they mouth you, they just hold their mouth on your arm or hand. Nipping it's a quick almost bite, as a warning or to tell you they're mad.

[YorkieLover]

He is definitely nipping so I guess he is mad.. LOL Well today at lunch I tried enticing him with a treat to get him to go in, it didn't work.. So I figured I would give it to him and while he was chewing on it I could put him in and get my hand out while he was chewing on the treat, well..... he just completely turned his nose up to the treat. So... I put him in and then Myles so Myles would be between us and Myles went flying out of the crate, I closed Houdini in went after Myles, came back to put Myles in and as soon as I opened the door Houdini ran out.... After I got him in I was exhausted... LOL It's only been 3 weeks so I'm hoping it gets better...