Thanks everyone for so many replies. I didn't mean to be so offensive last time, but on the other hand I want to be free to say what I'm thinking when I go on here, and I'd be lying if I said there weren't times when I question how much the forum has helped. At the moment I'm feeling like there are a lot of people out there who want to help me so it couldn't hurt to listen to them.
One thing I want to point out though is that up until the point where my dog snapped at me, I did very little but follow the advice I got on this forum. I was feeding him in small portions in a bowl, with my hand on him, in silence, and waiting for him to look at me each time before giving him more food. When I left for my trip I instructed my friend to just put his food down and leave him alone. He did this except also enforced a stay command. When I got back from my trip, the dog was sick and on a special diet. I waited until about a week after he'd returned to his usual diet before reinstating the training, and did the same thing as before. One problem is that sometimes as I was rushing out and running late, I did not have time for his feeding routing, and so I would just put down a bowl and make him stay for it, then leave. This is an example of one thing that might be an issue. Sometimes I need to do things like that. I work full time and go to school full time and most days if I sleep for longer than 6 hours I have to skip the shower. I'm not trying to be off-putting if I say I don't have time to read any books. But my fiancee would probably want to read it, so I'll mention it to her.
So maybe the following was my error, but it is certainly not obvious that it would be such a bad move. Sometimes when I put the bowl down for him, I would be passing by and he would growl at me. Usually not, but if he did I would take the bowl and make him sit and stay again, then give it back. Usually it was successful and even ended the growling. But a couple of times he snapped at me. That's when I did the muzzle-holding business. I learned the muzzle-holding method from Guiding Eyes for the Blind, by the way, back around 1996. I know that there have been a lot of changes in dog training philosophy since then, but doing this is not such a barbaric alpha-male activity. It's not called for to tell me I'm doing it for my own sick pleasure of overpowering my dog. Maybe Freud would think that was in there somewhere if we wanted to turn this into a psychoanalysis session, but my point is it's something I learned from a dog trainer. I'm sure it must have worked in some situations to have been used for long enough for Guiding Eyes for the Blind to adopt it as a regular technique.
Anyway, I'm open to suggestions. But keep in mind that almost everyone on here is a dog-expert and the way you talk sometimes you're alienating your audience. I don't know. That's why I'm here. If I thought I knew everything about this crap I wouldn't be on here.
What I have done since the couple of biting episodes is I've made all meal times exclusively hand-feedings. I feed him big hand fulls so he doesn't have to feel restricted about his pace of eating, and I wait for him to look at me after each one before giving another. He has no problem looking right away since my fiancee taught him the look command (I don't have to say it either). I've been late for work a few times because I think it's important we do this consistently. He's made significant improvements in not being nervous and eventually even being excited about mealtimes.
My fiancee has been reading books about dog training. One of them says that a food-aggressive dog should be exclusively hand fed, and that it's important the dog learn that all its resources come strictly from the owner.
So I'll read any recommendations. However my ongoing criticism may be the main source of the whole problem here: there is never any advice about what to do DURING a time when a dog is attacking you, whether it's a mild attack or serious attack. The only response so far is to suggest that my dog bit me because I had touched the same sensitive area that made him bite the vet. Look. I was there. I wasn't touching the fella at all. My growing suspicion is that many people who handle a lot of dogs are in the habit of putting a dog down quickly after something like this happens, and that this is the reason for the silence. I am not of the opinion that my dog needs to be put down, at least the way he his now - he definitely has a chance at improving, and is sociable in every other way. So accepting that this is not my solution at the moment, what would you recommend. I know, obviously, we try to avoid having a bite ever happen. But let's say you're doing your usual routine, and suddenly for some reason the dog gets too nervous and bites you. What do you do? Provided you're capable of not freaking out and panicking, what do you do?
One thing I want to point out though is that up until the point where my dog snapped at me, I did very little but follow the advice I got on this forum. I was feeding him in small portions in a bowl, with my hand on him, in silence, and waiting for him to look at me each time before giving him more food. When I left for my trip I instructed my friend to just put his food down and leave him alone. He did this except also enforced a stay command. When I got back from my trip, the dog was sick and on a special diet. I waited until about a week after he'd returned to his usual diet before reinstating the training, and did the same thing as before. One problem is that sometimes as I was rushing out and running late, I did not have time for his feeding routing, and so I would just put down a bowl and make him stay for it, then leave. This is an example of one thing that might be an issue. Sometimes I need to do things like that. I work full time and go to school full time and most days if I sleep for longer than 6 hours I have to skip the shower. I'm not trying to be off-putting if I say I don't have time to read any books. But my fiancee would probably want to read it, so I'll mention it to her.
So maybe the following was my error, but it is certainly not obvious that it would be such a bad move. Sometimes when I put the bowl down for him, I would be passing by and he would growl at me. Usually not, but if he did I would take the bowl and make him sit and stay again, then give it back. Usually it was successful and even ended the growling. But a couple of times he snapped at me. That's when I did the muzzle-holding business. I learned the muzzle-holding method from Guiding Eyes for the Blind, by the way, back around 1996. I know that there have been a lot of changes in dog training philosophy since then, but doing this is not such a barbaric alpha-male activity. It's not called for to tell me I'm doing it for my own sick pleasure of overpowering my dog. Maybe Freud would think that was in there somewhere if we wanted to turn this into a psychoanalysis session, but my point is it's something I learned from a dog trainer. I'm sure it must have worked in some situations to have been used for long enough for Guiding Eyes for the Blind to adopt it as a regular technique.
Anyway, I'm open to suggestions. But keep in mind that almost everyone on here is a dog-expert and the way you talk sometimes you're alienating your audience. I don't know. That's why I'm here. If I thought I knew everything about this crap I wouldn't be on here.
What I have done since the couple of biting episodes is I've made all meal times exclusively hand-feedings. I feed him big hand fulls so he doesn't have to feel restricted about his pace of eating, and I wait for him to look at me after each one before giving another. He has no problem looking right away since my fiancee taught him the look command (I don't have to say it either). I've been late for work a few times because I think it's important we do this consistently. He's made significant improvements in not being nervous and eventually even being excited about mealtimes.
My fiancee has been reading books about dog training. One of them says that a food-aggressive dog should be exclusively hand fed, and that it's important the dog learn that all its resources come strictly from the owner.
So I'll read any recommendations. However my ongoing criticism may be the main source of the whole problem here: there is never any advice about what to do DURING a time when a dog is attacking you, whether it's a mild attack or serious attack. The only response so far is to suggest that my dog bit me because I had touched the same sensitive area that made him bite the vet. Look. I was there. I wasn't touching the fella at all. My growing suspicion is that many people who handle a lot of dogs are in the habit of putting a dog down quickly after something like this happens, and that this is the reason for the silence. I am not of the opinion that my dog needs to be put down, at least the way he his now - he definitely has a chance at improving, and is sociable in every other way. So accepting that this is not my solution at the moment, what would you recommend. I know, obviously, we try to avoid having a bite ever happen. But let's say you're doing your usual routine, and suddenly for some reason the dog gets too nervous and bites you. What do you do? Provided you're capable of not freaking out and panicking, what do you do?
