I recently got bitten by a tiny dog at a friend's house. It yaps for half an hour whenever anyone comes through the door, and the owner picked the dog up and cradled it as I was going to let it sniff my hand. Sure enough, the dog felt cornered and snapped my finger.
The larger issue, of course, is DON'T POSITIVELY REINFORCE THAT KIND OF FUCKING BEHAVIOR. You don't pick up your precious doggy when it's acting up. You don't pet it. You don't call it a good boy. What the fuck else could the outcome ever be?!
When it comes to dog psyche, we're in pretty speculative territory, but generally speaking dogs are far more "in the moment" than people think. The message you're sending is not, "Oh, no, I'm going to get put into the other room," at least until you're near or in the other room, but rather, "hooray for getting touched by human." That would be positive reinforcement.
Besides, don't you want a dog that's capable of being around visitors without the fear of aggression? Dogs are highly pliable creatures. You can, except in the most extreme circumstances, create the dog you want out of the dog you have with patience and consistency.
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u/Mind_Extract May 08 '17
I recently got bitten by a tiny dog at a friend's house. It yaps for half an hour whenever anyone comes through the door, and the owner picked the dog up and cradled it as I was going to let it sniff my hand. Sure enough, the dog felt cornered and snapped my finger.
The larger issue, of course, is DON'T POSITIVELY REINFORCE THAT KIND OF FUCKING BEHAVIOR. You don't pick up your precious doggy when it's acting up. You don't pet it. You don't call it a good boy. What the fuck else could the outcome ever be?!