When a dog snaps

worth remembering its NOT always the dogs fault

Thought I would share this as all to often I hear people say ''my dog snapped at me or the children we are getting rid or should I re-home him/her''

2 weeks ago Mojo was lying on the chair, I bent down to pick something up when I was lucky enough to just get a glimpse of her body change, before she flew at my face, teeth bared and in full flight. I won't pretend it was not a shock but I caught her before she made contact.
She has never done anything like that before and I did get her checked over in case she was in pain or there was something going on. The Vet found nothing obvious but different people have said ''typical JRT I wouldn't have it near the kids''

Working on the theory that 1) this seemed out of character
2) She actually stiffened and seemed to be protecting herself
and 3) I want to know ''why''

I have spent several days watching her and the other dogs with her, seeing as nothing seemed to be happening in the pack, I decided to ''watch'' further afield well it paid off I found my foster son tormenting her when he thought no-one was around by learning over her and blowing in her face, which was winding her up. I watched through the crack of the door as Mojo moved to get away but she was growling......... then I POUNCED that mde him jump I can tell you

His education/manners/training has gone back to basic ....glad to report his house training is coming on well ......and Mojo is as happy as larry

Just thought I would share that info just incase anyone out there has similar happen

Glad you got to the bottom of it! There's always a reason I think, didn't sound like Mojo! It's good you managed to catch him and re-educate him! Would he have done the same to the collies? Or is it because she's small?

Well spotted, Miss Marple.

Excellent post

Well done you, for catching your step son out and protecting your dog!!!

Im thinking its because she is small TBH maybe he saw her as a toy, the collies would of grassed him up if it was them Bruce ''tells'' on things when he;s upset
Thanks Claire, Im glad for Mojo sake that I caught him, as I told him...Mojo has feeling TOO so don;t push it
He's our foster son he's been with us 3 years so its easy to think he should know better, but just shows we shouldn't take things for granted, and if he does it again and he makes me choose between him and one of my dogs....it will be bye bye to him Im afraid because this is the dogs home

What age is he Steph? It might be an "age" thing

Some years ago i caught my nephew doing exact same thing to Katie (hes 16 now). I stopped him immediately. He was nonpulsed & said he did it to their own dog (staffy x) & he loved it. I said fair enough but he wasnt to do it to ours, as i didnt like it. Can you imagine if a Boxer had snapped! I would be 100% & say they wouldnt, but why take the chance

My mum said to me afterwards, she was glad i had stopped him as she didnt like him doing it either

Glad you got to root of your problem!

if a dog bites,or snaps,its usually given warnings before..or shown behavior that it might...its very rare that a dog of good tempermant suddenly bites!....seems you knew this...fair play to you.

great post and so glad you got to the bottom of this
You are so right, a dog never just snaps out of nowhere, if its out of character then there is a reason

I cant imagine just getting rid of a dog with a great temprament if he snaps once - people are too knee jerk and think dogs should put up with everything and never grumble

I remember when I was a kid and went to my mum and great aunt (whos dog it was) and told them she had bit me

They asked me what I had done

and as it turns out the dog had just totaly got fed up of my obsessive patting (I loved dogs ) and she had just held my hand in her mouth - not a bite at all just a gentle clever dog

I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago with my Poppy and a 13yr old Foster boy. He'd only been in a year and 6 months of that was a constant battle to keep Poppy safe. I had to keep her with me at all times even when I had a wee / bath etc Tried allsorts to stop him teasing her but he'd realised it was one of the few ways to 'get' at me - as they do - So it was bye bye to him. But I'm not having anyone treat my dogs that way.

He'll be 13 December,there is alot of history pointing to Learnt Behaviour from him. I think in past times when he has tormented he's been laughed at, here he knows he would be reprimanded so I think the idea of being sneaky when he got an quick opportunity was all to much a good chance to miss, when I caught him Mojo was on the chair and he walked past bending slightly and blew......she moved, so he quickly glanced round and did it a second time...only I POUNCED
Well mine are assessed to be with Foster Children, Mojo being terrier has had a firmer boundry so I don't want him spoiling it for her, I have reported it so her assessment has been put back a while due to FS's behaviour which is the best result IMO
Yes Foster son could be obsessive with the patting/ as I call it mauling but thats been stopped.
I know what you mean, about 'getting' to you had a few that spotted the ''button to wind her up'' here in the past but I have been lucky enough to nip it in the bud...all except one and he had to go sad to say