My dog bit me last night due to reacting to a box cutter I was using... How can I help desensitize him?

[jazz2691]

He's 8 months old and mostly a very good boy, but he's developed a reactivity to anything we use with our hands e.g. wiping messes with paper towels, using a watering can, using a box cutter etc.

He would start barking aggressively and try to bite at it. we normally try and keep things away from him e.g. keep him inside when using watering can but he barks his head off.

Last night I used a box cutter and he bit me so hard it broke my skin. I tried to desensitize him this morning (

https://imgur.com/a/tkc8W14

) which seemed to be a good start...

That is until I introduced moving the box cutter blade slider, which makes a clicking sound, which made him completely berserk and almost bit me again trying to get to it. He was then too worked up for me to be able to teach him again, even picking it up from the table will get him worked up (

https://imgur.com/a/DfxtI7R

)

I'm probably doing this all wrong so would love advice on how to use everyday objects we hold with our hands so that he won't come running, barking and biting?

 

[jackieortiz1002]

@jazz2691 It is great that you were working on desensitizing!

I do not have any experience with this issue in particular, but you might even want to just get one session with a force-free trainer. It could even be via zoom.

Good luck with your dog! He is a cutie.

 

[jazz2691]

@jackieortiz1002 Thank you, I had a puppy school trainer that was very good and used positive reinforcement training - I might reach out to them as it's very hard to do any chores/housework without my puppy going ballistic.

 

[theadmiral]

@jazz2691 The only thing I can say that might help is that moving more slowly with the desensitizing might help. I.e. doing the first step across several training sessions and then introducing the item + new movement over several days, etc. You couldn't have known this at the time of course, but it seems like he was taking treats in the first item but was still uneasy about it, thus leading to the bite when you moved to the next movement. That's one of the downsides of food in these situations; it can help desensitize over time but may just be masking the true feelings in the moment.

Either way, I second the other user - this is I think an unusual, outsized reaction to common stimuli that a visit with a vet behaviorist is in order.

 

[jazz2691]

@theadmiral Thanks for the advice, will definitely try and slow down the desensitising process as he gets too worked up otherwise.

I hadn't t hought the behaviour was this bad until getting bitten, so I have just reached out to a dog trainer who I thought was great during our puppy pre-school (she only used positive reinforcement methods to train).

 

[jazz2691]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Thanks for the advice, I will definitely try and split the components out. It does seem like I went a step too far with adding the sound into the mix.