Grabbing on and not letting Go!!!

[GreenleafGreyhound]

An American Foxhound at the animal shelter I volunteer with is biting like the devil! The shelter is completely Positive Reinforcement, so I did the "fold arms and turn back on the dog" trick. WELL, Ashley (10-month-old Foxhound) went to my front and leaped at least a foot and grabbed onto my forearm and hung on for dear life. She was the Foxhound equivalent of a Schutzhund trained GSD. Then she starts grinding her teeth into me, but falls off. I'm still trying to think of what to do when she leaps again and grabs onto my shoulder. I'm just scared to death now, so I leave the kennel. :shiver: Her sister has been adopted. She's still here and I suspect she was bounced back because she was gone for a week, but now she's back. I understand she's still a puppy (10 months), but I need tips on how to control her.

[Cassiepeia]

I'm all for positive reinforcment when training a dog, but I also absolutely believe in a good firm and growly "No!", when they do something wrong (something as physical as this, I mean), perhaps you could try that (if you haven't already) along with crossing your arms and turning your back. Also, it might help to get the dog out for some basic obedience. Perhaps on a halti collar, to control it's jumping. It may be that the dog was seperated quite early from its mother and hasn't learned not to behave like this... or it could be a dominance thing. Either way I think the training (with the halti or head collar) could help.
You might like to do a search on google (or what ever search engine you use) for some training tips for aggressive and/or dominant dogs. Foxhound sites might have info too.
Hope that helped a little.

Cass.

[GreenleafGreyhound]

*weak smile* Ahhh, but I have tried NO + cross my arms and walk up to a corner. All I get is a hyperactive dog jumping and clawing at my back, determined to grip on my shoulder. I've also tried slipping a thumb through her collar trying to keep her four paws on the floor. She just gets excited the more I try to restrain her.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid she'd snap her neck on a halti. Once she gets excited, she hops around with no self esteem. It's just boing-boing-boing once she sees me open that lock to enter the kennel. I do try to enter when all four paws on the ground, but she's outsmarted me. She stands very still when I enter but goes off like a bomb once I'm in the kennel. Thanks for replying

[Cassiepeia]

You should probably get a vet or a dog behaviourist to take a look at her. She sounds like she has something else going on with her.
Good luck anyway.

Cass.

[GreenleafGreyhound]

There's a behaviorist at the shelter. I guess it's just because she's Foxhound+selective hearing+she's a puppy+she doesn't get enough exercise. Her sister got adopted, so Ashley should, too. I'll have to tell the walkers to exercise her off lead more often...