Advice Please: Rescue Female Jumping and Pinching

[HappyTails]

Hello,

My name is Shelley.  I live in Northern California. Recently my family (3 college sons, husband and me) adopted a Female Husky from a rescue.  She was found during the Northern California wildfires roaming alone, dehydrated, underweight, in heat, dirty and full of stickers. She was taken to an emergency shelter where pets were cared for until their owners could claim and care for them.  No one came forward for her. She was in the shelter just over a month.  As the shelter closed she was set to be placed in the County Animal Shelter. We were asked to foster and accepted the challenge. We officially adopted her in November.  She's scheduled ot be spayed December 23rd. She is probably two years old and the veterinarian suspected by her coloring and age that she was part of a litter of pups that was born in a shelter set up for fire rescues during Paradise/Camp fire that happened two years ago in the same area where she was found this year.  She's beautiful, intelligent and all things husky.  I feel like I'm way in over my head.  I'm lucky in a way that I'm unemployed due to the current pandemic so I have a lot of time to devote to helping her settle in. I was not prepared for how much work this would be. We have a friend who professionally trains high enery working dogs and has been helping us remotely via web calls. We also have had one in home training from a positive reinforcement trainer who lives and works in our town.  They will be more available after the holidays.  

I've been told that dogs that have been rescued don't show their true personalities until they've lived with you for at lest 3 months.  We are just past the two month mark.  Every day seems to be different than the last.  We just keep moving forward.  I see progress with her training most days, but somedays it's almost like everything she learned has just gone out the window. 

We walk at least a mile everyday.  Usually we walk for two miles which takes about an hour.  She gets obedience training throughout the day, as well as time to roam our fenced backyard.  She's miraculously crate trained and sleeps by her own choice in her crate most night.  We have cats, but they live in a different zone of our house than she does, as she sees every thing that moves as a play thing, and doesn't currently pick up on other animals "don't bother me" signals.  I get that confusion with the cats, as cats who see her make lots of noise, puff up and eventually run, which looks like an invitation to chase I'm sure.  She also seems clueless about what our old dog (Schnauzer/Poodle male aged 13 or 14 also rescued) is saying when he doesn't want to play.  His signals, like ignoring her, grumbling or walking away just get her to push, or pull at him more. . She has recently learned leave-it so I can call her off of bothering him.  

 

The habit I most want to break is her new habit of jumping up on me and pinching my arm with her mouth when she's over excited or frustrated.  This is really recent. Today it happened when we were on leash and she wanted to go forward and pester a dog that was walking about 50 yards up the road from us. and again when I was bouncing and catching a tennis ball to see if she might gain interest in it.  When she jumps up she crosses her front feet over my arm and clings.  I say "off" and hold till she gets down.  That was working and she was jumping less and less.  Then a few days she switched up to jumping up and pinching my arm with her mouth or pulling at my jacket.  It makes me furious.  I keep my cool, but say "NO" to the bite and have been able to grasp her snout and get her unlatched from me.  the last two times the event has settled more quickly than the previous interactions.  None-the-less, I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing.  Once she's down I praise her.  I've discovered that I have to praise her calmly or she jumps again.  I'd really appreciate advice. Thank you Shelley

[wolfpup]

I hope some of the more experienced owners will be able to suggest something for you.        The only thing that I have found that worked  was yelping loudly (like a litter mate would) whenever I felt teeth on my skin,  turning away, refusing to play/pet/whatever was happening at the time,  walking away  and leaving the dog on its own for a minute or two.   One of your dog trainer friends should be able to suggest other things.

One of my boys is an air-head  (giddy and excitable) and I am constantly correcting him for jumping up  -  I tried everything with him  and the only thing that works (IF I see it coming)  is to put my hand out flat above his head so if he jumps my hand is there to push him down.

 

[HappyTails]

Thank you so much.  I just used the yelping idea and it worked.  She was starting to "pinch' me to pull me toward something she wanted. I yelped an she looked confused but let go.    I like the idea of laying my hand out, if I see it coming. She also jumps and grasps with her teeth out of frustration.  Today we had far fewer of these events.  I've used a f rim no and placed my hand over her muzzle to unlatch her.  Then once she's on the floor I've said "sit" as she settles I praise her and she seems to snap out of hte frustration. Today was pretty good.  We've stayed calm, taken a mile walk, and had very short training sessions, with lost of soothing talk.  I also noticed that her worst behaviour comes just before she falls asleep,  (just like my kids when they were toddlers) so today, I kept an eye on her for tiredness and crated her for two short naps.  I was surpised at how quickly she fell asleep. We are always home due to California shelter in place order, so I just opened the crate so she could wander out when she woke up.  She ejoys the sanctuary of her crate and actually crated herself for bed time tonight. I'm finding that she really needs a predictable routine. I feel like a goof ball when I tell my kids to quiet down because the dog needs a nap, but it worked today, so we'll try it again tomorrow.  Thanks again for the advice.  I 'm glad y'all are here.

Shelley  

[HappyTails]

Hi  Thank you for the advice.  I started putting my hand out and stepping back and though the side. Which has made me less of a target for her jumps.  We also consulted with our friend/trainer, and figured out that some of her jumps are rude greetings and others are from frustration.  Often the jumping happens on leash when she wants to go one way but I'm taking us another. I've got her to stop jumping for the most part. Now she just sits down to protest the fact that she's not in charge. That I can deal with. Treats, games, and something fun to do in the direction I want to go and we're off.   The  greeting behavior has been solved too.  So all is good.

Thanks Shelley