We have Zeus, a Jack Russell Terrier since when he was 3 months old. He pretty well behaved until he had neuter operation (6-month old). I noticed that he didn't want us to touch him after the operation. When my hand got closer to him, he became aggressive. We couldn't touch/hold him the way that it used to be. I tried to train him to accept my hand and touching. However, it still doesn't turn out the way I want. When Zeus comes to snuggle with us in the sofa, he wouldn't let us to touch his body with our hands. He would growl and snap sometimes. When he slept on my feet, he might growl and try to bite my feet if I moved or turned. He konws it's not right to growl or bite, but he just couldn't help it. It seems that he couldn't trust hands on him. I could lay arm/leg on his body when snuggling, but not hand! I never asked the vet. It may not be related to the operation at all..... Any advice to train him will be appreciated!

hey, Fi!
unfortunately, 12-Wo is the very end of the primary-socialization period. Did U get him from a breeder,
& did he live in the house with the family, his dam & his litter? Or did he live in a kennel, a barn, or a pen?
did he come from a shelter? was he born there, or living with a litter? or was he found stray, or surrendered?

it sounds as tho he was not well-socialized as a puppy; unfortunately we cannot change that past, it is
what it is - & the window of socialization has closed, BUT we can teach him ways to cope & relax about touch.

the first thing i'd suggest is teach him to TARGET. that way he does the touching - U are touched.
this builds his confidence & then touch becomes less scary. this is only step-One, but it's a valuable step.

- get a clicker OR choose another marker: a small LED flashlight, a bottle or jar cap with a vacuum-dome
that can be popped [hold the lid flat on one palm, press firmly on the dome with the thumb of the other hand],
a loudly-clicking ballpoint pen... anything.

CHARGE The marker: make it work [click, flash, squeak... whatever it does] and immediately give a treat.
for simplicity i'll use * as my MARKER [click, flash, beep...]. So what do we do?

*, treat; *, treat, *, treat, *, treat... 5 or 6 times, take a break. we're teaching the pup * = 'treat coming!'
the marker predicts a treat or other reward - soon it will mean 'that's RIGHT! yes!'

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‪Attention: Hand Targeting‬‏ - YouTube

‪Petey learning to target a post it note with his paw (shaping)‬‏ - YouTube

a series with a Sheltie pup
1 - very beginner version; both human & puppy uncertain
‪Clicker Training of "Target" 1‬‏ - YouTube

2 - much better!
‪Clicker Training of "Target" 2‬‏ - YouTube

3 - smaller target, better training
‪Clicker Training of "Target" 3‬‏ - YouTube

4 - getting quite polished
‪Clicker Training of "Target" 4‬‏ - YouTube

5 - small size becomes challenging
‪Clicker Training of "Target" 5‬‏ - YouTube

7 - ooh, tough to do!
‪Clicker Training of "Target" 7‬‏ - YouTube

once he understands that the marker predicts a good thing, & means 'yes! that's what i want',
he can learn anything - & targeting the palm or back of a stranger's hand is safer & easier
by far than asking him to stand still while a stranger approaches => him! & tries to pet him.
this way, he ==> goes to the stranger & touches THEM, then U give him a treat for coming to U,
away from the stranger.

for now, he can go from person to person in the household - then when it's well-practiced,
go a quiet place & do some target-training outside, or invite friends or family to Ur house.

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terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

Sorry. I'd like to add more information. Zeus accepts touching him when he is awake. He aceepts strangers touching him outside, actually. As long as your hand moves on his body, it's Okay. But, you can not lay your hand on his body and not moving. He would get very neveous for that. However, He becomes aggressive (growl or snap) for even a very brief touching when he is sleeping..

So he was ok before he went to the vets and now he's different after the vets. Seems like something may have occured at the vets. Might be worth asking.

Maybe he is in pain and keeping your hand in one place increases the pressure?

If have understood correctly when awake and alert, you can use stroking movements and he is quite happy to accept it. But if you actually just put your hand on him motionless or try to hold him which means your hands are still in one position he becomes agressive. If this is correct and this has all occured after he was in the vets for neutering then my best guess would be he could now have an association with being restrained or held and something unpleasant or frightening happening.

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simple solution: Don't touch him when he's sleeping.

there is a reason for the saying, 'Let sleeping dogs lie.'
it means don't trouble them, leave them ALONE; a dog's bite-inhibition is only 'on' when they're awake,
messing with a sleeping or especially a dreaming dog is a wonderful way to be very-badly bitten.

besides which, it's an invasion of the dog's personal space & a violation of trust - they lie-down to sleep
in our presence with the assumption that we will watch out for them [as they do for us], & not worry them -
dogs don't normally JUMP-ONTO a sleeping person; jump-up beside them or onto the foot of the bed/sofa, yes.
but not ON the person - unless it's puppy-rudeness.

it's startling to be touched while sleeping, it makes getting back to sleep difficult because it's
startling & adrenaline is running thru us like electricity, it scares the bejabbers out of us - or dogs.
we don't usually wake someone by touching them unless it's an emergency; we call them, by name or otherwise.

please STOP doing that; if U need to wake the dog for a good reason, call the puppy's name quietly.
otherwise for DoG's sake, let him sleep & don't interrupt his sleep.
especially if he's dreaming! if he's twitching, shivers, whines, his feet are moving, his EYES move
back & forth under closed eyelids, he's DREAMING - don't interrupt. Dreams are part of the memory's work
of consolidating emotional events & new learning; interrupting dreams leaves holes in memory that can't be fixed.

__________________
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

I was thinking the same thing. as they hold animale to give the injections ect so associates pain with still hands. you doing it when hes asleep is probable startiling him, but depends on the vet if he will tell you if there was any problems. this is going off the subject completely but may shed a bit of light (bere with me i ramble a bit). i had to go the dentist when i was about 9. (army dentist) was told had to have a filling taken out and renewed. well he gave me the jab and left me to long. anistetic war off and e was drilling into my nerv. my mum was locked out the room and i was held down by the nurse. didnt go back to dentist till i was 18. maybe something like that had happened. not saying thats whats happened but worth thinking about.:

They probably held him down at the vet and that is what is scaring him. Dogs usually become aggressive when they are scared.

Agree

You should never disturb a dog whilst he is sleeping. You wouldn't like it if someone came pawing at you while you were in a nice deep sleep, neither does he.

As said, leave him alone while he is sleeping and you won't have a problem.

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Its very true if they are shocked awake they can defensively react and snap and snarl. I do it too, if my family want to wake me up if I fall asleep on the sofa, they stand down the other end of the room and throw cushions and yell (Dont do this to the dog btw) so they are out of range. Sometimes they just leave me be. Ive actually woke up and punched OH on occasion. So people can be like it too. Sometimes we expect too much from our dogs and forget they have natural instincts and reactions. (Perhaps Im just an Old dog at heart)

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