Reasons why your dog won’t let you touch its legs
Below are a number of possible causes and what would make them more likely to be the main cause.
The cause could be that it has injured its legs and it does not want you to touch its legs because it hurts. This would be more likely if your dog has started doing it suddenly and it has been showing other signs of being injured such as limping. In this case, it would help to take it to a vet.
Another possible cause is that it becomes anxious because it does not know what you are doing. This would be more likely if your dog shows other signs of being anxious such as hiding its tail, moving away from you and making itself appear smaller.
The cause could also be that someone mistreated it in the past, causing it to not like allowing people to touch its legs anymore. This would be more likely if you adopted it as an adult.
It might also be the case that you hurt its legs when you touched it before and now it does not want you to touch it again. This would be more likely if it stopped letting you touch its legs suddenly after you hurt it.
The cause could also be that it becomes intimidated. It might be intimidated because of the way you approach it, how loud you are or how aggressively you touch its legs. Instead, it would help to be gentle with it and to be calm around it.
Some dogs just do not like being touched and it could be the case that yours does not like it naturally. This would be more likely if it has always not wanted you to touch its legs and if it does not like it when you touch it in other areas as well.
Below are some things to consider when figuring out the main reason why your dog has been doing it.
If your dog did let you touch its legs before, it would help to consider what else happened when it stopped letting you touch them. If it stopped letting you touch them suddenly, it could be because it injured its legs or because you hurt it when you touched its legs.
If your dog does let you touch its legs sometimes, it would help to consider what is different when it does let you touch its legs. For example, if it does not let you do it when you approach it in a certain way, it might be because it is intimidated.
It would also help to consider how old your dog is. If it is a puppy, it would be more likely that it does it due to being intimidated or not understanding what you are doing. Whereas, if it is an adult, it would be more likely to be due to past experiences.
Conditioning a dog to not pull away or bite when you touch their paws can be extremely difficult. Trying to do so yourself can be frustrating and could possibly result in you getting bitten. Calling a dog behaviorist near Fredericksburg VA is an investment, but it’s one that can reduce struggles that you and your dog have or could have. One of the most heart-wrenching things is when a dog bites its owner or, worse, someone else. Biting someone else can lead to legal issues and the dog being put down.
Since all of these tasks require a dog to use its paws, its no wonder that they can be so sensitive to being touched. However, being able to effectively touch your dog’s paws without having to tussle with them is a must. You may need to look into hiring a dog behaviorist near Fredericksburg VA to help your dog overcome the fear they have over someone touching their paws. In fact, utilizing dog training Spotsylvania Va dog owners trust with the well-being of their pets can be an effective move for you and your sweet pooch.
A dog behaviorist near Fredericksburg VA might also use these same techniques to guide your dog to a more submissive attitude when it comes to touching his paws. It’s important to get to the root of why the dog doesn’t want his or her paws touched.
Our hands are filled with nerve endings. The same goes for our dog’s paws. Dogs use their paws for a number of tasks that benefit their everyday life such as:
So why does your dog not want their paws touched? It’s not necessarily anything that you’ve done wrong. Paws are sensitive and give the dog a lot of information about their environment. That sensitivity triggers the dog’s instinct to protect themselves. It’s also possible that the dog has had a bad nail trimming experience or one of their paws was hurt at some point.
Classical Operant Conditioning in Dog Training
A negative reaction to being touched is usually a classically conditioned response. With classical conditioning, the environment acts on the dog. That is, the dog’s brain contains a pre-programmed message that says, “Touch is BAD!” – and when the dog feels your touch he reacts, without stopping to think. The negative message could be a result of harsh handling and punishment, pain from a prior injury, or simply a lack of adequate handling and socialization when he was a pup.
This is very different from operant conditioning, where the dog acts on the environment. For example, if you say, “Sit!” the dog thinks, “Ah, I know what that means – if I put my bottom on the ground I might get a cookie!” and so he chooses to sit in order to make a good thing happen. When your dog reacts to your touch with distaste, perhaps even aggression, he’s not choosing to react that way, it just happens, thanks to that pre-programmed message in his brain.
The most effective and successful way to change your dog’s response to your touch is through counter-conditioning, which reprograms the message at a low level of stimulus that he can at least tolerate – perhaps briefly and softly touching his head. Then we use desensitization to help him accept the touching at gradually increasing levels of intensity – touching more of his body, or touching with more pressure, or for longer periods of time.
It’s almost magical to watch an effective CC&D program in progress. Some behavior changes I’ve seen as a result of this kind of behavior modification have been nothing short of miraculous, such as one family’s Chow mix and newly adopted Chow who wanted to tear each other to shreds, but became fast friends within three weeks when the owners implemented a CC&D program.
Perhaps your dog will tolerate a light touch on the top of his head, and a gentle scratch under his chin, but he becomes very tense if you do more than that, and any efforts to touch his legs and feet or his hindquarters and tail elicit serious warnings about forthcoming aggression. You believe him, and wisely don’t press the issue, but that means even simple but necessary procedures such as nail trimmings and baths are stressful and potentially dangerous.
The first step in your program is to have a complete and thorough veterinary exam, and an adjunct visit to a chiropractor if indicated. Pain is a huge contributor to aggression – if he’s hurting, all the CC&D in the world won’t change his opinion of being touched – it hurts!
Of course, if the whole point is that your dog doesn’t tolerate being touched, how do make him submit to a vet exam before you work on the problem?
Unfortuntely, it’s a necessary evil, so spend a week (or a few weeks) acclimating your dog to a comfortable cloth muzzle. Lend muzzle-wearing a very positive association by pairing its presence and application with wonderful treats. Then muzzle him before the vet or vet tech begins to examine him, in order to keep everyone safe.
Ask your whether using a sedative would help make the experience less traumatic. You might also consider products such as herbal calming agents, Rescue Remedy, and DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheremones, sold as “Comfort Zone“).
With a clean bill of health, you’re ready to begin. You’ll need a large supply of absolutely scrumptious treats – canned chicken, rinsed and drained, is my favorite for CC&D purposes; most dogs totally love it. Pick a comfortable spot on a bed that your dog loves, or lay down a cushion or a soft thick blanket for the two of you to sit on. Attach a leash to your dog’s collar so you don’t have to grab to keep him with you.
The sequence of the next part is very important. You will touch your dog’s head first, very briefly – say for one second – then feed him a tiny bit of chicken. The touch must come first because you want him to understand that the touch makes the chicken happen. If you feed chicken first, then touch, he won’t make that connection.
Keep repeating this step until your touch causes him to look at you with a smiling face as if he’s saying, “Alright – you touched me. Yay! Where’s My Chicken?” You want the “Where’s My Chicken?” (WMC?) response to happen reliably several times in a row before you proceed to the next step.
Good job! You’ve accomplished the first tiny step on a long road; he thinks being touched softly and briefly on the head is a wonderful thing. Now you must decide whether to stop the session – ending on a high note – or continue on because you both are having a wonderful time and don’t want the session to end. If you’re unsure how much longer he will work with you, it’s better to stop sooner, while you’re ahead, than to push it too far and suffer a setback.
If you proceed, the next step might be to touch him on the head, still very gently, but for two seconds. You may lose the WMC? response at first as he adjusts to the increased time, but it will probably return quickly. Continue to increase the time, very gradually, so you don’t lose the progress you’ve made. As your touches get longer, feed him several treats in rapid succession while you are touching. Remember to stop the treats when the touch stops.
Be sure to end the session before one or both of you gets bored, tired, stressed, or frustrated. You can always do another session later that day or the next. If you sense that he’s getting restless, stop the session, feed him a few extra tidbits for being a wonderful boy, and release him with an “All done!” cue. Next time, stop a little sooner – you don’t even want him to think about getting restless.
My DOG Won’t Let Me TOUCH His PAWS (6 Reasons Why)
Has your dog started limping, but you don’t know why? Just like humans, dogs can begin limping for a wide variety of reasons. Although dog limping is pretty common, it’s still worrisome for pet parents because it means your pup is either injured or has an underlying health condition. We give you some tips on how to tell why your dog is limping, when to see your veterinarian, and how you can help your pup at home. Table Of Contents