Dog Behavior

Hey there everyone :) long time, no see! How are you all?

 I hate to be that person who only pops in once in a while, but I have a question.

My boyfriend has a Husky, who is normally a lovely dog. Well, tonight my boyfriend and I got in a little disagreement (raised voices) and after his dog kept trying to grab at my hands and then actually took my wrist in his mouth a couple of times. He didn't bite me, but the whole situation made me super nervous! There have been times when the dog has been playful similar to this, but this time I was genuinely nervous, so I left.

My question is, what is an appropriate way to handle this? I told my boyfriend it made me uncomfortable and he said he didn't think the dog would actually hurt me.

One way is to just cross your arms and turn your back to him, or another way is to make a squeal(which his siblings should have done when they played to show that he was being too rough and should be more careful). I watch this one dog trainer and this is something she does a lot when dogs nip and/or jump on her. And she also said even though it may seem and you may think the dog would never hurt you, one day they may just snap.

If this helps, then I have done a good amount of studying. :) 
I plan on studying animal behavior when I am way older, which includes Zoology and marine biology.

It's hard to say without seeing the dog and you in the situation. How old is the dog?
Dogs are sensitive to what energy we send out, if the human(s) are loud and maybe gesturing with their hands the dog can try to grab the wrist as an displacement behavior* (I don't know if that is the coirrect term in english, sorry) and do not by default mean that the dog was showing aggression. 

If this happens again I would give the dog a task, something to do, give it a sense of control in a moment of chaos. 
It can be something as easily as 'sit', or 'go lay down in your bed'. 
That shows the dog that the human(s) has eveything under control, even if they are acting a bit odd and are being loud. 
Squeling can help, but for some dogs it can be even more triggering to play or bite.
(Squeaky chew toys are popular for a reason.)

*What I mean by displacement behavior is that something happens and the dog does not know how to handle the situation or the energies. So it does something, just something to release some of the stress. 
Like when a stressed dog is rding on a humans leg or another dog.

Last edited on 2019-11-15 at 03:58:26 by Lord Punkin

Thanks guys! I'll ask if we can try both of those ideas.

@LP- the behavior continued even after we had taken the dogs out and were just sitting. So I understood why he was like that (even though I didn't approve) when we were tense but even when we were relaxed the dog was still doing that. Grabbing at my wrist and going after my hands.

He is young. About a year and a half.

Like Lord Punkin said, it is hard to give advice on a situation one offering advice hasn't  seen. Dogs are sensitive to energy and it may not have been aggression at all, but because none of us saw it, it limits advice to be based on assumption.
 
Assuming it was a display of aggression, ignoring or turning away from a dog will not stop the behavior nor prevent it and it may make you even more vulnerable. Also, squealing may escalate the situation more (the reason dogs love squeaky toys is because they sound like small animals dying) so I strongly suggest not doing that.

My advice is create a boundary. If the dog is too close, chewing on you, send him away. Sending him to a bed or a crate, an actual place to go is a good way to create a boundry. Dog de-escalates and you don't have a dog chewing on, making your energy even more wacky. (Dogs don't respect yelling, it is a sign of weakness to them, which makes sense if you think about since we yell because we feel like we are losing control, in a way.)

Make sure the dog knows how to "go to bed" or "go to crate" BEFORE something likes this happens. Also, already being able to create space/boundaries should also be already established for this work effectively.

Thank you evermore, the dog definitely knows crate so we will try that.

It seemed playful at first and then it really started to worry me after we had taken the dogs out, given him time to cool off, and then were just relaxing with only positive feelings and no tension. It may have still been playful, but it definitely made me uncomfortable

It could be a puppy behavior, as that is how they explore things (with their mouth). Does he understand "No"?

Using "No" as a correction to end undesired behavior can be helpful, too. But you have to mean it. Dogs see right through us if we have a shred of doubt.

My Malamute mix was fairly mouthy when he was younger but is much better now. Huskies and Malamutes can be a little... thick at times, so be persistant and consistant.  :)

Well, Huskys are not bred to be champions in obediance. Said with love. :)
My aunt was an elit sled dog racer and my grandmother a siberian husky breeder. 
It's like training a cat, with the right motivation most things are possible. 

My own dogs (RIP Rufus and Pitcher) were sighthounds (a scottish deerhound and a irish wolfhound) so same thing there; motivation, patience and consistency. 

marigold - maybe you could do some tracking, clicker training or dog parkour with the dog to build on your relationship? 
These activitys are calming for most dogs because they really need to use their brain power, and are at the same time a nce way of building the dogs self control and focus. 

Sorry, did not mean to go off on a tangent, dog traininng is just a passion of mine. :)

Last edited on 2019-11-15 at 07:55:33 by Lord Punkin

Thank you, both.
LP - this is why I asked here :) I knew we had some dog experts. Plus anonymity.
I believe part of the issue is that my boyfriend does allow him to grab at his hands when they are playing (it's his dog not mine, I never allow that).
Those all sound very interesting but I believe my boyfriend needs to be setting the boundaries as it is his dog. (My dog just has a bad recall, I nixed the mouthiness at an early age)

Last edited on 2019-11-15 at 08:20:30 by marigold sunshine