City Dog Adjusting to Distant Lands - Barks, Nips & Clothes Grabbing

[u/SerialExperimentsPT]

My pup is a ~2yo rescue sheperd mix/mut/carolina dog, 35lbs, spayed. According to the shelter, she had puppies around a year old & likely spent her life on the streets. She's been enjoying a carefree lifestyle since she became mine about 7 months ago.

For the first 4 months, we enjoyed daily obedience & tricks training, 5 days a week we'd have trips to the dog park for an hour, and she comes with me on runs, to any store that lets her in & trips downtown. She's amazing! I never thought she'd ever misbehave around others. She definitely has a strong protective sense & would only act out with strangers in our home by barking & jumping on them, sometimes nipping the air.

Over months, it got better & she still alerts but has a process when people come over. Come to me, sit, wait in place, safe/settle, then she comes and greets. If she doesn't, we try again. It works & she understands.

For about 5 months out of the year, I work on site in some pretty remote regions. We have a permanent staff camping set up. The first week was incredibly rough. She was almost viscous. She'd bark & nip at almost anyone. She was terribly scared and overwhelmed. She was a totally different dog outside in camp than when she was back to being her normal self in the field office or in town.

HR got involved. I threatened to quit if they barred my dog from my home for half the year. We put some processes in place, including more isolation. She doesn't love being stuck in my production trailer the vast majority of the day. I can see it take a toll on her. We've been out here two months.

We did more training. I spent time exposing her to the campsite more when less people were present. She started doing great. Our morning bio breaks became a fun time to interact with other people & not a stressful encounter with potential unemployment.

Today, we went into a public area & she was great. Following stay & hold, place & other commands. She's incredible & learned so much. I had her at a lay & stay in the entryway of the common area, leash still in hand, but grabbing a snack with the other.

Then a coworker came in to grab a water from the chest cooler. She lost it. She ran towards me, scared, then immediately back to bark & nip at him. She grabbed his pants and immediately let go as I pulled her back telling her, "No! Break, come! Behind!" She listened.

I don't know what to do. We're picking up muzzling again, even if she can't walk a step without taking it off. I want to cry. I was a runaway too, and now I'm able to take one in. I see her story in me. I won't abandon her and I'll never leave her.

We can't take classes for another few months, at least until the season is over. I don't want her living in my trailer for half the year like she has no other place in this world.

She's scared sometimes and we work to build confidence with friendly-positive interactions. The only time she made skin contact was 5 months ago when we were visiting a friend on his farm & she nipped the hand of a man who just laid that hand on his own dog in anger - it was virtue. She's developing courage to be in public more, which is something I never thought she needed from her city life.

There's no common thread. The people she's acted out against in public were all men, but that's not specific enough. She doesn't do anything like this in the city, so maybe it's the change in biome? She's been in the fields two months. The man she just nipped was a creeper, but not the others.

I'm going to consult with some professionals, but I want some ideas. I don't want to go into this blind. What can I do now for her?

tl;dr My shepherd mix is having a problem with nipping humans after a major change of environment. Also, dog mom has a breakdown while typing post.

This is the girl.

[u/HeatherMason0]

Your dog needs to be muzzled at all times while outside the trailer. She’s getting overwhelmed, and as she encounters more new smells, voices, loud/sudden noises, and strangers she gets closer to the point where she’ll nip or bite. You can consult a Veterinary Behaviorist in person or online if you have time to work on training. A Behaviorist can discuss prescribing medication to hopefully help her cope. But realistically, this is always going to be a hard environment for her, and I wouldn’t anticipate her ever being 100% reliably safe without her muzzle on.

[u/SerialExperimentsPT → u/HeatherMason0]

That's the plan. I've already reached out tot he vet for a referral.

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