ruetheday69: Joxertheflighty: ruetheday69: [Fark user image image 850x1133]Been fostering this guy (brown dog) for about a month now. Longer than I normally foster, but with shelter being stuffed full right now and dogs being held in pop up cages, I feel bad taking him back. He needs some work before he finds a forever home anyway.

He is about 18 months old. He isn't very well leash trained. He loves my dogs and loves to play but bites uncomfortably hard and can get a bit out of control during play. He does not attack or otherwise harass dogs, just during play time. Nips when getting hand fed. Chases the cats a little but is backing down when they make it clear they don't like that. He is also uncomfortably skinny and wants to eat constantly. Trying to at least ameliorate some of these issues before handing him back for the "Clear The Shelter" event we have having in October.

Any tips for any issues I'm having would be appreciated!

A few things, and apologies if you already know/do/tried these things:
For the treat thing, Juneau had issues (and still has issues) with hand feeding.  My sister was taught by a trainer to hold the treat in a closed fist until the dog sort of starts ignoring it. When she starts ignoring it, then give the treat.  It takes patience - Juneau would take many minutes at first to stop trying to pry my sister's fist open.  Then, after the dog gets used to the fist, when you offer the treat, if he lunges for it or nips for it, take it away and offer it again once he has settled.  Otherwise, it is helpful to offer a treat on an open palm so he can just take it instead of grabbing parts of the hand too.  It's an ongoing and long-term training process.
If the play with the other dogs gets a little too rowdy, break it up immediately.  I find with my dog, who has anxiety issues around other dogs, standing with her hips between my legs and scratching her throat and face and shoulders helps keep her contained but also distracted enough to calm down.  Also, I find that getting her to do the one trick she knows (shake a paw) helps her to focus and forget about being rowdy. Sometimes it takes finding the right thing that will break up rowdiness, and for me, a spray water bottle helps - it doesn't scare or hurt them, but they sure hate being sprayed.
Lastly, it can help with training if the dog is a little physically spent.  So playing with a ball or another toy for 15 minutes before going for a walk or treat training can help him focus more easily.

I hope you are able to help him learn appropriate behaviours so he can find his forever home.

Great advice especially the closed fist treat tip. I will try tiring him out before walks and see if that helps. Been breaking fights up and putting a bite guard on him and he will start playing again but get sulky because he cant bite lol.