Shelter Dog Biting and Jumping

[riddikkulus]

I'm looking for a dog to adopt, and I found a border collie/black lab cross at the county shelter. She's about a year and eight months old, and she's very sweet but has been in the shelter ever since she was six months old and has no training and has never had any one on one attention. I've started to visit her frequently and work with her a bit in attempt to see if I can gain her trust, but today when I went to see her she started running in circles and then jumping on me and biting my arm. When I hold a toy, she does that too, but she's learned that I will push her off and not give her/throw the toy until she sits, and she understand that. But this time I didn't even have a toy in my hand, and she would just run in a circle and then jump on me and bite my arm. I don't think she was trying to be aggressive, I think she just wants attention and she doesn't understand that it really hurts. Does anyone have a suggestion on how I can discourage this behavior?

Thanks!

[adunphy]

There is a theory that dogs who are in a shelter for such a long period of time develop this type of behavior. Some believe it can't be taken back out of them. Others believe you can do anything through proper training. If you are considering this dog, my best advice would be to find a trainer who knows a lot about shelter dogs and have the trainer evaluate the dog for you to see if its a good match for you. There are tons of dogs looking for forever homes - thanks for considering adoption.

Amy