|
what shall i do now?
i have a rescuedog and he is so placid but is very scared of men that he dusnt know.yesterday we were about to take the dog out so he was waiting by the car when a man came to give me a leaflet.he went to say hello to the dog,he got threatened nad bit him on the ankle.the man said he was ok and i gave him a plaster it wasnt a big bite just about a cm long.now my dad wont let the dog in the house and wont walk him.the dogs freezing and shaking outside what can i do to get my dad to like him again.?hes never bit anyone before.
[ ]
Want to answer more questions in the Domesticity category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Pets?
new people should aproach him leaning over holding out their hands for him to smell-always under his chin never above his head(then he may think they are about to hit him) the more people he meets, the more comfortable he'll be w/ people
]
I have a rescue dog too, and I have never had quite the similar situation but I would call the rescue organization and have them talk to your dad. Depending on where you got your dog they probably require him to be housed indoors at which time you should confront your dad and tell him that you have to let my dog stay inside. Also you might want to bring up animal cruelty. If all else fails just talk to your dad and be like "has he ever bitten you?" and tell him that if he fails to be human about this situation it will haunt him for the rest of his life. I know this isn't of much help, but good luck!
]
First of all, you need to realize that the dog was not trying to protect you. By falsly diagnosing the problem, you are not going to be able to fix it. If the dog was trying to protect you, then he would have gotten aggressive when the man tried to give YOU the leaflet, not when he tried to pet the dog. Everyone else who answered means well, but it seems clear that the dog was not protecting you, he was scared, threatened as you say, and wanted to protect himself.
After you understand that, then you can start to work with the problem. Has the dog ever had a problem with your father? Is it all men that he has a problem with? I can give you an exersize that you can do once or twice a day, for five or ten minutes each that will slowly bring him out of his fear of men.
First I want to say that it's not uncommon for an animal to have a fear of certain group of people. They can be afraid of something that they are not familiar with, or, someone that looks like someone who hurt them in the past. It's either that this dog was never socialized around men in the past, or this dog was abused by men in the past. Either way, he is unsure of them and thinks that he will be hurt by them.
Until you are sure that your dog is NEVER going to bite anyone, you need to keep strangers away from him. If someone comes up and wants to pet him, calmly tell them no. Nicely say that he is a rescue dog, and is afraid of strangers, so he may bite. I know it sucks for people to be afraid of your dog, and you don't want to make him seem mean, but it's so much better for him if you keep him away from situations that make him uncomfortable.
Now, for the exercises that you can do.
-You need to have someone working with you. This person needs to be a man, preferrebly a man that your dog is uncomfortable around.
-You need to have plenty of yummy yummy treats for your dog. They need to be small so that he can swollen them in one quick bite without choking
Now, you need a large area. Start with you and your dog on one end. Keep your dog on his leash, and the treats in your hand. You want to have your dogs attention at all times.
You need to learn the stress signals that your dog has.
A few general stress signals are:
-turning his head away from something. When he turns his head away from something that makes him uncomfortable, that is like telling that thing to go away from him.
-turning his whole body. Same concept as turning his head, only more pronounced.
-licking lips excessively. This is a "calming signal" In the dog world it's another way of telling something to go away if he is uncomfortable.
-sniffing uncontrollably. Another "calming signal"
There may be other signals that your dog gives when he is stressed, you need to figure these out and learn to notice them.
Now, to start off, you should have your dog on his leash, and about 50 feet away, there should be a man standing. The man should not look at the dog, as this is likely to make the dog uncomfortable.
You have your dog look at you, and give him a treat.
Continue to give you dog a treat every 3-5 seconds as long as he is looking at you and seems to be comfortable with the situation.
When you feel comfortable enough, have the man slowly walk back and forth, but staying the same 50 feet away. Continue to keep your dogs attention focused on you, and continue to give him treats.
If you feel that your dog is comfortable enough, have the man take one small step toward you and your dog.
Now, if your dog gets scared, then immediately stop the exercise, and either try again the next day. If he starts to show any of the calming signals, or any of the stress signals, then you need to stop. Working too fast with this sort of exercise will only get your dog more and more uncomfortable with the situation.
Continue this day after day, slowly... I repeat, very slowly, until the man can walk back and forth right next to you and your dog without your dog being frightened.
Also, whenever anyone, male or female, tries to pet your dog, tell them to kneel down so that they are not cowering above them. Tell them to pet under his head, instead of above. Dogs generally do not like someone to pet them on top of their head.
Now, if you know all of this, then you can work at convincing your dad that the dog NEEDS to be inside. If you keep your dog outside away from a loving family that he seriously needs, then he will only get more and more aggressive.
If I were you, I would not listen to your father, and bring the dog inside anyway. It's for the sake of the dog. If you don't, then it's extremely likely that the dog will end up severely aggressive and will end up biting anyone who happens to go onto his property.
Around 80% of all dog bites come from dogs who have to be tied up all day.
Your dog needs love and care in order to get better. He also needs someone to protect him, and that must be you.
You could also try to contact an animal behavoralist, but if you need anymore help with this, then feel free to ask me. I've worked with animal behavoralists before, have gotten lots of help with them, and am going to school to be a veterinary technologist. I will help you as much as possible when it comes to animals.
]
thats so sad!! okay he was probably just trying to prtect you!! tell your dad how you feel, and tell him how the dog was just trying to protect you guys! or if u dont care about getting in troubel, bring him inside and go inside a room with a lock and lock both of you guys in there. i feel bad! go get your dog before it freaking dies!! you guys are so mean! if yiu really loved ur dog you wouldnt keep him locked out in the cold and dark and sadness, dont break your dogs heart even more!! youre punishing him for loving you and trying to protect you!!!! :'(
]
Try telling your dad that the dog is freezing and tell him that you will look into obedience or something like that. There are people out there who will work with dogs like him. Hope my advice helps! Let me know what happens!
]
Your scrwed man. Juss say its the first time its ever happend you'll try to train him not to
]
omg that happend to me cept my dog bit my brother because he was like all in his face....just tlel your dad that the dog felt like the man was trying to harm you and he was just protecting you....tell him that hes freezing outside and thats not right... :
]
More Questions: |