So upset and shocked.....my dog bit me

suki1964

Firstly, its never a good idea to take on a "rescue" accept through a rescue/re homing centre. Here hopefully the dog will have been fully assessed and he would have been placed in a home suited to his needs and there would be continued back up and support for the new owners in case there were problems like this.


Personally myself I would go to the vet, have him fully checked over and then get recommendation for a good behaviourist, one that will come to your home, assess how all of you interact with each other and the dog and work with you all in learning to train and handle the dog.Theres no quick fix Im afraid, the dog has problems, you either go for the long haul and work with him or you hand him into a rescue, let them assess him and see if they can home him with people more suited to his needs

Im sorry that you got bitten and I hope the wounds heal quickly for you. ALL dogs will bite if their warning growls are not heeded, I wouldnt even go to take my own dog by the collar if he was telling me to back off, but then I know my dog and know what his growls and grumbles mean and I know how to handle him

Hope you make the decsision which is right for you all

homeworkgirl

Thanks once again for all the new replies, I have taken on board all your advice and opinions.

Just to clear things up....i do not have any young children, nor do I have any who visit. I just have one 15yr old daughter who is very mature and sensible. The dog is fine with her 99 per cent of the time, but for some reason won't take orders from her. Previously he had been in an all adult household.

I will get him checked over at the vet and ask his advice. I do wish I could afford a behaviourist

border_collie

Are you both just giving orders? Or does he get a little reward every time he does as he is asked?

Your daughter could get him to do simple things like sit for a little treat.

If all his treats are earnt by following commands he will soon understand that it is worth listening to both of you.

homeworkgirl

Thinking about it, following the last post bordercollie, its usually if she is chastising him and sending him to his basket but occasionally can be something simple like asking him if he needs to go outside to go to toilet, especially first thing in the morning. If I say it, he is fine but it is so clear that he resents her telling him what to do. Is this a dominance issue? He is great with her in other ways when it comes to playing ball, tug of war etc (I have read that she must always be the one to win if she plays this with him). He will sit, lie down, give both paws etc. to her when in playing mode. He used to not be keen on her taking him out, he always wanted me to do it, but we have persevered with this and now he is quite happy to go out with her without me.

He does get rewarded for good behaviour on a frequent basis but not if he has been chastised for doing something wrong.

Last night, he spent the whole evening sucking up to my daughter, was very wary of me because I suppose he realises he upset me though I am trying to be as normal as possible with him. It was quite funny really, my daughter said she has never had so much attention from him lol.

MrsTinks

If you are thinking of keeping him then you NEED to afford a behaviourist/good trainer. Expect to pay in the region of £120-£200 for the initial visit and assessment for a trainer worth talking to.
Animals are expensive - I should know, Kira has already cost a fair bit in training fees from a good trainer.
I honestly don't think that it's possible to give you the appropriate advice on a forum on how to resolve a dogs severe phobia, especially as you are not an experienced dog owner. It's one thing if you had experience in reading your dogs body language and know how they are likely to react, but I honestly think that as a complete novice it's just not safe to try and "teach" you how to deal with your dogs issues by giving you advice over a forum where none of us have any chance to actually see what the dogs reactions are... It could all be fear based, or it could all be a dominance issue or it could be a heck of a lot more complex... And using the wrong "method" could be making the dog worse instead of better...

If you keep him - FIND the money for a good trainer/behaviourist...

MrsTinks

homeworkgirl wrote: »

Thinking about it, following the last post bordercollie, its usually if she is chastising him and sending him to his basket but occasionally can be something simple like asking him if he needs to go outside to go to toilet, especially first thing in the morning. If I say it, he is fine but it is so clear that he resents her telling him what to do. Is this a dominance issue? He is great with her in other ways when it comes to playing ball, tug of war etc (I have read that she must always be the one to win if she plays this with him). He will sit, lie down, give both paws etc. to her when in playing mode. He used to not be keen on her taking him out, he always wanted me to do it, but we have persevered with this and now he is quite happy to go out with her without me.

Dogs don't "resent" they challenge. It could be a challenge but it might not be. Ok personal view is that it's a dominance issue between your daughter and the dog but you really need someone to have a look at it first hand.
As for tug of war - she doesn't have to "win" - What she has to do is be the one controlling the game. That means she invites him to play when SHE wants and she ends the game when she wants. Not when he wants!

homeworkgirl wrote: »

Last night, he spent the whole evening sucking up to my daughter, was very wary of me because I suppose he realises he upset me though I am trying to be as normal as possible with him. It was quite funny really, my daughter said she has never had so much attention from him lol.

Dogs don't "suck up" - they are dogs, not humans. He could have been trying to carry favour with another "pack member" (and I disagree that humans can't be part of a dog pack btw) or he could have been wanting attention from her as you were angry with him. If she gave him a fuss when HE asked for it then HE was in control because HE asked/demanded the fuss and she did as he wanted.

Greatgimp

Got access to Sky? If you have it's only a matter of time before this problem is covered on 'The Dog Whisperer'.

homeworkgirl

No, unfortunately I don't have Sky, I have Virgin Media who don't broadcast Sky 3 which I think it is on? I did see a couple of his shows once and found them very interesting.

MrsTinks

Greatgimp wrote: »

Got access to Sky? If you have it's only a matter of time before this problem is covered on 'The Dog Whisperer'.

Although I personally agree with Cesars methods then not only does it clearly say not to try the methods at home, ALL dog training programs state not to try any methods without consulting a professional and Cesars methods are no different. You should never try any training tecniques without consulting a professional...

Greatgimp

MrsTine wrote: »

Although I personally agree with Cesars methods then not only does it clearly say not to try the methods at home, ALL dog training programs state not to try any methods without consulting a professional and Cesars methods are no different. You should never try any training tecniques without consulting a professional...

Yes, I agree with that and I would never advocate anything that may make things worse. It may, however, give a clue as to what the problem is, and whether it could be treatable or not. This was purely for gathering as much information as possible before decisions may have to be made.