My dog just turned on me and now I am scared!

Padstow

Hubzy? Is that really what you call him?

meritaten

Person_one wrote: »

No reputable behaviourists use pack theory anymore, its outdated and its definitely not the way to go with a nervous owner!

OP, please don't start worrying about 'dominance' and asserting yourself, if you think you need help managing then I'm sure there are lots of people on here who could help you find a suitable behaviourist.

you sure its outdated person-one? or are you just going on 'current wisdom'?

the owner was fine until her dog 'attacked her'. YES - the dog 'Attacked her'.
To me the relationship between a dog and its owner is that of 'boss' and 'underling'. when the line is crossed then it needs to be re-established fast.
If you look at professional training methods and not just so-called dog trainers you will find that they believe the handler is the boss. and the training is based on that. I am talking about police dogs, search and rescue dogs etc. they don't fanny about with 'behavioural dog psychologists'.

krlyr

meritaten wrote: »

you sure its outdated person-one? or are you just going on 'current wisdom'?

the owner was fine until her dog 'attacked her'. YES - the dog 'Attacked her'.
To me the relationship between a dog and its owner is that of 'boss' and 'underling'. when the line is crossed then it needs to be re-established fast.
If you look at professional training methods and not just so-called dog trainers you will find that they believe the handler is the boss. and the training is based on that. I am talking about police dogs, search and rescue dogs etc. they don't fanny about with 'behavioural dog psychologists'.

Yes, outdated. Even one of the original perpetuators of the pack theory in dogs has changed his mind on it, having misinterpreted the behaviour of wolves
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2007250,00.html
http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die


If you look at professional organisations like the APDT and APBC, they will go as far as to ban these outdated methods such as "alpha rolling" from use by any of their members, and advice against it in their publications
http://www.apdt.co.uk/members-only/code-of-practice
http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/dog-aggression-FAQs

What makes police dog handlers so much more qualified than dog trainers or dog behaviourists? There is definately a trend of using more physical methods in police dog type training and therefore I would expect to see a bias towards the methods they use/support. I would much rather use a behaviourist with a qualification in animal behaviour and a membership to somewhere like the APBC.

Interestingly, I know of someone who worked at a protection dog training facility. She is a firm believe of modern, fair methods, and raised her working line GSD with these methods. He has excelled at things like Schutzhund, using no outdated, physical-based training methods. Her employer at the time told her she would never manage to train the dogs with her methods - yet she soon managed to get a great response from a dog that others had previously struggled with in the facility.

Recent does not mean faddy - we are discovering the errors in older methods all the time, it may have worked for years but it doesn't mean it was the best or only way. There have been so many studies on the pack theory etc. that disprove it, and I have seen so many behaviourists turn dogs around (even very aggressive dogs) with APDT-supported methods, I feel it's a real shame that the pack leader/dominance/Cesar-Milan type stuff is still being spread around.

A couple of good stories of a trainer "fannying around" with dogs with a bite-history, and turning them around with only reward based training methods.
http://www.druidalegsd.karoo.net/leon1.htm
http://www.druidalegsd.karoo.net/shadow.htm

con1888

ariba10 wrote: »

If any dog bit me or mine it would die.

It would matter not whose dog it was.

I despair for any dogs you own now or in the future. Dogs bite for a number of reasons, usually a warning or a sign of an underlying issues. If a dog mauls someone then yes I agree it has to go but a bite can often be caused by the humans inexperience or stupidity.

Celli

meritaten wrote: »

If you look at professional training methods and not just so-called dog trainers you will find that they believe the handler is the boss. and the training is based on that. '.

They can believe what they like, it doesn't make their methods correct .
Modern dog training is based on meticulous research by animal biologists, some of them are even Proffessors in their field !, imagine that, a training ethos based on facts, rather than beliefs, what ever next .;)

starlight29

Hi
What a scary thing to happen hope your ok. I agree with others think I would take a trip to vets just to be sure hes well best to check if hes acting out of character


Starlight

Crisp_£_note

Thank you Starlight.

Thank you everyone who helped yesterday. Today I am left with an obvious bite mark in a u or n row of front teeth style and a nice swollen bruise. However I am OK thank you.

I am very wary of the dog today but trying not to be jumpy. I am sending him away if he comes to me (which I do feel is a little mean) but I am aprehenive that any nice fuss could turn to his disaproval in an instant. Probably my own nerves more than likely. It seems HE (the dog) has forgotten yesterdays altercation. Which is possibly 'normal' for dogs - they live in the moment don't they a lot of the time?

I am keeping them indoors today and have the fans on low.
I suspect this might make them a little grouchy as they do like the freedom of being able to roam in and out of the garden but just to be on the safer side I would rather they stay cool and have a quiet day indoors.

Hubzy was naturally concerned last night and did tell me I can call him at work if needed but I reassured him if it was really necessary then I would but as I said to mother in law yesterday I didnt see it was. Ok I was very nervouse but got through it.

Today is another long day but so far so good. May it continue

krlyr

Just keep an eye on the bite, if the teeth broke the skin then there is risk of infection simply due to the fact that mouths harbour a fair bit of bacteria. Especially in animals, who use their mouths more like hands, to pick things up. If it gets warm to the touch, gunky, etc. then get straight to the doctor for some antibiotics. I got bitten/scratched by a dog (it was a whole kerfuffle with 4 dogs jumping on me after I'd been pulled down a verge, so no idea which part of them caught my leg) and it got quite a nasty infection which worsened despite being on antibiotics - GP sent me to A&E to have it thoroughly cleaned out and I was rattling on the extra antibiotics given)

What you might want to consider is buying a houseline. This is a lightweight lead, usually without a handle (so that the handle cannot catch on anything and trap the dog) that the dog wears around the house. So in the event that the dog was in your way, for example, and didn't move, you can grab the houseline to prevent having to grab the dog (which many dogs will dislike, especially if they're perhaps in pain or not feeling great).

I would also recommend a treatbag that clips to your clothes and carry around some yummy treats with you all the time you're at home. I'd recommend taking some of his daily food ration and mixing it with some high value treats like teeny bits of cheese, hotdog, cooked chicken, etc. in the treat bag, so it all smells pretty tasty. Then you can constantly have some treats to reward or bribe the dog as you need to. While you're really nervous, this may be as simple as chucking a handful of treats a metre or two away when you want the dog to move, but you can also do some actual training - e.g. reward at random points when the dog is settled on his bed, so he learns to settle indoors rather than being anxious to get outside. E.g. like Kikopup's settle training - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2oeOUZ8kls

rising_from_the_ashes

Sorry this has happened and it must've been a real shock

A combination of him maybe being too hot and you wanting into what he maybe considered his space - and I think someone else said if you were in the doorway maybe he felt a bit trapped

Crisp_£_note

Thank you rising from the ashes.

I wasn't in the way of the doorway and I didn't move towards him just stepped aside the doorway leaving plenty of room to allow him through as stated in my OP.

I live in a small bungalow so there isn't a lot of room in the hallway at the best of times but we usualy give the dogs the right of way just to give them a chance to get out the way so we can move around freely ourselves. :rotfl: