need some advice

D

dblock

Forums Enthusiast
In the three years that I have had beau this has never happened.

First, a little background. As many of you know, last Saturday, Beau was charged at by a Pitt Terrier mix. Now, Beau wasn't hurt but, just shaken up as I was by the incident.

Second, on Sunday, my dumb neighbor upstairs let her friends come visit her at 4 am . Slammed the outside door so hard it startled the both of us awake. She was so loud and obnoxious all day that at one point Beau was looking for a place to hide, so, I put him in the crate and put the blanket over him so he could calm down.

Friday, my neighbors son stood right in front of us and said," I'm not afraid."

This morning we were were in our friends store. A lady walked around Beau. The lady did nothing wrong. She walked around Beau and Beau went for her . He actually bit her thru her pant leg. I think I was more upset than anyone else. He has never displayed ANY aggression towards people ever. I stayed to make sure the lady was all right. I had her call my vet in my presence to let her know that not only was I was concerned about this behavior but to also to let her know that my dog was up to date on his vaccines(He is)

I called my vets office and they want to increase his fluorine(especially since summer months are coming). She also said, that with the recent events over the weekend, Beau is still probably processing what took place. I also contacted A animal Behaviorist who in as much stated the same thing. I would like to have Beau evaluated, but due to money issues( I can't have her come to my house) The woman doesn't take credit cards. And FYI Please don't mistake this information as an attempt to illicit funds. I'm just relaying information as to what steps I'm taking to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I want to know, have any of you experienced this with your Shelties. I think Beau knows he did something wrong.
 
In light of his having bitten someone, and your having had previous instances where Beau was on the receiving end of aggression and you choose (rightly so) to report those instances, I would be extremely careful going forward. I am not a litigious person but many people are and you don't want any of the snotbags in your area to take advantage of you and Beau. Everyone here on the forums knows that Beau is shaken up and fearful, but the general public cannot be assumed to be as knowledgeable or understanding.

If it were me, and Olive had bitten someone, I'd get her to a vet ASAP so the vet can get whatever documentation is needed on file - it's great you're UTD on vaccinations but a recent health check might be helpful (and your vet might be able to assess Beau's behavior in the office). I would also avoid any interaction with people/other dogs unless I know (and Olive knows) them very well, and would only interact with them on Olive's home turf and on her terms. When you go on walks, if this means you're crossing to the other side of the street, do it. If it means cutting walks short or avoiding them altogether except for potty breaks, do so. Don't put yourself or Beau in any situation with even the slightest potential for problems, as much as you possibly can.

In most cases I wouldn't suggest being so wary. But in your case, you seem to have an awful lot of unpleasant, mean-spirited people around. I don't think I'd broadcast Beau's bite incident. People tend to behave differently around dogs with a "history" and Beau will be able to sense that, which will not help either of you. Again, all of us know Beau is reacting to the attacks, but others will see only his acting out and not understand the reasons for it.

Others on here have had the horrible experience of a dog attacking one of theirs, and I'm sure they can help you to help Beau. :hugs
 
Many times when a dog has had something bad happen to them, such as being charged, and doesn't have time to recover properly they could show fear and or aggression. When Jody was about 6 to 7 months old a little boy, probably around 8 and plenty old enough to know better, ran right over to him picked him up and nearly dropped him. I took Jo from the boy and scolded him about picking up other peoples dog. After that my poor little pup ran from almost everything. What your dog experienced was much worse and you neighbors didn't help:no:. The woman walking by may have unknowingly threatened Beau or maybe he thought you were being threatened and with all he has gone through in the past few days he probably panicked. My suggestion for you would be to give him lots of love and have other people do the same, to show him that not every stranger is out to hurt him. I hope he gets better soon!:hugs
Tabs

PS I'm sorry but I'm going to have to disagree with celloyogi because if you keep your dog away from people than he will associate them with something scary in the future. You must socialize him with people he knows then with strangers.
 
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Tabitha said:
Many times when a dog has had something bad happen to them, such as being charged, and doesn't have time to recover properly they could show fear and or aggression. When Jody was about 6 to 7 months old a little boy, probably around 8 and plenty old enough to know better, ran right over to him picked him up and nearly dropped him. I took Jo from the boy and scolded him about picking up other peoples dog. After that my poor little pup ran from almost everything. What your dog experienced was much worse and you neighbors didn't help:no:. The woman walking by may have unknowingly threatened Beau or maybe he thought you were being threatened and with all he has gone through in the past few days he probably panicked. My suggestion for you would be to give him lots of love and have other people do the same, to show him that not every stranger is out to hurt him. I hope he gets better soon!:hugs
Tabs

PS I'm sorry but I'm going to have to disagree with celloyogi because if you keep your dog away from people than he will associate them with something scary in the future. You must socialize him with people he knows then with strangers.
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I don't mean not to socialize Beau, that is obviously something he'll need, but in light of the neighborhood issues Beau and dblock have (read some of dblock's previous posts for a better idea of what she has to deal with everyday), in my opinion that until the episode blows over in the minds of the people around them, it would be prudent to avoid other people. There are a lot of hotheads there who I think would absolutely love to take advantage of Beau in his emotionally fragile state. Yes, Beau will need socialization, but Beau also doesn't need to deal with the people in dblock's neighborhood who have proven themselves to be [fill in your choice of unflattering term here], who from what I've heard would do nothing except promote Beau's fear. Worst case scenario if he bit any of those people (understandable, I think I'd bite any of them), this would be a whole other discussion and is why I started my previous post with comments about the litigious nature of some people. It has to be considered.

He can and should be around people but IMO the process for him is going to be much more gradual than for many.
 
Oh, I see what you were saying. I thought you were suggesting he stay away from almost ALL people, sorry.:o
Tabs
 
The general rule of thumb for dogs is 10 positive experiences for every negative one (the vet behaviourist told me this when Tully was attacked). So try to avoid going to noisy or busy places, or strange dogs nd places in the immediate future. Just give him time to get his confidence back. It might mean shorter walks and more play time instead, visits to people and places he knows.

When you reintroduce new places do it for short periods at a time. The longer you expose him the more his adrenalin levels will shoot up. It could only be a few seconds. With Tully I spent a lot of time just playing in the yard, then carrying her to a quiet place outside to play ball and otherwise only letting her walk outside our property for a few seconds at a time.
 
I so feel for you. We adopted a male Sheltie two years ago and named him Murphy. He is the sweetest, most gentle dog around my husband, his mom, and me, but iffy around other people (especially older men). Since he was around 5 yrs old when we got him and don't know his history the only thing the trainer said is that he's been traumatized in the past and fearful of some people.

We just enrolled him in a special class for fear aggressive dogs. When we take him out he wears a basket muzzle so on the slight chance that he doesn't nip he won't be able to hurt anyone. Most people stay away from him when they see the muzzle, which is a good thing. I'm hoping the trainers we're working with will be able to help him become a more calm, confident dog in what he believes to be scary situations.

I would seek out a professional trainer/behaviorist and get him some help soon.
 
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