gottabemore
Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2011
- Posts
- 22
Dogs who believe they are dominant over people, such a child, etc, will bite like that. With no warning. There is always a warning. But some of them are so subtle, people do not see them. I see people baby talk and look a dog in the eye and try to pet it. Never approach any dog you do not know. Do not talk to it, pay it no attention dont try to pet it or make friends. If a dog wants to be your friend it will let you know. Trying to make friends is not the thing to do. A shy dog will see it as threatening and so will a dominant dog. The dog must, 100%, look to its owner as leader and strangers must respect a dog's space.
Sadly, it is often children who get hurt. They are too active, too noisy, too quick and they make the wrong moves. So do a lot of adults. They mean well but they do everything wrong, including the owner at the other end of the leash.
Rick, that Dobe may have suffered from a genetic disorder known as Von Willebrands. It is a bleeding disorder and often the Dobes who have it have small bleeds in the brain. This is thought to cause that snap that they can do. I made cetain my Dobes, as pups, came from parents who did not carry this affliction. I am sorry that you had a bad experience. Maybe one day you will meet my Ava and she can repair the damage. Or he/she could have been secretly dominant and you gave the wrong signal. I will say that Dobes are super sensitive to body language and emotion.
I raise Bulldogs. English Bulldogs and French Bulldogs. While both breeds are good with people, they are very stubborn and never give up. People always pick the pup that leaves the litter and waddles over to them. They think it is cute or that the pup wants to go home with them. WRONG. That is the dominant pup and you had better be a dominant person or it will not work. People think a wagging tail is friendliness. Not always, sometimes it is the dog saying game on and being aggressive. Pawing at you to pet is dominance. The paw on your forearm? Dominance. Leaning against you, dominance. If the owner is not confident, dominant dogs feel they must protect their person, big issue. If a dog is shy and their person is not confident, they will do the same, for different reasons.
I do not give any of my dogs a chance to do the wrong thing. I also do not allow people to talk to them, pet them or pay any attention to them until the dog is at ease. We ignore the dog.
I have a friend who loves dogs and has owned them his whole life. He is a large man. Large voice. He uses a lot of hand gestures and his body posture is large. Ava took exception to him. He used his friendliest voice, etc and she got worse. I told him to shut up, stop talking to her, sit down and ignore her. dont look, dont talk to her, dont touch her. She started by sniffing the air. then she moved a bit closer and started to do the Dobie thing, bumping with the nose, while trying to get his scent. (which can be really scary for the person). Within an hour, she had sat down next to him. Still we ignored her. By the end of the evening, she was in love with him. He is her favorite visitor.
Sorry this kinda turned into dog behavior 101. It is a favorite subject of mine.
Sadly, it is often children who get hurt. They are too active, too noisy, too quick and they make the wrong moves. So do a lot of adults. They mean well but they do everything wrong, including the owner at the other end of the leash.
Rick, that Dobe may have suffered from a genetic disorder known as Von Willebrands. It is a bleeding disorder and often the Dobes who have it have small bleeds in the brain. This is thought to cause that snap that they can do. I made cetain my Dobes, as pups, came from parents who did not carry this affliction. I am sorry that you had a bad experience. Maybe one day you will meet my Ava and she can repair the damage. Or he/she could have been secretly dominant and you gave the wrong signal. I will say that Dobes are super sensitive to body language and emotion.
I raise Bulldogs. English Bulldogs and French Bulldogs. While both breeds are good with people, they are very stubborn and never give up. People always pick the pup that leaves the litter and waddles over to them. They think it is cute or that the pup wants to go home with them. WRONG. That is the dominant pup and you had better be a dominant person or it will not work. People think a wagging tail is friendliness. Not always, sometimes it is the dog saying game on and being aggressive. Pawing at you to pet is dominance. The paw on your forearm? Dominance. Leaning against you, dominance. If the owner is not confident, dominant dogs feel they must protect their person, big issue. If a dog is shy and their person is not confident, they will do the same, for different reasons.
I do not give any of my dogs a chance to do the wrong thing. I also do not allow people to talk to them, pet them or pay any attention to them until the dog is at ease. We ignore the dog.
I have a friend who loves dogs and has owned them his whole life. He is a large man. Large voice. He uses a lot of hand gestures and his body posture is large. Ava took exception to him. He used his friendliest voice, etc and she got worse. I told him to shut up, stop talking to her, sit down and ignore her. dont look, dont talk to her, dont touch her. She started by sniffing the air. then she moved a bit closer and started to do the Dobie thing, bumping with the nose, while trying to get his scent. (which can be really scary for the person). Within an hour, she had sat down next to him. Still we ignored her. By the end of the evening, she was in love with him. He is her favorite visitor.
Sorry this kinda turned into dog behavior 101. It is a favorite subject of mine.