| Loryn |
04-20-2009 11:26 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyMischief
(Post 15762433)
First off YOU NEED TO RELAX!! You are projecting your stress, upset and tension to the dog, not to mention thinking in your mind that he's a bad dog and shouldn't have done that, and all that is goign to do is stress him out, confuse him, scare him, and he is more likely to follow instinct again. What your dog did was a natural, instinctive prey reaction, and be hella glad the people were calm. In fact the mother and the little girl were the ONLY ones acting correctly in this scenario, being calm. You can literally leave permanant mental scars on your dogs if you don't move past the incident and back into positive mind territory, and you will never allow your dog to move past the incident either! Remember, PACK LEADER mentality. A pack leader doesn't get stressed out, weep, cry or get upset, in fact, in a dog that is already unsettled from something like this, that is the WORST THInG YOU CAN DO fOR YOUR DOG! Get the mental image of him hurting the little girl OUT OF YOUR HEAD, and start thinking about how you WANT your dog to behave. The training in this instance MUST start at home! PACK LEADER, babe, calm, assertive, but most of all CALM!
If you can't calm yourself down, now is the time to send the dog somewhere else and take some time to colllect yourself. He needs to look up to you, and right now you are an unstable factor in his home pack. It's these kind of situations where a dog will step forward and try to take the dominant position. If you want even a SHRED of his respect left for you, buck up, get over it, and move into training with POSITIVE thoughts in your head not negative thoughts about what you don't want him, but a mental picture of how he SHOULD behave. SUPER important. The WORST thing you should do in a case like this is lose your cool.
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I know I need to stay calm, which is why I got away from him at the park after the bite. I played with him when I got home because I knew that was the only way it was going to take my mind off of it when I was around him. I grabbed him so hard when he bit her and he was head down, ears back, nervous licking me like sorry Mommie, or I didn't know Mommie, after I let him up. I didn't hit him or anything because hitting him is not going to help him, it just going to confuse him. I put him down on the ground. That was just my reacting to him. Then I put him in the truck and ran to the kids and tried to comfort them until Mommie came up. Like I posted before she was amazing. The good thing that came out of all of this is I now fully understand my nervousness with Lars. I just avoided situations, like not taking him out around people. When I take him for walks I take him where no one is ever around, and that is avoiding the situation, because I was afraid of exactly what happened, but only I thought it would have happen to a guy not a little girl. But to Lars he doesn't know the difference. Poor guy, I so thought I had a handle on my big dog, because I am strong and dominating, but it is a totally different way of being to truly control your animal. I have a lot of work to do with him, well with myself first!!!
When we are at home, or in a field or at the lake, he obeys me totally. But at home or out in a field or at the lake, where no one is around, I am not nervous or thinking he is going to bite anyone, and that is probably why his listens to me the whole time. When we get out he feels that I am worried or nervous and he goes into protective mode!!! |
