elegy wrote in
:

i'm really disappointed in myself, because i wigged out on him for it,

I'm not sure you should be. Maybe it's because I'm used to dogs that'll
keep pushing barriers just to find the limits (if any), but the bottom line
is that Homer did something completely unacceptable (for whatever good and
justified reason) and discovered that, yes, there is an upper boundary
beyond which his new human gets a bit testy. That's a good thing for a dog
of any age to learn.

i put him in his crate until i calmed down enough to not do anything
else stupid.

Well, see, you learned something valuable. Homer learned something
valuable. It's all good. Neither of you will need to repeat this
particular lesson. I hope so, anyway.

"Mary Healey" wrote in message:

Maybe it's because I'm used to dogs that'll
keep pushing barriers just to find the limits (if any),

Have I mentioned that I recently met THE most adorable cow dog pup at the
dog park. I've never found the adult version to be particularly attractive,
but this little turkey is adorable. And feisty. Fearless too, which is a
good thing, 'cause his big sister is a Pit mix (with flying nun ears), and
she looks and sounds utterly scary when playing.

Suja

elegy wrote:
i worry that he reacted out of fear and i gave him more reason to
fear.

That's a valid concern, but you've done all you can to mitigate the
consequences of what was, after all, a simple error. Dogs are pretty
resilient and forgiving, for the most part. You're going to be beating
yourself up about this long after Homer's put it out of his mind.