I never had this happen before.

We have some friends out in the country who took in a young stray dog - an
approx. 6-7 month old, looks like a pit bull or Am. bulldog mix. Beautiful
black dog, roughly 60 lbs. They have a couple other "outside dogs," and
several micro-dogs that live in the house.

First day we visited them, after they acquired this dog, we pulled up, got
out of the van, and around the corner of the house came this dog. He saw
me, put his hackles up, head down, growled. I yelled, "Call your dog!" as
the dog began to run toward me.

The owner called him, and he stopped as if he'd hit a wall and trotted back
around the house to his owner, who was in the backyard. You can't imagine
my relief.

The dog likes my kids just fine. The owners have a big extended family,
which he greets calmly with wagging tail, ears back, happy to see them.
When he sees me, however, he barks. I interpret it as an alarm bark, as he
isn't wagging his tail.

Last time I went over there, one of their kids leashed and held him, and I
fed him some dog food, by hand. He was happy to take it, didn't snap or
growl at me, and actually wagged a little bit.

Do you think I remind this dog of somebody in his past he doesn't like?
Will we ever be pals? Or am I doomed to pull up at my friernds' house and
honk my horn and wait for them to confine him? Thoughts?

Yes, I'm very wary around this dog now, which probably doesn't help. First
time in my life I ever thought I was going to be attacked by a dog, and it
was scary.

flick 100785

There has to be something there that is causing the behavior, but I doubt
that you will ever know because dogs are notoriously uncooperative in
communicating what exactly is bothering them (like husbands). I agree with
the suggestion to just give it time and work on the relationship.

Just out of curiosity, how does the dog behave toward you in the house (or
do they let it in the home)? It may have something to do with protecting
his turf or the like.

Our last dog hated bicycles. We had a neighbor boy who came over and talked
for awhile one summer afternoon. All was fine. When he was leaving and got
on his bike the dog almost attacked him. I had to keep an eye out for kids
on bikes after that.

I was almost attacked by a large dog one time. I was by myself when he came
out of the yard of a house that I was passing. I remembered to not make eye
contract and just stood there as calm as I could. No one ever came out of
the house. After awhile I was able to move away, slowly, and was not
bitten. But I was plenty scared, so I know what you mean about that.


"flick" wrote in message
...
I never had this happen before.

We have some friends out in the country who took in a young stray dog - an
approx. 6-7 month old, looks like a pit bull or Am. bulldog mix.
Beautiful
black dog, roughly 60 lbs. They have a couple other "outside dogs," and
several micro-dogs that live in the house.

First day we visited them, after they acquired this dog, we pulled up, got
out of the van, and around the corner of the house came this dog. He saw
me, put his hackles up, head down, growled. I yelled, "Call your dog!" as
the dog began to run toward me.

The owner called him, and he stopped as if he'd hit a wall and trotted
back
around the house to his owner, who was in the backyard. You can't imagine
my relief.

The dog likes my kids just fine. The owners have a big extended family,
which he greets calmly with wagging tail, ears back, happy to see them.
When he sees me, however, he barks. I interpret it as an alarm bark, as
he
isn't wagging his tail.

Last time I went over there, one of their kids leashed and held him, and I
fed him some dog food, by hand. He was happy to take it, didn't snap or
growl at me, and actually wagged a little bit.

Do you think I remind this dog of somebody in his past he doesn't like?
Will we ever be pals? Or am I doomed to pull up at my friernds' house and
honk my horn and wait for them to confine him? Thoughts?

Yes, I'm very wary around this dog now, which probably doesn't help.
First
time in my life I ever thought I was going to be attacked by a dog, and it
was scary.

flick 100785

"Handsome Jack Morrison"
wrote in message ...
On Fri, 5 Aug 2005 09:33:29 -0500, "flick" wrote:

Will we ever be pals?

Almost certainly, provided you work at it.

Good. I like dogs ;-).

Sounds more like an AB, especially if your estimates of his weight and
age are correct.

I bet you're right. Whatever he is, he's a magnificent-looking beast.
We're going over there tonight, and I'll try to get a couple snapshots of
him.

You also didn't mention anything about OBEDIENCE TRAINING, which is
just so very, very important for ABs. Just because he stopped on a
dime, while it's a good sign, it's no indication of *formal* obedience
training of any kind.

ABs are usually wary of strangers (much more so than APBTs), and also
more protective (especially of children), so that may be part of what
you're seeing.

If so, OBEDIENCE TRAINING will help, and more exposure to you, over
time, in positive situations, should eventually make him much more
friendly with you, especially if your friends will allow you to work
the dog a bit on his OBEDIENCE skills.

I'll certainly have a talk with the dad. The owners are Really Good Country
Folk. They're open to suggestions, and I know that they wouldn't want
anyone to get hurt.

Thanks :-).

flick 100785

"David S." wrote in message
...
There has to be something there that is causing the behavior, but I doubt
that you will ever know because dogs are notoriously uncooperative in
communicating what exactly is bothering them (like husbands). I agree
with
the suggestion to just give it time and work on the relationship.

Just out of curiosity, how does the dog behave toward you in the house (or
do they let it in the home)? It may have something to do with protecting
his turf or the like.

They don't let the dog in the house. I suspect he was protecting his turf,
too. Though when I got into the house, the owners claimed he didn't behave
like that toward anyone else - which may or may not be true. Maybe he
hadn't had the opportunity to do that before.

Our last dog hated bicycles. We had a neighbor boy who came over and
talked
for awhile one summer afternoon. All was fine. When he was leaving and
got
on his bike the dog almost attacked him. I had to keep an eye out for
kids
on bikes after that.

Many years ago, when I was a kid, we went on a family bike trip. This was
before the days of pepper spray. Out of a farmyard ran a big German
Shepherd which bit my sister on the leg, then ran back to its property.
Thank goodness, that's all it did.

I was almost attacked by a large dog one time. I was by myself when he
came
out of the yard of a house that I was passing. I remembered to not make
eye
contract and just stood there as calm as I could. No one ever came out of
the house. After awhile I was able to move away, slowly, and was not
bitten. But I was plenty scared, so I know what you mean about that.

No wonder burglars avoid houses with dogs, huh? You can't leave a
protective dog out loose even in the country. Sooner or later, somebody
will get hurt, esp. when the dog is good-sized like this one. I'm in the
country, too, and my dogs are fenced. It's a pet peeve of mine, people who
don't confine their dogs sigh. Maybe I can help them put up a nice yard,
if we can scrounge up some fence. We're both pretty poor.

flick 100785

On Fri, 5 Aug 2005 09:33:29 -0500, "flick" wrote:

I never had this happen before.

...First day we visited them, after they acquired this dog, we pulled up, got
out of the van, and around the corner of the house came this dog. He saw
me, put his hackles up, head down, growled. I yelled, "Call your dog!" as
the dog began to run toward me...

Occasionally, I get barked at, at the animal shelter; but sometimes, a
dog will seem to hate me on sight. Their's is the first cage I enter. If
they are aggressive toward me, they might be aggressive toward others;
and that means they have little chance for adoption, and might even be
moved out of the public area of the shelter. In fact, a few times I've
had to alert the shelter to dangerous behavior.

I'm not eager to be bitten, but I love to see a dog make the turn
around: from hating me to kissing me. I invest as much time as it takes
to earn their trust. I push or pull, whatever they seem to need most, to
bring us to where we need to be.

Dogs that want to be the alpha, I usually put a kennel leash on them and
walk them. At first, we go only where I want to go. As he becomes
compliant, we begin going to some of the places he'd like to go.
Usually, after our initial walk, the dog will allow me to put a choke
chain and regular leash on him.

For dogs that are not resentful, but merely fearful. I wait them out. I
gradually invade their space. Sometimes, I begin physical contact with
only a single finger tip.

I believe you and your friend's dog can become friends. too. As others
have wisely stated, it will require an investment of time. I agree with
you that the dog is protecting his property. Once he learns that you are
not a villain, and not someone he can manipulate, I expect he'll mellow
out.

For the dogs I work with, the clock it ticking. It's either be friendly,
or go to the landfill. Fortunately, you two can take your time. So, be
consistent, fair and firm.

I hope you will tell us about your progress, and tell us what worked for
you two.

Whatever it takes.

"Michael A. Ball" wrote in message
news

I believe you and your friend's dog can become friends. too. As others
have wisely stated, it will require an investment of time. I agree with
you that the dog is protecting his property. Once he learns that you are
not a villain, and not someone he can manipulate, I expect he'll mellow
out.

I was over there twice today, and gave him dog food both times, which he
chomped right down, wagging his tail. Second time, when I pulled up in the
van, he came out to it wagging his tail, and he delicately took the food out
of my hand. The owner leashed him, then I got out. I'd rather only
interact with the dog while he's leashed, for the time being. He adores my
kids - ears back, waggling his whole body, very gentle.

I hung around for a while tonight and we were shooting the breeze inside.
The dog has taken a dislike to somebody else, so I think he's becoming more
protective/territorial as he's maturing. I encouraged the husband to do
obedience training and said I'd provide a printed manual from the internet.
He thought it was a great idea. The wife wants the dog to be an inside dog.
She's a housewife, so she certainly has the time to housetrain him, and
they've got a crate big enough. These folks are very good people and open
to suggestion, plus they don't want their dog to hurt anybody.

There's no reason they can't treat this dog as though they live in the city:
make him into a house dog, take him out on a leash and walk him, put him in
the yard to play fetch, crate him when company comes if they need to.

Found out tonight they've got a big yard for him, well fenced. I've seen
it, but I thought it was part of the horse's paddock. He can clear the
fence, so they're going to extend it up some and put a hotwire top and
bottom. They've got a charger.

For the dogs I work with, the clock it ticking. It's either be friendly,
or go to the landfill. Fortunately, you two can take your time. So, be
consistent, fair and firm.

I hope you will tell us about your progress, and tell us what worked for
you two.

Whatever it takes.

I'll be over there again late tomorrow morning, with more doggy treats.

flick 100785

On Fri, 5 Aug 2005 23:51:07 -0500, "flick" wrote:


...I'll be over there again late tomorrow morning, with more doggy treats.

Something that I consider important, but forgot to mention, is "approach
avoidance." The dog will seem very uneasy as you approach, but mellows
out; if you can just get close enough to touch him. I've seen dogs
practically melt, as soon as they felt the slightest gentle touch. When
I encounter dogs with approach avoidance, I don't always stay for long
visits, but I make several visits while I'm at the shelter. That way, I
get to put the dog through at lot of approaches, and let him see that
its not so bad after all.

It already sounds like you're making progress. :-)


When I die, I want to go where dogs go!