Well, when Oliver got here, he growled and snapped at me. He wouldn't take a treat from me. He wouldn't even eat one thrown on the floor at his feet. He did, however take a treat from my husband. Several, in fact.
Once his owner left, however, he settled down. At lease with me. I was holding him when my husband tried to pet him and he growled and snapped at him. No contact so that's a good sign.
Yesterday a friend came over so that we could see how he does with people. He adored her and never once growled or snapped at her. I was very encouraged.
Then today, our older son who lives with us (he works nights so we havent seen him since Oliver got here) came out to meet him. Boy, did he ever growl and bark at him. He took treats from him ok but if he tried to pet him, all he did was growl and snap. Still no contact with teeth.
Oh, and when I came home the first evening he was here from training class with my other dogs, he was loose in the house (my husband had him out). My dogs were on leashes and I hadn't known he was loose. My husband tried to pick him up and he growled and snapped at him several times. Still not contact.
I'm really not sure what the best way to proceed is. One trainer told me to just let him chill for a while. I'm going ot continue to treat him in situations in which he finds himself scared. My understanding is that you cannot reinforce an emotion. Hopefully he can learn to associate good things with the things he fears and that will help him overcome the fear.
My puppy, his sister, responds to her fear by retreating. he responds by aggressing. I'm hoping I can help him feel safe and learn ways to cope with his fear. We shall see.
I need to get more people over or take him out more to see if we can help him that way.
No comments:
Post a Comment