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Originally Posted by QuickSilver  Apparently, Thor had a run-in with a pitbull before I owned him. His first mommy actually thought it was funny. Apparently they were in the park and he did his standard, if I run up to this big dog and snap and lunge, he'll never notice he's 20x bigger than me. This pitbull just picked Thor up, right off the ground. I don't know if the pitbull's owner made him drop Thor or what. Thor wasn't harmed at all. I hate to think how that story could have ended.
Right now, if we pass another dog on the street, I put Thor in a Sit and treat him if we doesn't bark while the other dog passes. In the park, he gets a treat for greeting a small dog, or not barking at a big one. I'm thinking maybe Thor will be better off if I pick him up (but no barking, or he won't get a treat). Then he'll know if I put him down, I have confidence that he's safe. |
Thank goodness Thor wasn't injured or killed! Although I am working on socializing, I remain fearful that a dog will go for my boys' necks.
I tried the routine of picking up Max when we passed dogs because I couldn't find an effective way to communicate to him that there was no danger. All the experts will say that picking up the dog is the worst thing you could do. When I picked up Max, I would deep breath to signal to him that everything was okay. That worked for awhile, but then he went back to barking at every dog we encountered. I can't say it was a worthless exercise because I think now he listens for my deep breathing when I leave him on the ground.
Giving him a sense of "loose" leash also helps. When I pretend to leave it up to him whether or not he wants to get close to another dog, that is when he looks to me for direction. Reverse psychology for dogs.
We do all of our walking in the street and open areas. Not sure how I would handle things on sidewalks where there isn't much time to assess an approaching dog and owner.