Quote:
Originally Posted by twicebitten  One of the things that sets him off occurred yesterday. I brought home a new bag of Meow Mix for a stray cat that we feed. Every time I bring a new bag home, (BEFORE it's opened), DJ stations himself in the vicinity of the bag, stiffens, and glares at anyone who comes near. This time the bag was on the top of a bookshelf and DJ stationed himself at the base of the bookshelf. After a while, I sat in front of him, talked softly, and assured him that everything was okay, no one was going to hurt him. Then I slowly reached out to stroke him and he tried to take my finger off. This injury was not as deep -- several bleeding punctures but they seemed to start healing quickly. Now it's just discolored. I used leather gloves to put a furious little DJ in his crate and moved the unopened cat food into the laundry room. DJ has now gone into the laundry room and is on guard. I just hope we don't have to wash any clothes today. As soon as Christmas is over, we will look into neutering. |
I don't want to sound rude, but if you l know what sets him off and then you go through that and then stick your hand out when he's already distresses...well you are in a way setting yourself up to be bitten...use calm neutral situations to encourage positive results in training not exposure to already stressed situations-only a training or behaviorist should undertake such a pursuit, or after you have some very good basics going on-like no more biting then move up to handling stress induced situations. You need to build up positive reactions and get some progress under your belt before tacking the bigger issues...try using treats to distract him and remove him from stressful places, situations and states of being and get to Neutral places (all senses of the word"places") treats seem to work best for many people -I'd be very hesistant to give a "biter" a toy to attack as this would encourage aggressive behavior-speaking of which what a stage behavior-mine just wee-wee on boxes the mail carriers bring in and strange bags-we had to really work on marking...you are really dealing with a very afraid dog confusing fear for dominance...I wouldn't look into neutering I'd schedule and do it ASAP...him recovering (if you aren't going anywhere and can watch him) during the holidays might be nicer situation...doubt many vets re open now though.