[kjc]

My Sapphire is afraid of men, and anyone she doesn't know! At the same time, she can be protective of me. People walking fast definitely will set her off, but if one walks slowly past her she's fine with that.

I keep a container of Gerber Graduate puffs by the door, when anyone comes in they know to grab a few a just toss them to her (one at a time). This has been the ultimate ice breaker for her, I can see the tenseness go right out of her body. But the person still has to walk on the slow side through the house. After a few days she would take the treats out of their hands.

As I don't have much history on her (she was 2 when we got her) I don't know what has caused her to be like this. She has bitten people in the leg on a number of occasions, when they forget and are walking fast or running through the yard or house.

I just have to be on top of things, and remind people to slow down or restrain her before she goes off. I am hopeful she will grow out of this behavior eventually, as I continually work at alieviating her fears.

At times I have had to put a leash on her so I can stop her quicker, but it's important that I stop her reaction before she takes off, afterwards it doesn't teach her anything.

It's like teaching her a different way to react to things that set her off. If I stop the reaction before it happens, I'll eventually break her habit of reacting that way. Or that is the plan anyway!

Good luck with your baby, I hope you can work around this and get him straightened out.

PS: If you do the 'Cesar jab in the neck' thing, be prepared as he may transfer his aggression to your hand and turn and bite you. That's what happened to me!