Devastated Owner.........

Hi All

I have a N/Mastiff x Presa Canario bitch. She can be very wary of men & barks loudly at them if they come in the house, but i tell them to ignore her & she normally comes round.

However my brother called yesterday & she has only ever seen him once before, she barked at him then but he ignored her like I told him to as she was fine. But yesterday she bit him. I am absolutely devastated.

The situation was, that my brother walked in with my two nephews, I told the boys to ignore the dog ( even though she seems fine with kids). I said to sit down & ignore her, she continued to bark so I made her come & sit with me. I noticed at one point my brother was staring at her & I told him not to do that, but unfortunately my brother knows best. He then decided to get up & go & check his van. So he went outside & then came back in as he got to the hallway the dog was barking & just standing & staring at him. He asked me to come & get this bloody dog & as I got up to move her back she bit his stomach. He had scratches & he said he haid 4 puncture marks which i didn't get to see as after it happened he got very aggressive & threatened to punch the dog in the head & then stormed out.

I have had some advice already but am interested in any opinions or help whatsoever.

Many thanks.

Hello, and I can understand your anguish over this.

After a first read through, my initial reaction is that there is a problem here with your dog that needs to be sorted out properly and with experienced guidance because next time it could be much more serious.

I know that tomorrow there will be people who can put you on the right track, because obviously it is rather late at night now and most people have logged off, and I really hope that something can be done to help you and your dog.

I feel for you, I really do, and I hope that you can sort this problem out, but in the meantime have you considered a muzzle for when people visit the house, and whilst out walking?

Good luck with this.

I am not far away from you as the crow flies!!

Agree with Bitkin,I also think your dog needs help from someone experienced.I'm not saying your brother deserved this( please don't get me wrong)but by staring at the dog he made an already unstable situation much worse.I hope you get some help and I wish you well.

I am sorry this has happened, in a way it is partly your brother's fault as he ignored what you asked him to do but in another view your dog shouldn't have been in a position to do this. I am not having a go at you with this.

You have a big, powerful dog, if she was a very small dog everyone would laugh when she did this. I also have a dog that is very wary of people especially men and I keep her behind a closed door when someone comes to my house. If they are staying for a while I then have her behind a high dog gate so she can see them but can't go to them. Eventually I am able to let her meet my visitors because she has settled down and worked out they are not a threat.

Safety takes priority over everything, with a dog like you and I have that means we have to take more care and manage our dogs. Both our dogs are capable of killing someone and we have to take that into account when managing them.


Personally I don't care if my dogs never meet anyone else but other people find this very strange, my dogs are my companions not any visitor who comes to my house. When people think they know more about dogs, especially mine that I do I make sure they my dogs and them never meet. Several of my dogs have been abused and I don't want bad memories for them.

HUGS.

A bit of an explanation on why I think as I do, I have known quite a few people who had a trainer/behaviourist out to their dogs with this problem, most of them didn't have a clue even though they were asked and said they had a lot of experience. Several said they were positive trainers but told the owners that they need to take charge of their dogs as the dog was dominating them. They had to go through doors before the dog, they had to pretend to eat out of the dog's food bowl before giving it to the dogs, these dogs got worse not better.

Others were told to use a shock collar on the dog, others to have the dog on a lead and yank the dog back etc. etc. etc. All these dogs were made worse not better.

The most successful ones were those that kept the dog behind and gate or in a crate with no visitor going near the dog, they dog was then able to work out for themselves if the person is a threat or not and most of the time the dogs were eventually allowed out with the visitors.

Oh I do feel sorry for you my previous Bernese was wary of strangers. Soft as butter with his family and some people we could never work out his dislike of some and not of others.
We had him from 8 weeks old and he had never been abused he was just a nervous dog.
We took him to a trainer who helped a lot and taught us how to manage him.
First thing is never push the dog beyond its comfort zone.
We would also keep him behind a gate in the kitchen if visitors came he was not happy with. If he was comfortable with the visitors he was happy to be in the same room.
You do get some people who think they can get a dog to overcome their fear they can't and you won't it is only ever managed. Dogs usually growl first that's your first warning it should be heeded and dog removed from the situation which is making it uncomfortable.
If ignored the second warning will be a fly snap if that is ignored it will be the bite. Not sure if your dog gave any of these signals.
Your brother really should listen to you and how to behave around your dog and staring at a dog especially a nervous one is not a good move. If he is going to visit my suggestion would be put your dog where your brother can not upset it and your dog cannot bite.
There is a trick you can try. Have a bag of treats ready and as the visitor arrives give them a handful they throw one on the floor near the dog. They do not speak to the dog or look at it. They continue to do this till the dog looks like it is feeling easier. When sitting down they can place a treat on the arm of the chair again no interaction whatsoever this bit is very important. The dog may take the treat it may not do not force it.
keep trying this with visitors it may work it may not it didn't for Ollie but it did help reduce the stress levels in some cases but he was happiest in the kitchen with the gate across he could see and hear us and was happy not to take part unless he liked the people visiting.

I can't help thinking this was your brother's fault. The fact that he threatened to punch the dog would suggest he is prone to violence and your dog picked up on it. Your brother should understand, your house and your dog and your rules and if you say don't stare, then don't bloody stare! Also he went out and then came back in again - don't you think your dog was protecting his territory. If you feel safer, then sure put a child gate (or appropriate gate) up to stop him coming into contact with strangers but if people don't follow your rules in your home then they should stay away.

Just feeling quite angry about your posting - I feel you and your dog have been set up. I know you feel devastated but it wasn't your fault.

Sorry but if this was the first time, and judging by your brothers attitude towards the dog which comes across as not good (in your opening statement) I cant help wondering if he has willed that dog into this, was you there at the time and saw her bite? The very fact he stared at the dog is telling me he has a problem with it, and you have not seen the puncture wounds??? sounds ominous to me, personally I would not let him in again, your brother that is, or if you do never ever let him out of site with your dog again, some people are not dog lovers ive had someone deliberately pull my old boxers ears when they were drunk , you know your dog, personally don't do anything. I agree with Baxters statement the dog has picked up on your brothers violent attitude and maybe she felt threatened.

I,m amazed by some attitudes here that your brother is at fault, along with him being branded a violent man because he lost his Cool after your dog bite him

The dog bite him, before he lost his temper, all he did was look at the dog, then got up to go to his van.

To be honest, if your visitors can't move around the house and have to avoid eye contact with your dog then, maybe it's unwise allowing them to visit.

I think matties suggestion is the way to go, put your dog in a safe place when visitors come, give him time to adjust to them and work out for himself , they are not a threat.

Making eye contact with a dog is not a reason to place blame.

You have a powerful dog that is unsure of visitors, you can't place blame on your visitors if the dog reacts .

If someone is told not to stare at a dog and then deliberately does so...... it begs questioning. Some people do not like dogs. We are all entitled to our opinions. Freckles follow your gut feeling on this, but don't leave him alone with the dog again or anyone until your satisfied the reasoning behind it.