OUCH! Just been nipped...

[JaxTellersOldLady]

on the bum! It bloody hurts. Was babysitting for my friends child and my dogs (loofa) Mum was there, went to put my coffee cup in the kitchen where she is with her puppies, my back was turned and she launched herself out the pen as I passed and nipped me on the bum.

I roared at her to get back to bed and she did, carried on putting my cup away and walked past her again back into the lounge.

Got such a fright - told them when they got back and they were v apologetic. I have never been frightened of a dog in my life, but I am so wary of her now.

Understand she is whelping, it is just hormones and not normally like this.

Just posting as I got a fright. And now have a nice bruise on my arse.

PS I dont normally roar at my or anyone elses dogs.

no sympathy from anyone in dogland?

I feel great sympathy for the bitch, tbh.

Turn it around.

'There I was, lying with my new born baby, when a stranger came into my room. I was really upset and told them to go away, whereupon they roared at me.'

Kind of guessed you weren't looking for that kind of sympathy, though.

Bella - I am not a stranger to her.

What was I supposed to do, praise her for it? Roaring - wrong choice of word, but I did tell her to get back to her bed in a loud, firm voice.

Maybe not a complete stranger, but she obviously felt unhappy with your presence otherwise why did she nip you?

If it were me I would have said nothing, walked away, and told myself off for being so daft as to go mear a newly whelped bitch.

Roaring at her or telling her off merely reinforces the idea that you are threatening and increases her stress even more.

She was protecting her pups from what she perceived as a threat. She did nothing wrong.

yes, she was protecting her pups, I understand that, but at the same time I dont want her to think she can do that to me.

If I had said nothing and walked away she may have thought this was ok to do again. Next time I am round I am going to ignore her.

and in my OP I did say that I got a fright. Which I did. She isnt normally like that, which I also said.

Why so hostile towards me Bella?

I'm not being hostile to you, Jax. I don't agree with you, but I have no hostility towards you whatsoever.

well life would be very boring if we all shared the same view on things.

I just dont relish having a nip on the bum.

It's really just a sign of how much we trust them isn't it? That we don;t expect them to react in such a situation and when they do our feelings (let alone our bottoms) are hurt.

But is is just natural dog behaviour, just a doggy 'sod off' as it were, iirc this is a gsd we are talking about yes? Crappy for you with your brusised bum, but all in all just a warning snap a bite would have caused some proper damage.

It makes me think of the example of people who say their dog is so well behaved that they can easily take it's food away, try not feeding the same dog for 4 days then try the same thing with the bowl and just watch instinct kick in.

They are after all, just animals.

I know WTWTW - maybe I have learned a valuable lesson.

I will keep my coffee cup and myself seperate from the hormonal girl and her pups when alone with her.

It is a trust thing, you are right and hurt feelings (and bottoms) all round. It is ok, I will survive, she will be fine and the world will keep spinning.

Had forgotten in all honesty how protective mums can be.

And agree - if she had wanted to bite me she could have, it was a nip.

I hold no malice towards her, she is a good mum and will have my wits about me next time.

Dogs - sadly for them - can't sit us down over a cuppa and say 'Now listen, old chap, would you mind awfully not doing that?' Their options wrt communicating these things are slightly more limited.

Don't know if you've already read it, but I'd recommend Jean Donaldson's 'Culture Clash'.

And Arnica for your poor bum

thanks Bella, got DH to put some Savlon on last night, got some Arnica at the ready, but a bit of skin is broken so will avoid that part.

Will get that book to read, do you recommend any others?

I do think a nice cuppa and a woof/slobber fest is far more civilised, but she did get her message across, loud and clear.

I'm really interested in the responses on this thread. I do sympathise with you Jax but I also entirely understand the responses by Bella and others.

What interests me is the degree of acceptance of the dogs tendency to nip in these circumstances. I agree with that acceptance. Clearly it is up to us humans to create an environment in which we can 'work around' the dog's defensiveness here.

But contrast that with the TOTAL lack of acceptance of a nipping dog in other circumstances. I have a Jack Russell who despite being very obedient will never entirely lose the instinct to protect certain zones, e.g. the car. He is entirely deferential to his 'clan' of humans but, despite all my efforts, I wouldn't trust him with a stranger getting into the car, and I usually crate him before a stranger comes into the house. Similarly, because he is nervous at the vet I muzzle him before consultations.

My view is that his tendencies, though regretable, are as understandable as the bitch's in the OP and can be managed by suitably careful routines, strategies, etc. But I have often come across the view that a nipping dog is just socially unacceptable: most shockingly one of the young vets at my surgery said this, even though I have always taken the precaution to ensure that neither the vet nor anyone else has been bitten.

Can I recommend any books, Jax? Like asking Imelda Marcos if she likes shoes

That's the main one. The essential one. My lovely friend Midori posted a link to an article from it recently here and that will give you a flavour of it.

It's very highly regarded by behaviourists. Unlike the Mexican chap with the botox and the snow white grin - please never, ever go near his stuff.

It's the whole way behaviour and training has moved in the past 20 years. Away from punishment and towards positive, reward-based training. Understanding a dog's motivation and limitations, and trying to work with those to produce better, happier results for all. We do it with our children, why don't more of us do it with our dogs?

Not suggesting you are not a good dog owner already, Jax - just a general observation. If we all took just a little time to try and understand what makes dogs tick, rather than being so intensely focussed on making them do what we want, by golly the world would be a much better place

p.s. the book is actually much more of a training manual than that link might suggest

hi bella - I read the link and a few others on here and will be off to amazon in a mo to buy.

I have read Cesar Milans book, nuff said about him.

I do positive training, absolutely. And motivating my dog(s) is key. Having German Shepherds who arent interested in food rewards I long for my labs of childhood who would do anything for any food reward!

thanks for link and advice.

You're very welcome. Any time