It’s all good

Well, it’s not all good, as the Leafs lost yet again and it looks as though they won’t make the playoffs.  Other things are good, though.  My arm is fine—it’s black and blue, but hurts very little and the few open wounds have healed rapidly.  I realized after a bit of thinking that if Dante had truly bitten me I would definitely have ended up in the emergency room, so what he did is probably better described as “grabbing” me.  He’s very large and very strong, so his firm “grab” is enough to cause a lot of bruising, but an actual “bite” would have been very damaging.  It makes me feel better about my relationship with him, as I do believe that when he realized what he was doing, he was willing to let go of me on just a verbal command.  He’s been very well-behaved since, and I’ve tried to be diligent about making him follow a command before he’s given any treats or allowed in his crate.  There are no more, “treats for just being cute”.

I think my bruising is barely noticeable, but Flippy says it’s more obvious from a distance.  We went out to Target today to pick up a few things, and the cashier was just horrified at my arm and asked me what happened, so I told her.  She immediately started to tell me how bad it was that my dog bit me, and how lucky I was that it wasn’t another person, and how I should go to the hospital and get shots and antibiotics, etc.  I appreciated her concern, but really, it’s not the end of the world.  One time in almost six years my dog snapped at me, and he did it after provocation.  He’s never been aggressive with the vet or any strangers (he loves the people who infrequently come to do yardwork), and he’s a wonderful patient when I’m doing things like cleaning his sore ears, checking his post-surgical incisions, or examining between his toes for lumps.  I can bathe him and clip his nails and clean his ears and there’s never, ever been a problem.  I don’t want him labeled as “dangerous”, although I’ll accept that he’s moody and can be possessive if not approached properly.  I would never recommend him to be around small children.  There are many dogs who fit that description, though, and it doesn’t make them bad dogs.  If anyone else asks about my arm I’ll tell them Flippy hit me, heh.

There’s been a definite lack of kitten photos lately, but that’s because they don’t stand still long enough for me to take pictures.  They alternate between being cute and annoying, and insist on trying to stand on our plates while we eat dinner.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/04 at 10:36 PM

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  1. More kitten photos! Please!

    Posted by zuleme  on  03/05  at  04:33 AM

  2. So glad your arm is alright.  Have you heard of the NILF (nothing in life is free) approach for dogs.  I am sure you have.  It sounds to me that Dante would do well with this approach.  Chances are.. you are already using it. 

    I would love more kitty pictures too :-)

    Posted by Simply Coll  on  03/06  at  06:50 AM

  3. Colleen, I’m familiar with the *concept* of “Nothing in Life is Free” as it relates to dog behaviour, but I didn’t realize it was actually an organized training method.  I did some web searches about it and they were enlightening, and I’ll certainly try to add some of them to our daily routine.  Since “the incident” I’ve started to make Dante sit before he’s allowed into his crate, but it’s going to require more thought for me to figure out how to add these steps to daily things like giving him food and water.  It’s tough because we’ve got two large dogs who spend time together, and Eli, the German shepherd, is pretty much perfect with regards to behaviour.  She’ll be influenced by changes in routine as well, and I want to make sure she feels good about the modifications.

    I appreciate you mentioning the technique by name… it’s been nice to read other websites to see that I’m not the only person who’s had this problem, and to know that others have certainly had it worse.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  03/06  at  05:57 PM

  4. It sounds to me as though the Target cashier does not really understand dogs.  Dogs are complicated as they are so much a balance of training and instinct.  It sounds to me as though Dante has a stressful few days and then a situation triggered some instinctual behaviour.  The fact that he let go, shows that he reclaimed his brain in the midst of it.

    I feel for you and understand where you are coming from.  It is hard to deal with a dog bite.  When my JRT was just 14 weeks old, I will playing with her on the floor.  She jumped up to grab the toy and, being uncoordinated, missed and grabbed my nose instead.  She tore through it with her sharp puppy teeth and that sent me to the ER.  I was so scared that they would label her a “bad” dog when it was just an unfortunate miscalculation on her part.  Fortunately, the ER doctor understood dogs!

    I hope that you and Dante are both feeling better.  I am going to take a look at the NILF methods.  I think that could be a good solution to our Border Collie’s issues.  He has such strong insticts that it seems like his brain is never engaged when he gets excited.  Of course, I am a really softy for giving treats just for being cute too.  I need to stop that.

    Posted by Expat  on  03/09  at  07:50 AM

  5. It’s been about a week and a half since “the incident”, and while Dante is still a bit odd, there’s been improvement.  He already knows that our new routine requires him to sit before he’s allowed in his crate, and I think he notices that life is more regimented. 

    For the first few nights after his crate pee accident he was crying to get out of his crate in the middle of the night, and then he’d run outside desperate to pee—I thought he perhaps had a bladder infection.  I think he was just suffering from a lack of confidence, though, and a couple of nights ago he began to sleep through the night again.  That was nice for all of us.

    It’s still a little tentative around the house, but getting better.  I discussed the issue with some staff at the vet’s office and they agreed that it seemed to just be an isolated incident, and they felt that there were enough extenuating circumstances to explain Dante’s behaviour.  Tonight I had to clean one of his chronically dirty ears and he didn’t utter a note of complaint, so I hope he’s back to being my nice little guy again.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  03/11  at  12:58 AM
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