[Dailydrool] dog bites

[Katie Strobel]

Hi Brooke,
I can only go from experience, but you may have to act fast to prevent
Moses from being affriad of other dogs. Watson has been bit pretty
severly twice by my parent's border collie. The first bite was on his
ear when he was 10 weeks old, and the second bite was on his head when
Watson was 2 or 3 months old. Watson is definetly affraid of Jack (the
border collie) and we have separated them ever since the first
incident, but as we all know, things happen. Since those two bites
that actually broke the skin, Jack has nipped at Watson at least
twice. Watson, therefore, has had more trauma that Moses.

After the first bite, Watson was unaffraid of Jack and that's how the
second bite occured. After that, Watson has always been affraid and
will tell us when Jack is too close to him by yelping if Jack gets
within 3 feet of him. Watson has never been aggressive but he is
certainly submissive when meeting new dogs that are bigger than him.
It is stressful for Watson to be around bigger dogs or a lot of dogs,
but he has never been aggressive or even given a hit at turning
aggressive towards these other dogs. I have no doubt in my mind that
if made uncomfortable enough, Watson has the ability to want to defend
himself, but we make sure things never get that uncomfortable. When
Watson is one-on-one with other dogs, he's takes just a bit to warm up
to them and by the time 5 minutes have passed, they're best friends.
Watson also plays with my parents other border collie Daisy just fine.

I don't know if we overreacted to Jack biting Watson and sort of
taught Watson this fear or if part of it is just natural. However, I
feel like he reads us in situations and if we're nervous about how
he's feeling, it only makes his nerves worse. I think our greatest
strategy to get Watson to be comfortable is acting as if nothing is
wrong. He takes strength from our confidence and he watches us.

I know this is long, but the other thing I will add is that Watson was
run over about a month ago now, and he was terrified. He has
completely healed (and the kennel cough is allegedly gone too) but on
his walks, he is now terrified of cars. When DH walked him the other
day, every time a car drove by, Watson ran and hid behind a tree. So,
he certainly remembers his traumas and it's up to us now to show him
that we can keep him safe on his treasured walkies and around new
doggie friends.

Hope that's helpful.
Katie and Watson