I’m looking for some advice: my eight-month-old Australian Shepherd puppy is absolutely petrified of children. Last night, he even went as far as trying to bite one. I must admit, I'm gutted about it because I put so much effort into his training and he’s usually great with people (even if he is a bit shy, which is typical for the breed). So, as you can imagine, I gave him a real telling-off (he got a proper smack for the first time in his life) because I was so scared and I find that kind of behaviour totally unacceptable!
I know where his fear comes from; when he was a tiny puppy (and looked like a little teddy bear), kids would pounce on him quite roughly to stroke him (yes, not all parents teach their children that they need to ask before stroking a dog), so he’s ended up "traumatised".
My first instinct was to call my dog trainer, as the child in question is coming to visit this Saturday. She advised me to tell the child to ignore my dog unless he approaches her for cuddles; otherwise, she should just snub him.
But if he tries to bite her again, I’ve no idea how to react!
If any of you have dealt with this problem before and have any tips, I’d be so grateful for the sake of my lovely Atchoum!
Thanks in advance :)
Translated from French
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Who’s to blame if this poor dog hasn’t been properly socialised with all sorts of people? Dogs never attack for no reason, especially when it comes to biting out of fear.
Reinforcing fear with more fear by hitting him is useless, whereas a firm clap of the hands and a sharp “NO! To your bed, right now!” settles them immediately. But then I suppose the dog is just a reflection of his owner's training.
Hi @Atchoumaustrie,
I was wondering if you’ve managed to make any progress with your dog’s issue.
I’m not judging you for how you reacted. Sometimes we just get overwhelmed by the situation, and a dog attacking a child is honestly quite shocking. The same thing happened to me with my young dog; he’s normally such a sweetheart and is perfectly well-socialised, but he’s terrified of small children, especially when they’re being carried. He becomes really aggressive and totally unrecognisable. We’re going to see a pet behaviourist, but I wanted to know if you’ve been able to improve things on your end.
Best wishes to you.
It’s funny how you only hear what you want to hear. End of debate, I’ve found the answers I was looking for and everything went fine on Saturday. Now that we’re back home, we’re going to work on it. All the best :)
Erm... talk about the pot calling the kettle black? 😧
Because honestly, however hard I try to understand, I haven’t a clue what you thought you saw in my replies... 🤷 clearly you’re no expert at understanding things yourself then 👎
Anyway, the way you’ve put that isn’t exactly pleasant, but if you’ve got the answers to your questions, that’s the main thing... all the best to you too, then 🙄
It’s funny how you only hear what you want to hear. Anyway, end of discussion—I’ve found the answers I was looking for and everything went well on Saturday. Now that we’re back home, we’re going to work on it.
All the best :)
Um... this might not have been meant for me, but I’ll reply anyway just in case: personally, I never said you were mistreating your dog. I was just wondering—since you said that smacking him was a mistake—why you were considering doing it again, and why you said "because there were people around" as a way to justify what you did at the time. Especially if your training is so good; in that case, I don’t see why you’d second-guess yourself just because you’re worried about what those people think. That’s why I was suggesting you should have a bit more confidence in yourself and your training, and stop acting based on others and instead keep doing what’s right for your dog, as you seem to have done up until now... 😧
It’s true it was a bit of a (double) wall of text, so quite a long read, but if you look at my reply, I definitely wasn't accusing you of anything like that. I even noted that it was specifically to avoid doing it again that you came to this community for help and advice, on top of what your dog trainer told you, which isn't a bad thing at all—quite the opposite...
Humeur-de-Chien in particular replied and gave you some advice, as you asked, and you're now free to follow it or not. However, if you don't follow it and prefer to react just as "intelligently" (i.e., violently) as your dog does when he's scared (which I completely understand—panic reflexes happen, especially when a child is facing those teeth), don't turn around and say it's "because there are people around" or "it's a mistake but I'll deliberately do it again," because that’s a bit of a contradiction... 🙄
I think my words have been taken the wrong way. I’m not abusing my dog; he’s only had one smack in his entire life, and that was when he tried to go for a little girl. Look, there are times when positive reinforcement has its limits. In an emergency, when you don’t know any better, some situations require a sharp response (which might not be right at all, but in a panic, you sometimes do stupid things to avoid the worst-case scenario). I thought the girl was in danger, it was the first time I’d ever faced that problem, and I had a knee-jerk reaction by giving him a smack—it’s not like I was kicking him or anything, so let’s not get carried away. End of story. I didn’t come here to debate my mistake or my poor judgement at the time. Don’t worry about my dog; he’s absolutely fine. And please don’t question the love I have for him—he saved my life, gave me a reason to keep going, and I love him more than anything.
The reason I came to you for advice was so that we, as fellow dog lovers sharing the same passion, could have a chat and help me move forward with him through your own stories and experiences. I didn’t come here to be put on trial just because I slipped up once and didn’t have the right reaction in a tricky situation.
Now, there’s no need to call the RSPCA; Atchoum is doing great, and we’re going to work through this together.
P.S. I should probably remind you (or mention it for those who haven’t read everything) that we have a dog trainer I can contact at any time if I have a problem. She doesn’t come out to see us regularly because she knows exactly how I work with my dog and that I’m capable of handling things, just as I have with every other issue we’ve dealt with so far. There’s no reason we won’t get there, especially as Atchoum is such a lovely dog and trusts me completely; if he sees that I’m calm, he relaxes too, and he learns at an incredible speed.
So, there we go :)
(P.S. Sorry, I don’t mean to sound aggressive and apologies if I’m overreacting, I’m just mentioning it here because it’s just happened again, but I’ve seen it so many times in a row now and I’m honestly fed up. It’s got to the point where I’m wondering if this person is even real and why they’re even on this forum: could someone please tell "Deled 15" to stop copy-pasting that same old spammy ad onto every "potentially profitable" thread they find, without any regard for what the post is actually about? It’s just disrespectful opportunism towards people looking for help on here. I’m certain they don’t even read the posts or care about the problems people are facing; for all I know, they aren't even a real member of this community but just a salesperson whose job is to spam their link wherever they can... it doesn't help anyone and it’s getting really tiring, honestly, it needs to stop 😠)
You've been given some really sound advice here, just like you asked for, especially from Rina Sf and Humeur-de-Chien, to try and help him get over this fear of children and put a stop to this situation. Of course, if he’s literally trying to kill a child by ripping their throat out, I can see why a "good smack" might feel necessary; but if it’s just a "minor" fear reaction, hitting him is only going to reinforce that fear. I don’t think it’s a very good idea... (basically, you’re punishing his reaction by doing the exact same thing! o_O)
You’ll probably ask: "but how should I react then?", especially when you’ve got the pressure of everyone watching you... Given that he didn’t show any warning signs before biting, and I haven't been in that situation myself, I'm not entirely sure how to tackle it – maybe isolate him and ignore him... On top of the advice, Humeur-de-Chien also offered to give you the names of some pet behaviourists who could help, and that seems like a much more sensible idea than hitting him every time. I know you’d prefer to work with your dog on your own, but in a situation like this that’s getting out of control and could be dangerous, you might need to accept a bit of help. A professional will definitely be better placed to handle it than "the people around you". 🙄
Otherwise, keep working on the idea of gently getting him used to children. 🙂
Anyway, I wish you the best of luck and I really hope you manage (without any violence 😉) to get rid of this fear so your dog can be happy and settled again :)
First off, there are a few things I don't quite get: you say you find your reaction just as unacceptable as your dog’s behaviour, yet you’re prepared to do it again? And all because of "the people around you"? I don’t think that’s a very good excuse: are you really prioritising what "bystanders" think over the potential trauma or the risk of making the situation worse for your dog? In that case, why say you love him "more than anything in the world" when it seems he comes second to "public opinion"...? 😒
That being said, I do understand the reaction: "public opinion" is a very difficult thing to fight. Depending on who's watching, you’re labelled a bad owner, a bad parent, a bad person... but are they really in a better position than you to know how to handle the situation? Do they think you should have given his cute little backside a hiding, even though you feel it was a mistake? If you’ve had such great results training your dog using positive reinforcement, then why care so much about the opinions of people who don't know your dog and probably haven't got a clue about dog training? You're risking all the hard work you’ve put into his training. Have more confidence in your own judgement and the positive training you’ve established with your pooch! It’s not "other people" who’ll have to live with your dog’s trauma, it’s you—and more importantly, it’s your dog! So, if you think hitting him was a mistake, don't do it again, even if he repeats the behaviour. Of course, you shouldn't just "let it slide", but you need to find another solution—after all, that’s why you came to this forum, right? 😉
