I don't seem to have what it takes to reintroduce our dogs that fought twice. I have what it takes to read all about it and make plans, but as soon as they lock eyes and growl I get so scared. I pull back on the leash, I separate them, I walk one of them away. (My son with the other one on her leash.) I take a break and talk to myself and try again. Within moments one of them barks at something and the other one barks at them in response and they start to fight again. I pull them away and separate them. I am just making it worse by keeping them separated- one is upstairs one is downstairs. I want to keep trying and be successful but I just can't see past the very likely probability of them fighting again.
Do I just tell myself "It's ok if they fight?" That can't be. That's not safe. Do I just keep trying and separating over and over?
I have made changes. They both have a kennel now as their "safe space." We haven't trained on them yet, they arrived today. I have them both wearing a nice comfy harness with their light leads attached for effective pulling away (They were naked when they fought and we could not separate them, it was terrible.) We have all the dog rules you can imagine about treats and food and crumbs and toys and rough play. But...
One of them is our little nervous guy, 4 years old, considered "reactive" to many things. One of them is our new puppy, 4 months old, started smaller than him and now twice his size, and she (pup) is not deferring to his (little guy) growls anymore. And it seems like more and more things are setting little guy off.
I have the puppy enrolled in puppy obedience and socialization but the opening isn't until October. I have the little nervous guy enrolled in private training classes but they don't start for 2 weeks. I'm trying to get through each day one at a time. My sweet neighbor has been letting the little guy come over and hang out with her, where there are no other dogs, for hours each day. It's a great break from the drama but I know it's not helping the dogs with their problem, just helping me.
Any words of wisdom would be so welcome. I've read and read and planned and planned and when it comes down to it, I'm just too scared of them hurting each other. Locking into each other again, and perpetuation this fighting dynamic. How do I reintroduce them repeatedly without being so scared?
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/d4dms7/what_do_i_do_to_feel_ok_again_after_dogs_fight/
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