my sheepy freaked me out
this happened last weekend. the little girl has been around sammy before and he always has licked her face and was super friendly with her. then Saturday, i was sitting on the floor between the little girl and sammy. both were calm and out of nowhere he lunged at her smacking his jaws, like he was going to rip her apart. likely I was between them and (with her dad) tackled him to the floor before he could get a hold of her. i was so freaked out by his actions. (i slapped him on his nose 3 times...hard: he ran and laid down on his blanket in the living room, and stayed there for 2 hours) i also ignored him the rest of the night. what if he would have got to her? i mean, i have seen sammy lick this little girl in her face before, what happened if he would have went crazy then? 
anyway, i love my sammy and i know he is a good dog around everyone else. our best friends / neighbors (parents of the little girl) were freaked out, as were we. the Vet said that sammy must have gotten jealous. i hope that is the case- what can i do?  |
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| There will be a lot of responses to this, probably, so I won't try to make my answer all encompassing. Besides, it'll all be my opinion which isn't worth much in the big scheme of sheepie behavior.
#1) Has he been neutered? If not, and you don't plan on breeding... go see the vet! I would certainly be careful with Sammy around children from here on, at least until you understand this behavior better. No hugs from kids! Single hand pats on the back! I would suggest that sitting on the floor with Sammy may not be a great idea right now, as coming down to his level may give him an idea that he can challenge for alpha status. I'm so sorry this happened. He's young. Hopefully he'll learn and in time you'll be able to trust him around kids again. |
| I was going to ask how old Sammy was, but then I thought, Tyler is 11 years old and there are times when he gets snippy when Kiera (our other sheepie) gets too close to me. This does not happen all the time, but it can happen. Sheepies from my experience anyway, sometimes get confused as to where they fit in the family. While I treat my sheepies like they are my kids, I have to be aware that they too have moods and moments and I need to be aware.
Years ago, Tyler appeared to have nipped a neighbor girl of about 6 years of age. She rushed towards him to give him a hug and in his exuberence he too rushed towards her and his teeth met her boney little girl chest. The skin was not broken but the tears did not stop for a very long time. I went to the store and got a cute card with a pathetic looking dog on it and wrote a "I'm sorry" note from Tyler to the little girl. I wrote it like it was Tyler's words of sorrow to the little girl and told her that he didn't mean to frighten her. It worked wonders. She is not such a little girl now and when she comes to visit my mom and Tylers there, she just pushes him out of the way and walks past him. My best advice is to keep an eye on him. If his mood is such that he wants your attention then don't have him around little kids. And in my case, I have to keep the other dogs out of his way too. I understand your concerns and fears, I too share them. One other note is obedience class is very important. When you have smart dogs, like any dog from the herding class, you need to keep them challenged. I suggest training them with tricks a life long journey. It will keep them occupied and wanting to please. Always a good place to begin from. Best of luck with Sammy, I know he's a good dog. |
| may have just been a fluke, not everything is a trend in the making. |
| Maybe if Sammy gave up the Yuengling it would help...
Just kidding but that's also my favorite beer (nice avatar). Good luck and I hope it was only a 1 time occurance. |
| I agree with what Ron has posted. I would be very careful with him around kids, like Ron says, no cuddling and licking, just a gentle reintroduction. |
thanks guys  your input means allot to me.
sammy is clipped 
and he has never showed aggression toward me and my husband. we love to lay on the floor with him and play or lie on his tummy and watch TV. he is such a good dog. 
he is so spoiled, we don't keep him in a create or cage...ever. we let him sleep in our room on the floor at the foot of our bed. i guess he fells that he is our younger brother, in the way that he is very obedient but we still can be on his level. |
Anonymous wrote: Maybe if Sammy gave up the Yuengling it would help...
Just kidding but that's also my favorite beer (nice avatar). Good luck and I hope it was only a 1 time occurance. I agree. I think Sammy had a few too many lagers! |
| Erin,
Sorry to hear you've been through this experience with Sammy. Unfortunately, it is not so uncommon for dogs to react this way with children - particularly when they are down on their "level". Children - being at "eye level" with the dog - become someone to become "alpha" over. Sammy probably became threatened (in his mind) and was warning the child to "back off". Regardless of why he did it - it's unacceptable and obviously very dangerous to put him in this situation again. I would recommend a refresher course in obedience (positive reinforcement only). You will need to always be careful with Sammy and children in the future - regardless of how he behaves - you never know when this could happen again and next time it could be worse. My sister is going through the same thing with her 3 year old Basset Hound. She never thought she'd have to worry about a Basset with children - but Mosi is a different story. I recommend reading two books, The Dog's Mind & The Dog Listener. It will give you an idea of what is going on and some tips on how to avoid this in the future. But - you will always have to be careful with Sammy!  That's just the way some dogs are (and one of the reasons that children & OES don't always mix well).
Good LUck! Kristen -------------------------------------------------------- Here are links to the books that Kristen has recommended: [-Ron] The Dog's Mind: Understanding Your Dog's Behavior The Dog Listener: Learn How to Communicate with Your Dog for Willing Cooperation |
| Erin,
I just read in another post that you just adopted Sammy a few months ago. Unfortunately, with an adoption - you don't know much about the dog's past - and Sammy may have been reacting to something that happened to him before he came to live with you. He could also be feeling a little insecure. Have you brought Sammy to obedience - I think it would help build his confidence??? Good Luck! Kristen |
| Erin,
Sorry about your Sammy trouble. I noticed that you mentioned that Sammy had been clipped. I assume you are talking about his coat. My Maggie gets really grumpy and snappy when she gets furry. She hates being hairy (which I know is bad for a sheepie). Once MAggie's vision starts to be impacted she will become noticably more snappish. Just a thought. |
| Hey Lorraine,
Thank you. For your response. I meant clipped down below. so no sheepy babies |
| Lennon exhibits exactly the same behabiour when my little nephews come over to visit. We decoded the behiabiour as he felt challenged by the children. We have no children of our own, so the house is very peaceful. Noise and routine disruption are bad for these dogs, and any change to their environment is not welcome.
Lennon is very friendly outside, kids love him and play a lot with him and he plays back, even babies pet him and throw the ball and stuff. The problem is indoors, because you are adding an element in his territory that to his eyes are challenging him. Kids that visit are usually very friendly to the hosts and like to pet the dogs too much, chase them and be overwhelming to them, since they are not used to seeing OES. So, keep an eye on your dog so that the children can play inside, and the most important thing, stay calm. If you get anxious, the dogs will pick your feelings, and will turn agressive towards the children because you are focusing your anxiety on them, thinking that children are dangerous... (Go figure!) This episodes tend to go away when the visits stay 3 or 4 days, when they get used to them and realize they that the kids are not a threat. Alway, reassure your dogs that they are still above the children (Pet them first, play with them first, Go in/Out in this order: You/Dogs/Children so that their status remains). Explain visitors why you do that and allow them to interact with the children, let them play with them and feed them treats and that way your dogs will see thet children are not a treath. Good luck! Hope these pointers are helpful!! |
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