Fear of a stranger
Chelsea- 18 months old- good girl, a little timid/skiddish, not aggressive, very loving, has decided she either doesn't like or is terrified of our house guest today. I can't figure it out. She greeted him like any other person with lots of tail wagging, dancing, jumping, he held out his hand and backed a way a little (maybe was fearful) she sniffed his hand and ran out of the room, and ever since she has been cowering and ducking away from him- here is the kicker, he's a ten year old, 75lb little boy who loves dogs ( has his own Jack Russell puppy at home). I have a ten year old who she adores and ususally she's all over the kids who come to the house. Three times now since he has been here they have been in the same room and each time she cowers and slinks away, at one point he reached out to pet her and she peed all over the rug, this has now happened two more times. SERIOUSLY folks, this dog is not bashful around strangers, we are usually hauling her off and putting up the baby gate so that our guests can move freely without her jumping all over them. What is it about this little boy? He's very sweet and polite, soft spoken, he's very small for his age, but not timid, good with dogs like I said, what could it be that set her off? She is hiding in her crate and won't go near the kids, even when they had hot dogs and chips (no begging!!?) She wags her tail at first when she sees him and then the minute he approaches she pins her ears back and scoots her butt down. I'm afraid she could almost become aggressive if she felt he was closing in on her. Help? Any thoughts?? Thanks. Up. |
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| Up...I have no idea, that is kinda wierd. Have you tried having the little boy sit down with you on the floor and have Chelsea come to you? If she is acting aggressive, I wouldnt do it, but if she is just timid, maybe you with the boy on the floor might put her at ease....????? |
| I would encourage her to check him out too... there may be a smell or mannerism of his that she is simply afraid of. Perhaps the smell of his own dog... I don't know... it seems odd...
Dancer does that to my older brother, but I don't like him much myself and he is afraid of dogs, so her behavior is understandable with him. |
| I agree it's strange, and also unexplainable. Drez has never met anyone she didn't like, until this one time. Friends of ours visited and brought the husband's father along. We've known this man for many years but it was the first time he was at our house.
Drez started to go towards him to greet him, and all of a sudden, she stopped dead in her tracks and started growling! We were shocked! She had NEVER, ever shown aggression to anyone. If anything, she would be submissive, even to the point of submission peeing. So this really threw us for a loop. To this day, we can't figure out what she sensed in him that was that different from everyone else. Chris |
| Well - we never figured it out- my husband and I are stumped. The little boy was with us for about four hours and near the end, after the boys had been to the park for a while and come back, she lightened up a little. We are trying to figure if she was just tired or maybe he was a lot more scared than he was letting on ( new house, BIG dog, new friend). If HE was really scared and she sensed it, she may have not known how to react. Most of the strangers we have exposed her to are either used to the OES or have big dogs themselves and they think she's a goofey little pumpkin- not at all scary. He is a grim little boy, and that may have played a role, his mother is terminally ill and there is a deep sadness about him- but he is so sweet.
Who knows?! Crazy sheepie. On a lighter note- and you'll all appreciate this. We put off getting area rugs for our new house becuase we knew we would be getting a puppy, we waited for almost three years, and finally last month we broke down and spent a huge wad (for us) on rugs for the first and second floor of the house. Chelsea hadn't had an accident in almost 9 months, she obeys well enough we can get her to stop at the door with muddy paws, etc. - we thought we were home free- HA! 
We had the new bedroom rug TWO DAYS (!!) and our perfect little OES who never chews on anything naughty started eating the rug in the bedroom, another two days later she barfed on the other new bedroom rug , I came running and threw a pair of clean khakis between her and the rug! I couldn't think what else to grab- I was hollering for help so loud my husband thought the house was on fire- and poor little sheepie- she had a bad tummy- and then yesterday- with the little boy incident- she peed on the NEW living room rug. SO we've had the new rugs three maybe four weeks and only two remain that have not been "sheepie-fied". Life with the OES. (sigh) Up. |
 I know it;s not funny... but it was bound to happen sooner or later, better sooner so you can relax about the new rugs and let life happen. I was the same way with my then-new livingroom set. All brand new furniture, which I had waited years to get because I wanted to wait until all the kids were older, past the sticky hands and boogers stages....
I paid extra to have the whole set scotch guarded before I brought it home, and paid for a 7 year warranty against stains and tears. Well, was it ever worth it! Between muddy dogs who bound into the room at full speed to see who can jump on the couch first, and kids who, though older and know better, still forget sometimes and come in from outside where they've eaten ice cream and have it dripping off their hands.... but the set still looks brand new. I can take a damp cloth and remove ANYTHING that gets on it. The warranty still has another 2 and a half years I think, so I'm sure something will happen just after that... |
| uppetybup-
The only thing that I can think of with your house guest is, you said that he had visited a few times before. Is there any chance that on one of those earlier visits he did something mean to her? I know you said he is a quiet, sweet little boy, but you also said his mother is ill and sometimes little kids can act out on something/someone they don't think will ever get back out into the real world--like the dog, who can't go telling on him. Or, that he accidentally stepped on her hard or fell on her once...It is just a suggestion--I don't want to accuse the boy of something that he might not have done. |
| Actually - you may have misread- he has never visited before- that's the mystery. He is small for his age - and I wonder if she thought he was some other sort of critter, at any rate - we never did figure it out- but it has made us realise we cannot simply leave her alone with new kids, I was worried she might lash out at him in fear. I have NEVER worried about that with her before, although she became fearful a couple of weeks ago when we had guests (just my parents) and she ended up biting me ( I KNOW!!) Luckily I had gardening gloves on and no real harm done, but it was shocking to see the agression, since then we have been working on training her out of this behaviour, I am convinced it was brought on by fear and anxiety (too many people around, felt like they were closing in on her, etc.)
Good news is the little boy has told the bullies at school not to mess with him or my son because my son has a "killer" dog (HAHA) Yeah maybe it's her butt smell that's "killer" - that's about it! Up. |
We had the same problem with the "killer dog" thing. The boy down the street can't seem to understand that the more you run and scream the more Samantha will chase you. I have heard him tell the story to other people in the neighborhood about the killer dog. Sigh....Sam would lick someone to death first  !
Have you invited the boy's dog over to meet Chelsea? Maybe she is unsure of the smell. |
Up...Sorry to hear about your rugs....I too know how expensive they can be...we moved into a house that has all hard wood floors, no tile no carpet ...even the bathroom has wood floors(thats another issue altogether...kids not drying offf in the tub  ) Brian gave me an allowance of $500.oo for a bedroom rug...okay I thought, until I had to buy one...who knew that rugs were soooo expensive...$500.oo hah!!! He wouldnt budge on the amount so i had a piece of carpet bound 8x10 It looks like sisal but obviously a lot softer...only $300.00..best $300.00...Panda has decided that that rug is the one she likes to get sick on....oh well..at least its christened....good luck with your new rugs..I bet they look fabulous even after the christening |
Well, on the positive side at least now your rugs are "broken in". You might have spent months worrying over the first "accident" now it's done and over and you can relax!!! 
As far as the other issue, my guess is that there is something that your sheepie "smells" or senses about the boy that doesn't set right. Tasker has always been a "first impression" kinda guy. He will either love and adore you or want nothing to do with you from the very first instant he meets you. He absolutely LOVES his groomer but HATES her husband and has since day one. There have been people who come to the house who are greeted bith big slobbery kisses and others who get a cold stare and sometimes, yes, even a bit of a growel. I will say he seems to have pretty good instincts........he intensely dislikes my exhusband but loves my new honey. |
| Smart dog that Tasker!
Remember the "witch smeller" from Black Adder? Tasker could be the "not such a good match smeller" - you could make millions!
Up. |
| hehehehebe |
| Having had up to 6 adult OES in the house at one time, I came to the conclusion quickly that you can work 24/7 and not keep up with them. I would tell everyone that visited, "Welcome to our doghouse". Everything revolved around them, the type of rugs, the colors that would hide dirt-vomit and potty stains, etc........ I had 2 places in the house that were off limits to my dogs, my bed and the bathroom. Of course, they were along side of the bed and outside the bathroom door. lol
It's hard to say about the mood swings. Sometimes such minor things can be the cause. I was holding and petting my sister-in-laws bird one day. All was fine until I sneezed. (It wasn't loud either) It spooked the bird, she bite the fire out of me and hasn't had a thing to do with me since, except bite me the next time I tried to pick her up. So now I leave her alone. Hope you figure it out. |
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