Reply #34: I had a "troubled" dog that sounds like the breed you cite. [View All]

[susanna]

For the record, my girl died in January, and I cried my eyes out. Still do, some days.

She was what many trainers would consider an Alpha female. She and I had our share of tussles before she agreed that I led (from a female perspective) our "pack." She had no sympathy for weakness in anything, mostly other dogs, but sometimes I saw her trying to bully our nephews/nieces...to the point that she was banished from family days as her behavior warranted.

In other words, I would never take her where children were present unless I was controlling her 24/7. And I always was. I found ways to separate dogs/kids that were straight up ingenious if I do say so myself.

Now, if your family lets the dogs run loose and do what they want, then yes, you are absolutely right to be concerned. And, if they bite? You are completely right to care.

My dog, at family gatherings where "things to dominate" (children) were present, I was SERIOUSLY present to the point of forced leash at odd intervals. If she even crossed the minor line (semi-growl, beginning stalking posture) I set, she was either leashed and handled by me (minor infraction) or demoted outside and not allowed back in for about an hour. She knew why, too. We were consistent with her rearing; "threaten any human, find yourself outside the pack." She never bit kids. Now, she did bite us (puppyhood) but kids, never. If she had, I would have had to consider her fitness for "pethood."

We managed thirteen years of peaceful dog/human gathering interactions with our rules. The first few times my dog was shunned for bad behavior must have taught her something, because she became a great companion animal. Her senior years were quite placid, and she even adopted the role of protector for my youngest nephew.

When my dog died in January, my 1-1/2 year old nephew that she had "adopted" was confused the first few times we came over, without her, afterwards. He kept looking for his "buddy." Seriously! When she didn't show up for three consecutive weeks, he threw a fit and cried his eyes out on my lap and kept pointing at the door like, "where is the dog?" (Heartbreaking, as most grieving pet owners can imagine.) Thankfully, he seems to like us now for ourselves and not his "best friend dog" from before.

I have to tell you this, though: when I showed him a picture of my dog a few months later (when I could handle it), he smiled a huge smile at me and grabbed the picture and ran around with it to the places they had always "hung out." Now, seriously - wow. The thing that gets me is that this "baby" had a relationship with that animal that HE and SHE understood, but we didn't. Seriously. How amazing is that?!

on edit: clarification