Ok, so the behaviourist comes today. MIL left yesterday so we booked the behaviourist in as early as we could whilst MIL wasn't here. I'm not going to lie a lot rests on what is said today and what she thinks can be done to help Rolo. A good friend of ours who owns and breeds staffies runs dog kennels and has been bitten very badly on the hand, so bad he may have to have fingers amputated. When I first heard I thought oh dear I hope the staffie doesn't have to be destroyed when we got more details it wasn't a staffie it was a labrador, someone's family pet being possessive over a toy! I have grown so so close to Rolo, I love him with all of my heart but at the minute we are all stepping on egg shells around him, I'm watching the children constantly. They aren't stroking him at the minute but just even walking past him can cause him to snap. It's the unpredictability of his outbursts that scare me the most. He can be fine one minute and then just snarl and snap the next. If I didn't have children I think I could cope with this behaviour but I do and they don't understand he could really hurt them. Feeling exhausted with it all to be honest. I just hope this lady has some great advice for us. Kris :-\
Re: Today's the day! Good luck today, Kris (and Rolo of course). Fingers crossed the behaviourist comes up with some helpful plans for you xx
Re: Today's the day! Oh crikey. I hope you get some answers and some positive help. Its so difficult and especially with children around. Our hearts go out to you all, Emma and Meg
Re: Today's the day! I am not sure how old your children are, but I am wondering whether, without you knowing, one of your children has done something to Rolo which has led him to feel defensive and nervous when approached ? When we got our lab my kids were 4 and 7, old enough to understand you would think, but I still had to watch what they did when she was asleep, had her food, was in her crate etc. I experienced growling and air snapping with her if they approached her and she wasn't in the mood for pesky kids! I will never forget when she was about 9 months old and sat in her crate, door open, and my daughters friend stuck her finger through the crate and Ruby snapped at her. Luckily the child whipped her hand away in time! I didn't get a behaviourist in but felt it was a case off managing the situations and educating the children about how to behave around her. As she got older she became less nervous about the situations. Even now, Ruby is 7, I still watch her like a hawk when my younger nephews and nieces come around and cant trust her. She is much more respectful of adults but I still wouldn't put my hand near her food bowl!! Chloe
Re: Today's the day! Good luck Kris, really hope the behaviorist has some good strategies to help you.
Re: Today's the day! Lots of luck I really hope the behaviourist can help and find a reason why Rolo behaves like this. I still find it very strange behaviour in such a young dog with no history of anything bad happening and no obvious pain. My fingers are crossed let us know how you get on.
Re: Today's the day! Wishing you well for today. I'm sure that the cause of the problem will be discovered and then you can work on the solution with Rolo. Dogs can be frightened by almost anything when they are young which then causes a problem as they get older but very few problems can't be overcome with training for both the dog and his/her human companions.
Re: Today's the day! Hope all goes well today and that the outcome may be what you wished for. By the way, are your children also involved today? I think it is very important to let them see how they should react to rolo. It is not only the dog, but most of the time a combination of the two! The dog has to learn how to behave when the children are around, but the children has to learn the dog language. Annemarie
Re: Today's the day! I hope she can help you get to the bottom of the problem and come up with a strategy to deal with it. It must be an very worrying time for you all
Re: Today's the day! Good luck with the visit,I think we are all interested to hear the result of the assessment.i know you have found this really worrying and emotionally draining.im really hoping you get a great action plan to move forward successfully Angela x
Re: Today's the day! thinking about you Kris, and hoping today's visit goes/went well.... No matter what...we'll do our best to support you!!!! Hugs!!
Re: Today's the day! Thinking of you, Kris (and Rolo of course). Whatever happens, please tell us and let us try to support you.... it's a miserable place to be. Big big hugs to all of you.
Re: Today's the day! Hi Kris, I've just caught up on this. I hope the visit from the behaviourist went well?
