We found a dog through Petfinder--she's a mutt (lol) but her previous owner was told she was a husky/shepherd/lab mix. She is spayed (has been since about 8 months old or so), and is about 17 months old.
Here's my issue: She was raised with two little girls (now 10 and 2) and my girls are 7 and 4. She is generally very patient with my kids, as she was with her previous kids. Often when they are running a little wild, as little kids do, the dog will just ignore them. But sometimes she gets a wild hair and as they are running, she will follow/chase and nip at their heels or hands. She also does this when we return home after being gone a little while--jumping around, biting your shoe, mouthing your hand, and generally acting spastic.
Does this mean she is an aggressive dog, or is it just typical of her age/breed/etc.? How do we stop her from doing this? We are definitely wanting to do obedience training, the problem is that the only place listed in the phone book isn't taking new signups until after the first of the year, apparently the lady does do private lessons but she hasn't returned my call.
We saw her with her previous owners (well, the lady of the house anyway) and she would play mouthily with her, and the lady would kind of bat at her open mouth with the flat of her hand--so the dog tries to play with us that way too. The problem is, I REALLY don't like that--it scares me that she is going to bite off a finger or something. She said that her husband would roughhouse with her, and so she tries those tricks with my husband, but he doesn't want to play that way with her either. They told me they thought she was still teething some--she has one of those supposedly almost indestructible Nylabone thingies and she has already gnawed small chunks off. I have a Wal-mart knockoff Kong toy, but she's not really interested in it, even if I put stuff inside (treats, etc).
Also, shortly after we returned home with her, my BIL and nephew (age 5) came by because he wanted to see the dog. Afterwards I have read that it probably wasn't a good idea--she was hyper, barking like crazy, and supposedly she has a harder time warming up to men anyway. Well, he told my MIL that the dog nipped at his son, I didn't see it, but now I'm nervous that I've got some kind of wild attack dog on my hands. Do you think that was just due to the fact that she was heavily stressed at that point?
This is the first time either my husband or I have owned a dog, so we really are flying by the seat of our pants here. Unfortunately I was really afraid of dogs as a little kid so now some of that is coming back. We have a six foot wood fence around our yard, but our neighbors on two sides have dogs, and sometimes when she's out there, they will all start barking and she barks so loud and growls at them and it makes me afraid that she's going to maul me or something. *sigh*
I'm sorry for sounding so dense, I guess I just need a little reassurance and help and encouragement. Thanks in advance.
Here's my issue: She was raised with two little girls (now 10 and 2) and my girls are 7 and 4. She is generally very patient with my kids, as she was with her previous kids. Often when they are running a little wild, as little kids do, the dog will just ignore them. But sometimes she gets a wild hair and as they are running, she will follow/chase and nip at their heels or hands. She also does this when we return home after being gone a little while--jumping around, biting your shoe, mouthing your hand, and generally acting spastic.
Does this mean she is an aggressive dog, or is it just typical of her age/breed/etc.? How do we stop her from doing this? We are definitely wanting to do obedience training, the problem is that the only place listed in the phone book isn't taking new signups until after the first of the year, apparently the lady does do private lessons but she hasn't returned my call.
We saw her with her previous owners (well, the lady of the house anyway) and she would play mouthily with her, and the lady would kind of bat at her open mouth with the flat of her hand--so the dog tries to play with us that way too. The problem is, I REALLY don't like that--it scares me that she is going to bite off a finger or something.
She said that her husband would roughhouse with her, and so she tries those tricks with my husband, but he doesn't want to play that way with her either. They told me they thought she was still teething some--she has one of those supposedly almost indestructible Nylabone thingies and she has already gnawed small chunks off. I have a Wal-mart knockoff Kong toy, but she's not really interested in it, even if I put stuff inside (treats, etc).Also, shortly after we returned home with her, my BIL and nephew (age 5) came by because he wanted to see the dog. Afterwards I have read that it probably wasn't a good idea--she was hyper, barking like crazy, and supposedly she has a harder time warming up to men anyway. Well, he told my MIL that the dog nipped at his son, I didn't see it, but now I'm nervous that I've got some kind of wild attack dog on my hands. Do you think that was just due to the fact that she was heavily stressed at that point?
This is the first time either my husband or I have owned a dog, so we really are flying by the seat of our pants here. Unfortunately I was really afraid of dogs as a little kid so now some of that is coming back. We have a six foot wood fence around our yard, but our neighbors on two sides have dogs, and sometimes when she's out there, they will all start barking and she barks so loud and growls at them and it makes me afraid that she's going to maul me or something. *sigh*
I'm sorry for sounding so dense, I guess I just need a little reassurance and help and encouragement. Thanks in advance.
