).Since the day I brought Zelda home, all the mens in my life (the boyfriend and his friends) have had this desire to lay on their backs and let puppy squirm all over their persons, more so their faces. And from day one, I have been against this. Anyone who has ever dealt with an overexcited puppy knows why. I've tried so hard to discourage this type of play because a) I didn't want her rehearsing the behavior that she can jump ON faces when people lay on the ground; and b) someone was going to get hurt. So up until now, I've failed in discouraging...really hard when boyfriend and I clash on the subject, but the one thing I absolutely would not permit was anyone scolding Zelda if she did nip/bite/scratch.
All the boys have suffered a nip or two in several areas that I'm sure hurt like a mo fo. But none so great as the bite tonight. Boyfriend was on his back on the floor. I saw Zelda getting WAY too excited and told him to stand up and stop allowing her to play like that. I walked out of the room, and when I came back, he was laying on the floor again. No sooner did I sit down did I hear a sound like someone just got a piercing. He yelped and immediately put his hand over his ear. First thing I said was, "Do NOT get mad at her." He walked over to me and asked me to look. She sliced the bumpy cartilage above his ear lobe, and like most head injuries, it bled a lot. It took a few minutes to get the bleeding under control enough to bandage him up.
So, the moral of the story: set your dogs up for success. If you constantly encourage situations, play, handling that is rough, your dog will respond in kind AND think that response is ok. If something is too much for your dog, back off. Let then calm, cool, and relax. But if you insist on encouraging those situations, be fair. Ultimately, the "bad" behavior you get in return is NOT the dog's fault.
For my lesson, I learned that I need to be more forceful with people who I feel are encouraging bad behavior with my puppy. I don't care if they continue to think I'm a nutter! I set out to raise my dog well, and that's exactly what I'm going to do to the best of my ability. I think I now have the full support of my partner. Sadly, it took him almost losing a chunk of ear to come around.
Thank you.
