Thursday, February 17, 2011

Valuable Lesson 2/17/11

Today the dogs were wonderful and I felt great, so I played with them roughly. The result ended in a slightly swollen lip, but no blood. It was a "alright, that's enough" bite. Penny did not mean to hurt me. Here's what happened: we were playing without toys, meaning I was wrestling with them and play nipping at their heels like a rambunctious puppy. Boggie liked it pretty well and played back, but Penny thought it was kind of annoying. I got her to play with us after a little while, and she prances around with Boggie a little until they found the candy that fell out of my pockets. They only ate a little before I realized what it was and made them stop. I played with them a little longer and chased them and stuff. Then Penny started to walk away. I followed her, thinking she was still playing, but she wasn't. Her tail and posture should have shown me she wanted to stop. She went under the table and I followed her, poking at her rump. "Stop it!" she growled, snapping at me. I felt a pang on my lip and yelped to show my displeasure, backing out from under the chair. She followed. I told her to lay down, then pushed her on her side because I was upset and didn't want her to take over as pack leader. I held her there while I got a hold of myself, then I stood up and they went potty outside and then I left.

Valuable Lesson: If a dog is showing signs of wanting to stop, back off. They will snap at you if you bother them too much and they can't get away. It's flight or fight for them. Don't make them choose fight.


Signs:

Tail between the legs
Growling
Running away (sometimes they are still playing and want you to chase them)
Slinking
Slouching
Backing away fearfully
Whining


P.S. It was my fault and I do not blame Penny for snapping at me. Also, it did not hurt much and is not a big deal.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comment here and you won't blow up the world with a combusting llama! =3