Bye Bye Puppster

Alright... I thought I said before that if you are approaching a dog with fear aggression, particularly towards strangers, that you ignore the dog. That means not even sticking your hand out when the dog approaches you. Pretend you are a tree. Do not respond, do not react. The dog is not there. The dog is not there. Don't look at it. Don't talk to it. Don't bend over. Don't stick your hand out... 

That said, the obvious happened while I was at work. The significant other had company over, and one of the rather tall, strange men, put his hand out to our dog when our dog approached him. He got a warning nip and our doggy ended up going into a freak out of barking. 

That said, the dog has been returned to its previous owner (my sister). My sister, also an LPN, has tracked down an amazing trainer in the area (I'll post the trainer's info later if I can get my hands on it), and is looking into anti-anxiety medications for the dog.  Poor pup. He's a really good dog, but since he is half-Bernese and was not socialized properly as a puppy, he has a bad case of stranger fear, hence his behavior. 

Unfortunately, my significant other is not experienced with dogs, so training a behavior such as aggression out of him wasn't an option for him. Understandable. That dog is scary as hell when he's being aggressive. 

No one wags their tail to greet me anymore when I come home from my evening shift. I told my SO he has to thump the wall for me so I can pretend it's the dog greeting me. Thus far, he is no dog. Even if I call him one at times!

Boo-urns. 

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