Well
That was a disaster.
My neighbour was supposed to come over today and look at where I thought the waterline from my well might be. Avallu had been defensive towards him previously, possibly because he's been next door a lot with a big dog of his own, so I broke out the leash and hot dogs.
In the story that follows I'm second-guessing my actions a lot but I'll try and say it as straight as I can. I'm really struggling right now.
I gave the neighbour hot dogs and he was tossing hot dogs over the fence towards them, which is how I always start introductions. Then I had the neighbour come in the gate and toss hot dogs. Avallu seemed to be good, lying down on command, and I turned around to latch the gate with the leash still in my hand. At that point Avallu leapt at the neighbour and bit his arm.
I thought he'd just grabbed the neigbour's sleeve, and the neighbour said fairly calmly "he's got me" so I hauled Avallu into the house, locked him in, and came back. At this point the neighbour was on the outside of the gate, locking it behind him.
I don't remember this next part well, but I said something, and he said he had to go home and fix his arm and took his jacket off-- and Avallu had taken a chunk out of his arm. I said something like "he actually got you, got you" and I think screamed a tiny bit. The neighbour nodded, he was pretty calm, and there was a little back and forth. It went something like:
Him: nothing against you, but if that dog comes on my property he's dead
Me: I fully understand, I'm so so sorry.
(something here I don't remember)
Him: If a kid were to come by and put his hand on the fence it could go badly
Me: (something about how obviously it's not important right now, but he had let other people in and this hadn't happened before)
(something)
At some point, I think before I knew how bad the bite was, I'd said something like if he was willing to stand far from the fence and take treats to try to desensitize Avallu I'd appreciate it but understand if not, and he said something like he was afraid he wasn't interested in that.
He left, and I completely fell apart. I called the local kennel -- I'm worried about finding a good dog trainer in this area, but they'll be the ones who know who to talk to maybe. Then I called the emergency counseling line through work's plan and got myself less hysterical - she was a really good one-off counselor, I'll tell you that.
I'm equally terrified at the idea of Avallu hurting someone, Avallu hurting someone else now that I know he'll actually bite, Avallu being hurt/put down, and trying to repair the relationship with my neighbour.
My neighbour was supposed to come over today and look at where I thought the waterline from my well might be. Avallu had been defensive towards him previously, possibly because he's been next door a lot with a big dog of his own, so I broke out the leash and hot dogs.
In the story that follows I'm second-guessing my actions a lot but I'll try and say it as straight as I can. I'm really struggling right now.
I gave the neighbour hot dogs and he was tossing hot dogs over the fence towards them, which is how I always start introductions. Then I had the neighbour come in the gate and toss hot dogs. Avallu seemed to be good, lying down on command, and I turned around to latch the gate with the leash still in my hand. At that point Avallu leapt at the neighbour and bit his arm.
I thought he'd just grabbed the neigbour's sleeve, and the neighbour said fairly calmly "he's got me" so I hauled Avallu into the house, locked him in, and came back. At this point the neighbour was on the outside of the gate, locking it behind him.
I don't remember this next part well, but I said something, and he said he had to go home and fix his arm and took his jacket off-- and Avallu had taken a chunk out of his arm. I said something like "he actually got you, got you" and I think screamed a tiny bit. The neighbour nodded, he was pretty calm, and there was a little back and forth. It went something like:
Him: nothing against you, but if that dog comes on my property he's dead
Me: I fully understand, I'm so so sorry.
(something here I don't remember)
Him: If a kid were to come by and put his hand on the fence it could go badly
Me: (something about how obviously it's not important right now, but he had let other people in and this hadn't happened before)
(something)
At some point, I think before I knew how bad the bite was, I'd said something like if he was willing to stand far from the fence and take treats to try to desensitize Avallu I'd appreciate it but understand if not, and he said something like he was afraid he wasn't interested in that.
He left, and I completely fell apart. I called the local kennel -- I'm worried about finding a good dog trainer in this area, but they'll be the ones who know who to talk to maybe. Then I called the emergency counseling line through work's plan and got myself less hysterical - she was a really good one-off counselor, I'll tell you that.
I'm equally terrified at the idea of Avallu hurting someone, Avallu hurting someone else now that I know he'll actually bite, Avallu being hurt/put down, and trying to repair the relationship with my neighbour.