My Eskie

[Guest guest]

Thanks for all the great responses to my query about the Eskie I'm getting.

I'm getting him next weekend. Thankfully his transition will be buffered by

the fact that the relatives who currently have him will have to stay at my

house that weekend before they move to Texas. So the little guy will have

his mom and dad with him in the new home for three days before they have to

leave him with his " foster " mom and dad--me and my husband.

 

I had an epiphany this weekend as I was doing some reading on Eskies and

fear biting in dogs. He ONLY has bitten or had bad reactions to strangers

when they come THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR. Never outside the house. Also never

if the stranger is already in the house and sitting down when the dog is

brought in. I realized that the monsters who had him the first year of his

life (the ones who neglected him and kept him locked in the garage) probably

would just walk through the door, hit him or kick him then throw food in his

bowl. No wonder he's terrified of people coming through the door! As soon

as someone walks through he probably thinks he's going to be kicked. That

explains why if someone is already sitting down in the house when he sees

them he has no issues and why he LOVES being taken to the dog park and

meeting new people and new dogs. If people aren't coming through the door

they are not threatening to him. Now that I feel I've identified his

problem I feel more armed and confident that I can address the issue. I did

read not to " reward " his bad behavior and that I should go about

desensitizing him to visitors coming to the door very slowly.

 

I will joining that Eskie --could be a valuable resource for me.

And I am going to check into a behaviorist too. Really he's a cutie--his

name is Sarge and he's all energy and love. He IS a one person/one family

kind of dog. But as I said, when a stranger is not coming through the front

door he has loved attention from new people so it gives me hope that he may

be able to overcome this problem. In the meantime I'm heeding all the

advice I've received here--don't have strangers approach him too fast, no

eye contact at first, no rewarding his bad behavior, and above all--hide him

when the pizza guy rings the doorbell! Thanks folks you've all helped me a

great deal!