both the dog and the owner's confidence have been destroyed by this incident. the dog will never regain confidence so long as she senses the owner is fearful. the dog needs confidence that her owner is in charge of all danger and so she is safe. since the owner doesn't herself believe that, neither will the dog.

you do have to do some flooding to get the dog to stop reacting. but first, the owner has to regain confidence. that doesn't mean in the meantime the dog should be allowed to be reactive. that just creates even more problems.

so until hayley gets herself to a place of feeling calm and confident and powerful in the face of encounters with bully breeds, she needs to not take her dog into situations where they will encounter those breeds. otherwise, her dog will become reactive, and that behavior will get reinforced, and then hayley's job as an owner gets that much more difficult.

corrections should come only when hayley can do them calmly and confidently in the face of the bullies. until that day arrives, avoid the situation. do not let zeus be reactive.

if someone else has better ideas for the interim than simply avoiding the situation, i'd be just as interested to hear it as i'm sure hayley would.

Thanks for explaining Alice, that makes sense <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Alice
I really hope there are no dumb questions...could you define "flooding"?

basically, flooding is when you put the dog in the situation he fears and you force him to face his fears.

lets say your dog fears strangers. so you take him to the mall on saturday afternoon. that's flooding.

what i'm suggesting hayley do i don't really think of as flooding, it's gentler than that. it's more giving the dog opportunities to respond without fear in fearful situations, but in a controlled manner. flooding would be taking the poor dog into a pen full of pit bulls. that, i don't think she should do! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

i used the term in the context i did because a previous poster did, so i was referring back to the same thing, so she could understand. but i actually would not flood the dog the way i am defining it.

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...could you define "flooding"?

Flooding: prolonged exposure to the stimulus until any negative reaction is cancelled.

Here's a discussion:
http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/showf...rue#Post4161761

thanks, connie. i'm afraid i'm confusing the issue with my imprecise use of terminology. good thing we have you around to straighten me out. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

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thanks, connie. i'm afraid i'm confusing the issue with my imprecise use of terminology. good thing we have you around to straighten me out. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

HAHAHAHAHA! We posted together and said the same thing.

Thanks, Connie and Alice

Hi Hayley!
I too am afraid of certain dogs. When I see a loose dog I feel a great deal of anxiety. I own two large GSD's and when I was younger I worked in a few dog kennels. I had no fear of dogs until my male GSD was attacked by another dog and has since had fear aggression towards ALL other dogs. Now on walks, loose dogs seem to sense his fear (and mine I'm sure!) and come right over. We had been attacked many times before I finally started carrying a stick. Just knowing I have it seems to make me feel more confident. I just want my dog to know that I will protect him now (as at times I wasn't able to since I was getting bit as well! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
I am looking into getting a stronger stick/bat/baton though as I don't know if mine will stop a bully dog from attacking.
Also, I don't know if your a fan of "The Dog Whispherer" on TV, but there are some good episodes which explain how to behave around certain dogs.
So I can understand some of what your feeling but certainly the advice to talk out your fears with others (like us!), carry a small weapon, walk in safer areas, and read about the breeds that cause you the most anxiety are excellent!
Samantha

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One of the ladies in my neighborhood as a small Yorkie-type dog and carries one of those mini-cattle prods. A fear of mine for the mini-prod would be increasing drive of a dog if it was already fighting/attacking or having a situation go from growl/bark to gnashing teeth. Many people in my neighborhood carry small clubs when out for a walk. A lot of strays or even more likely a lot of dogs escape their yard.

I was reading up on cattle prods; they are mainly for getting the cattle moving and only affects the immediate area where the prod makes contact. These prods don't have much voltage and from reading how they work, it seems a prod would only animate the already attacking dog. I imagine a mini cattle prod would even have less voltage. I would rather use a stun gun which incapacitates the animal (may kill it, but hey, it's my dog or their dog). Only thing with a stun gun, I couldn't find any info on whether or not the voltage would carry from the attacker to the one being attacked if they are in contact when the stun is delivered. Seems it would, since it's electricity. Or a gun which I would have no problem using on ANY attacker.