I just got her Sunday from the shelter. She is 5 months and was born there. I had most of the lights off and was in the kitchen. I have a hard wood floor so I can hear her trotting behind me. I hid around the corner and as she came around I said
"RARRRRRRR!"
She FREAKED out! Ran really fast, crying into the next room. And then from the other room started barking. Then I called her and told her it was ok. She looked and looked to make sure that it was me. Then came to me. Is that ok? Or was that wrong? Could I damage her or make her aggressive by doing so? I thought it was a good idea at the time. Now I feel kinda bad. Should I?
2006-11-14 15:02:49 · 22 answers · asked by reowrrrr 2 in Pets ➔ Dogs
No, if you continue you are going to end up with a dog that is fearful of everything.
2006-11-14 21:02:20 · answer #1 · answered by Shepherdgirl § 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Of course you should feel bad! This animal was beginning to trust you and you abused that trust. Fortunately, dogs do forgive quickly and thoroughly. Please don't do it again, though. Find some way to tease her and play with her that doesn't frighten her. She could get nervous; some dogs show aggressiveness when nervous. Help her to be comfortable in her new home. Right now she's young enough not to realize it was you who scared her so badly, let her forget it entirely by never repeating it.
Sure, you're going to tease your dog. Everyone does. Somehow it's just natural to us humans -- well, ok, dogs tease each other, too. Please find a way that doesn't scare the dog. My brother-in-law had an excellent rule for teasing the housepets. He never told the kids they couldn't tease the animals, because they would do it anyway. Instead, he told the kids that when (not if, when) they teased the animals, they had to give the teased animal a nice treat of some kind afterwards. It worked. They had really well-adjusted housepets.
If you have some deep need to pop out and growl at the puppy, let her see you hide, too, so she knows it's a game. She may enjoy this one. If not, find something else to play.
2006-11-14 23:18:06 · answer #2 · answered by thejanith 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I wouldn't worry about it. Although I would probably wait until she's a little older before doing that and that she's really comfortable with you and knows you're her master. I scare my dogs all the time. It doesn't bother them and they usually come right back to play after I do it. But then again they're 2 and 5 in age so they know me.
I actually did scare the crap out of our first boxer...he was only 4 mths old and I scared him and he let out some poop in the kitchen...it was quite hilarious. And btw, he wasn't a scared dog or agressive or anything like that he was just fine.
2006-11-14 23:12:09 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
sorry, honey, but that was a very ignorant thing to do. your puppy may now have trust issues with you. also, she could become afraid of the floors, which i have seen happen before....bad experience on a certain flooring/freaky dog. please rethink games you think you should play with her. try happy games instead. i hope this was done out of ignorance, not stupidity. sorry, just being honest. people pay me good money to fix their dog problems that they have created in the dogs themselves. just telling her it is ok doesn't make her understand that. when you try and sooth a dog with human psychology, it doesn't get through to them. what you're actually saying is that it's ok to be scared. just forget that it happened and move on. if you hang onto it, she will too. move past it and play only happy, trust-biulding games with her like tag or fetch or hide and seek for toys. you can e-mail me if you have any more problems.
2006-11-14 23:49:24 · answer #4 · answered by gunnermom 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would wait until she is used to you to play games like that. It's a little early right now. My dad did the same thing to our dog one night. He was still a puppy and was on the bed in the dark watching a movie with us... Dad snuck upstairs and pretended to be a prowler. Kokomo was all protective and growly at first, but when "the prowler" got close, Koky got scared and peed on the bed. Needless to say, Dad never played "Prowler" again! LOL
My dog used to play hide and seek w/ us. We'd tell him to stay, go hide and then whistle for him... he'd run room to room looking for us... when he would find us, he'd wag his tail and we'd jump out and say boo. That might be a better game to play with your baby instead of scaring the crap out of her.
2006-11-14 23:21:55 · answer #5 · answered by lmakings 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Think about it the next time you are home alone and when the power is off at 12:01 a.m. When the thunderstorms are at it`s worse you will hear a different sound . But, the sound is Inside the house. Sleep well.
2006-11-14 23:23:38 · answer #6 · answered by Fightingpit 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not a good idea with a young puppy like that. You want to make her feel safe and comfortable first, the you can play like t hat, right now she needs stablization. She is in a new environment and needs to know that she is safe and loved.
2006-11-14 23:05:37 · answer #7 · answered by flybaby1313 1 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I would not say it was..."ok"...but it sure sounds funny! We do this to our dog all the time, of course he is older and knows it's part of a game and will even try to get us to play like that sometimes, but right now I would advise, LOTS and LOTS of reassurance that it was just a game.
2006-11-14 23:13:23 · answer #8 · answered by Texanborn 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There are better methods of bowel-regulation in pups.
It's okay this time but don't do it again or I'll have to report you to the Anti Puppy-Frightening League.
2006-11-14 23:10:04 · answer #9 · answered by Beejee 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Awww, poor thing! That was mean! You shouldn't do it again. You will make her a scardy dog. She will be scared of everything if you continue this. You should have praised her if she barked at you after you scared her so that she will be tuff and protect herself in the future.
2006-11-14 23:07:09 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋