Pain Response - Page 1

I was really taken aback last night when my eldest son stepped on my dogs foot. He yelped and we were all together and at first responded with sympathy to the dog, I reached for the sore paw and then he growled! This was a first, and then he directed his growl at my son and looked like he wanted to go for his throat! I immediately grabbed him by the collar and gave him a stern and physical correction. He then changed his demeanor and returned to our sweet "soft" showline who'd never bite for real. I hope.

I am hoping this was a fluke, and was an instinctual response to pain, anybody have any insight for me? He is almost four and never, ever, showed this side before.

How old is your son?

 14 years old, 5'5" and weighs @ 117 lbs.

Was the dog asleep?  If so, the growl could have been a reflexive waking reaction to abrupt pain more so than the result of "conscious" thinking.

It was at night  and the kids were on their way to sleep, and he might have been sleeping before, but no, he wasn't actually asleep when he got stepped on. 

I think I made it worse when I went to check the paw.... it was still hurting, and I made it worse? And he didn't understand? It was scary. Right after my discipline of him, he did jump up on my son's bed and slept there all night long, and was a good dog. 

I used to think he'd never bite anyone.... but now I'm pretty sure under certain circumstances, he would bite for real. If it were an intruder, that's fine.   What really got me, I swear, was his instinct appeared to want to go for the throat!

I'd actually be more interested to know what his facial expressions were.   

I was thinking he was a tot, which would have been even worse! But, I'd still take it seriously and watch on him. I agree that it could have been a sleep/pain/wake response, but time will tell. Keep an eye on their interaction for a while. I sometimes think that dogs do react to hormonal changes in teens, but this was a different scenario. I've heard of goofy things happening between dogs and human "siblings", but haven't had any personal experience.

The only thing that even comes close happened with my adult daughter and one of the dogs I left behind in the split. My daughter worked for my x and he brought the dog to work every day. One day, my daughter was talking to her father and the dog attacked her from behind, unprovoked. They were buddies before this incident and since I wasn't there, I have no idea what precipitated the attack.  She's tiny and he could have done some damage had her father not interceded.  I can say that the dog has little respect for any authority because he's never been taught where he should fit in the remaining pack. Any authority I instilled was undone when his master took over for good. My daughter is now terrified to be around him and he will never be allowed any interaction with her children. I'm just glad it wasn't my granddaughter! The sad part is, he could have been a great dog, but has been ruined.

I don't know the dynamics of your family's interaction with the dog, but he needs to know his place, period!  I wouldn't wait for a second incident. Work the dog with your son and make sure he's made to respect your son's place and authority.

Thanks GSDTravels for your input. I will definitely be on guard and have my son do some more leash work. But my son is actually the one who takes him for the most walks, (and recently the skateboarding). If anything I have always been more concerned for the little one to assert his position over the dog, I never saw anything like this towards the elder child.

Donald, my son's expression was one of "Oh, I'm sorry", said with concern, and when he reached for the dog, it was not a nice growl and his ears were back, being "nice" seemed to make the dog worse.


And, the puberty issue kind of makes sense... 

Well, there really aren't any nice growls!  But I meant the dog's expression, as in was he showing  his teeth with his lips pulled way back.

But with the caveat of not being there and trying to reconstruct the event here, it might not be anything more than the dog being in some pain and saying "Get the hell away from me you people, you've already dinged me up enough!"  I'd take note, but I wouldn't necessarily start doing anything out of the ordinary beyond making sure he follows the normal demands placed upon him without any backtalk.       

Sorry Donald,  I misunderstood, oops! Yes, I saw teeth, and that's when I stepped in with the correction. It was an expression I had NEVER seen on my dog.

I sure hope you are right, and that is my feeling too.  And since I am not involved in any biting sports, and hear about  things like "applying pressure" and drives, I wondered if there was any connection that would apply and what  I should take care to learn.