I'm glad something I said helped.... but if that keeps up I'll never get my head through the door again.
Quote: Originally Posted by
Niki
Now I have been looking at different articles on this and there are two opposing views, one being let him have his space (being his cage) and respect it, and the other being that it is never acceptible to be lunging and biting at me (i.e. the flock leader). I am strongly leaning towards the second idea, as I would never accept that behavior from my dogs.
These are two common views, and they often are seen as opposing but I think seeing them that way is a mistake; they can be complimentary. It's not a matter of compromise - they are both 100% right.
The cage can be his space and you can respect that without having to tolerate him ever biting you. Imagine a child's room - the parents own the home and they may enter the child's room at any time for any reason and the child should not attack them for doing so. At the same time good parents would respect the child's privacy and not take observe their right to enter the room very often.
If you MUST enter his cage he should deal with it; but at the same time the cage should be his space and you should respect that.
Sounds nice in principle, but how can that be put into practice? Well I can only describe what I do with Auggie. Auggie is a bit cage aggressive. I never reach in his cage when he is in there and he never bites. I fill his food and water and clean the cage while he is out of it.
I will not tolerate him biting me - he will not tolerate me invading his cage while he is in it. We can compromise so that both of our demands our met.
Your demand is that you be able to reach into his cage to clean and feed - there is no reason that you need him to be in the cage at the same time.
Healthy compromises are not about people sacrificing essentials but rather about clearly defining what it is that is essential and respecting the other parties essential needs.
Don't reach in his cage while he is in it; when you are going to reach in his cage put him somewhere else and there is no need to worry about bites.
As for excitement upon returning home what happens if you just let him out of the cage then ignore him - not 'actively' ignore as in punishment, but rather let him out then go about your business, perhaps making a cup of coffee and sitting down before going back to pick him up.
