@ayankeeinnm @danybegood1 @liz223

Our daughter's shih tzu, Toby, is causing her a lot of stress. Every time her baby cries or makes some other sound, Toby barks. He doesn't do it around any other baby, and he doesn't react to our granddaughter's recorded crying. They're doing everything that a trainer, who came to their home, recommended.

So, to give them a break, we're bringing Toby home with us after our visit with them for Thanksgiving. By the time they come here for Christmas, we are hoping that Toby will move past this habit, and they can take him back home. Our daughter is feeling the stress of tending to her baby, and at the same time, having to deal with the dog. We hope that Toby gets along with our Pete and Sadie. They were here for a week two months ago, so I'm sure they'll take up where they left off.

I don't think I mentioned that a month or two ago, Sadie was attacked by two large rottweiler/lab mix dogs, and would soon have been killed without my pulling her away from them and kicking them off her. One had her flank and was shaking her, while the other was at her throat. At one point, she was on her back. I was able to drag her to a door that was close by. She had a tear under her chin, and a number of puncture wounds on her back. I took her right to the vet, who cleaned the wounds, and gave her some antibiotics to take for a few days.

Sadie is now afraid of other dogs, and has regressed in some of her training. I'm a little concerned that she could turn aggressive toward other dogs. She had overcome her timidity in new places, but we're back to working on that. I have her sit beside me if another dog is around, and reassure her that she's ok. Of course, being a service dog, she's not supposed to interact with other dogs or people, so it's ok if she snuggles up to me when people (or dogs) approach her or speak to her.

We're both still recovering from that trauma. I think that in time, Sadie will settle down and become less fearful with lots of calm reassurance. She's still comfortable in familiar settings and with people and animals she knows. I hope we'll overcome this, because I don't want to lose her as my service dog.

Someone suggested I find a kennel club, so she could sit with me and just watch dogs in a safe place, but I haven't been able to find any place like that around. I might try taking her to a dog park while we're at our daughter's next week, and keep her on the leash, without any interaction with dogs. We'll see how it goes.

Jim

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