Hello...I normally don't post here as I'm not a pet person, but this has been driving me crazy ever since I moved back home with my parents (since December 2009...so over 7 months). I feel super guilty about posting this because I know a lot of the posters here are animal lovers and I am not, but I have been irritated about this for a while and I need some sense knocked into me, if necessary....
My cousin (who lives in the same town I do) has a 3 year old pug who is incredibly aggressive and distrusting of strangers. He hates me because he doesn't know me; this is mainly because I have lived away from home for over 2 years since he was a puppy and have only seen him on occasion. My family (especially my sister, whom I'm starting to resent) adores this dog and they will bring him over to our house 3-4 times a week (and he will stay for several hours).
The whole family knows I don't like this dog, and I don't want to get acquainted with him. I will admit I am at fault here, but like I said before, I don't really care for pets that much...I don't hate animals per se; I'm more neutral towards them. The reason why I don't like this particular dog is because as I said before, he is very aggressive towards me (just as he is with other strangers), and his attitude makes me not want to be around him. Actually, he has scared me on more than one occasion (which might seem funny for some people because he is a small dog), which has made me very distrusting of other dogs when I first meet them. This dog is NOT afraid to bite hard, and I know he has bitten my cousins and friends.
His attitude is worse when he is around my sister because she constantly coddles him and now he is fiercely protective and "possessive" of her...which makes him really aggressive when strangers come around her or when my cousin pretends to "fight" with her, he will not hesitate to become aggressive. He even bit my youngest cousin (who's 8) because my cousin was trying to hold him back when the dog was trying to follow my sister to the car (and yes, my cousin bled from the accident).
Although I understand that they want the dog over to our house (my other family doesn't take care of the dog very well; it's actually my sister who spoils him and babies him), it is driving me crazy because when the dog is here, I will stay in my room and hardly go anywhere around the house. I cannot reason with my sister because she is enamored with the dog and almost always sides with the dog (I think she thinks it's cute that the dog is protective of her and adores her). My cousin (who actually owns the dog) is more understanding and realizes that the dog's attitude is out of hand at times.
On the other hand, my friends have other dogs who are bigger and heavier, but I have had no problems with meeting them because they were usually friendly.
Everyone tells me that I should try to be acquainted with the dog so he'll become used to me, but how can I do that when I am personally scared of him? My family (minus my sister) has tried disciplining him, they've neutered him, but nothing is working and he is still aggressive towards people he doesn't know.
I have asked friends on how to deal with him, but they're unsure, mainly because they've never dealt with pugs before. However, I've looked up information about pugs and apparently they're supposed to be even-tempered! So why is this dog so vicious? ARGH!!! Please tell me what I should do to so I could be less scared of this dog and hopefully become more tolerant of him when he comes over...thanks.
My cousin (who lives in the same town I do) has a 3 year old pug who is incredibly aggressive and distrusting of strangers. He hates me because he doesn't know me; this is mainly because I have lived away from home for over 2 years since he was a puppy and have only seen him on occasion. My family (especially my sister, whom I'm starting to resent) adores this dog and they will bring him over to our house 3-4 times a week (and he will stay for several hours).
The whole family knows I don't like this dog, and I don't want to get acquainted with him. I will admit I am at fault here, but like I said before, I don't really care for pets that much...I don't hate animals per se; I'm more neutral towards them. The reason why I don't like this particular dog is because as I said before, he is very aggressive towards me (just as he is with other strangers), and his attitude makes me not want to be around him. Actually, he has scared me on more than one occasion (which might seem funny for some people because he is a small dog), which has made me very distrusting of other dogs when I first meet them. This dog is NOT afraid to bite hard, and I know he has bitten my cousins and friends.
His attitude is worse when he is around my sister because she constantly coddles him and now he is fiercely protective and "possessive" of her...which makes him really aggressive when strangers come around her or when my cousin pretends to "fight" with her, he will not hesitate to become aggressive. He even bit my youngest cousin (who's 8) because my cousin was trying to hold him back when the dog was trying to follow my sister to the car (and yes, my cousin bled from the accident).
Although I understand that they want the dog over to our house (my other family doesn't take care of the dog very well; it's actually my sister who spoils him and babies him), it is driving me crazy because when the dog is here, I will stay in my room and hardly go anywhere around the house. I cannot reason with my sister because she is enamored with the dog and almost always sides with the dog (I think she thinks it's cute that the dog is protective of her and adores her). My cousin (who actually owns the dog) is more understanding and realizes that the dog's attitude is out of hand at times.
On the other hand, my friends have other dogs who are bigger and heavier, but I have had no problems with meeting them because they were usually friendly.
Everyone tells me that I should try to be acquainted with the dog so he'll become used to me, but how can I do that when I am personally scared of him? My family (minus my sister) has tried disciplining him, they've neutered him, but nothing is working and he is still aggressive towards people he doesn't know.
I have asked friends on how to deal with him, but they're unsure, mainly because they've never dealt with pugs before. However, I've looked up information about pugs and apparently they're supposed to be even-tempered! So why is this dog so vicious? ARGH!!! Please tell me what I should do to so I could be less scared of this dog and hopefully become more tolerant of him when he comes over...thanks.