Atlas

Atlas, my first training partner.

Atlas the St. Bernard who has been neglected, caged and god knows what.

Atlas who has bitten someone quite seriously and bruising many others.

Atlas who is being taught by Pete to respect and trust us, the humans.

And the first dog that I got to walk with during my first training.

The first dog who taught me to always remain firm and alert when training dogs, and never, ever, make any assumptions.

At first look, Atlas looked like a big gentle teddy bear, and no one would have thought that he would be dangerous. He seemed quite alright when Pete took him out for a walk, while I walked right beside them, sometimes on the right, sometimes on the left. He wasn't even slightly, remotely, aggressive towards me. Together we walked across the road, down a paddy field, and all the way down to the beach. Everything was so nice, the fields, the birds, the greens, the beach. Atlas seemed to enjoy the walk and didn't seem bothered by me at all.

I was beginning to enjoy the stroll when Pete handed Atlas' leash over to me. The second Pete's hands left his leash, Atlas turned and nipped at the air around my hands. It was fast, especially for a dog who seemed so big and clumpsy. I didn't even have time to comprehend what and why, and all I could think of was, "Whao-a! What do you think you're doing?"

Then it was over. Atlas continued walking beside me as if nothing ever happened.

Even though it seemed like nothing, I was quite pissed. Pissed and surprised, in fact. I mean, we have been walking together all this time, and he has never shown any objections or cautions towards me. So "assuming" that he was alright with me, I wasn't prepared and just grabbed the leash when Pete handed it over. Stupid.

Stupid of me to make any assumptions and to let myself off guard, not knowing how to respond correctly.

So stupid of me to have jerked my hand in reflex.

It's not like I was afraid of being bitten, but as I wasn't anticipating any stupid moves from his part, it surprised me and I jerked. Should have been prepared for anything and stayed CALM.

The magic word.

*sigh*

Anyways, we walked on for a little bit and he never tried to nip me again. He did try to walk a bit further away or ahead but Pete showed me how to handle his ways so it wasn't difficult for me to bring him back in line. After a while, we sat down on the beach and let him rest a little. He came over to sniff me and seemed quite happy to have made a new friend.

The feeling's mutual, big boy!

And much thanks for showing me the importance of staying alert and prepared when training.

Last but not the least, thanks for not really biting me....for that tidbit of respect at the very least.

Wishing you a good loving home and many happy walks with your guardians,

AM