What surprised me the most about Monty’s attack on my nephew was that he always seemed to be afraid of him. My nephew was seven at the time, and like many seven year-old boys, he was pretty rowdy. Whenever he came to visit, Monty usually tucked his tail between his legs and either hopped up in my lap or hid in the bedroom.
On this particular occasion, Monty was sitting in my lap when my nephew trotted over. Monty started growling at him, and I told him to hush. When my nephew bent down to pet him, Monty snarled, leapt off of my lap and attacked him.
Of course, now that I am familiar with training for aggressive dogs, I know that fear is one of the instincts that are often responsible for aggressive behavior. It’s very possible that Monty was indeed afraid of my nephew, and felt trapped as he sat in my lap with my nephew looming in front of him. Instead of telling Monty to hush when he started growling, I should have calmed him and reassured him that he was safe, and that my nephew was nothing to be afraid of.
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