ruff

As bad as it sounds, my husband and I have noticed that our son's behavior and his actions remind of us of a dog's behavior. Here is why:

When he gets something in his head, there is no changing his mind. It is like a terrier who wants to dig!

He stares at others while they eat, hoping they will offer him some.

He has that flight or fight response when he feels backed into a corner.

If something moves outside he is instantly looking out the window and telling us about it.

If there is a storm moving in, he panics and refuses to step away from the window.

Runs to the door when someone knocks or rings the bell. Hollering "Someone's here!" the whole way.

And of course, he "barks" for no apparent reason except for hearing himself roar a lot of the time.

As much as I find this humorous, I am being somewhat serious. I don't know if it is his early trauma combined with his inability to understand social cues, but something about him makes him seem like a feral dog sometimes. Oddly enough we have found that he responds better if he channel our inner "DogWhisperer" and approach him in a calm assertive manner and show him that we are the pack leader. It works far better than entering into a power struggle.