Today I took the dogs on a brief walk before work. Dottie had some great autowatches when she heard dogs barking, and Gustav responded beautifully to his name when he saw a pack of shovelers across the street. I think part of the variability of his consistency on this cue must be the level of threat. He had his hackles up, but no growling. Hooray!

Dottie, my 6-year-old terrier mutt, is leash reactive with other dogs. She hasn't had the best luck in the dog world. I've had her since puppyhood and tried really hard to socialize her, but she was my first dog and I think I took too much of a "throw her in the deep end" approach. Combined with a few dog attacks (one when she was a puppy-a lab guarding his tennis ball bit her all the way through her cheek, she had to get a few stitches, one this past spring, she got attacked at the dog park and had a puncture w0und in her back) and a reactive temperament, she is not all that great with dogs. Her "watch me" cue is pretty great, unless she's so far in over her head she can't manage it. She also is not a huge fan of strangers in certain circumstances. However, she is totally trustworthy with all people, including children. I think this is partly due to her submissive nature, and also because she grew up in an apartment with about a million roomates as a puppy. Justin and I think that her general hysteria puts Gustav on edge, so part of our plan for him is working on her leash reactivity. She starts Feisty Fido in a few weeks, and I try to bring her to the dog park once a week to clicker train some counter conditioning to approaching dogs. We have come so far in this respect, I'm really proud of her. The only time she snaps at dogs now at the dog park is if they are being really rude, i.e. charging her head on. I have to admit I'm not too worried about this, as her correction is pretty appropriate and quick. She used to rush dogs preemptively and snap at them. I taught her "Where's the dog?" to counter condition her fear of dogs.

Yesterday we saw the hated Husky who lives across the street in the apartment complex. (I don't hate it :), but my dogs hate almost every dog who lives close by and therefore invades our territory on a regular basis). I sprinkled chicken on the ground and asked for Gustav's attention, and the Husky was able to go home right across the street with no barking from mine! I was really proud and happy. This is in part due to tons of snow blocking their view, but they knew it was there and I'll take what I can get.

Gustav's um, stomach problems, are nearly resolved (*knock on wood*) so we'll be starting the low protein diet, which I'll explain in a later post. I've been trying to think of some scientific comparison situation, where he can be counted on to be reactive. Knowing my optimistic self, I'll swear up and down the food is helping regardless of actual objective efficacy. Maybe the neighbor? Has to be something he's fear aggressive of, so I'm not sure other dogs would work. In terms of dogs, I'm not convinced he's frightened of them, I think he's just an insecure alpha who has to bully dogs and wrestle them to the ground. If he wins this contest, he's usually fine with the dog, although he thinks it's necessary to periodically reaffirm his status by repeating this test. Sigh. Dogs are far down on his priority list, I'm much more concerned about the people aggression.