We went on a new favorite route of mine: around the dog park and into the neighborhood beyond. This is a great route because: 1. it's a five minute drive from my house 2. apparently people in the suburbs hardly ever walk their dog or hang out in the front yard, so it's not a constant obstacle course, and 3. I can use the giant fenced dog park as a beautiful controlled training situation. The dogs are free in the dog park, but I can absolutely control the distance between us and them thanks to the fence.
Today was also pretty good, with a few less-than-stellar-moments. Well, just one really. There was an off-leash little lap dog hanging out and it started running towards us (this was in a neighborhood). I started dragging the dogs across the street awkwardly as there were lots of parked cars to negotiate. The lady was yelling at her dog to stop. No dogs had barked yet, amazingly. I got the dogs across the street and her dog stopped and I said "my dogs are not very friendly" so she would take extra care not to let her dog come up to us. She scooped up her dog and said "oh, that's too bad" in a snarky tone (grumble). I responded "we're working on it." During this little exchange Dottie started barking. I had her sit and said "enough" and she stopped. Then we continued on our way, but Gustav took that opportunity to turn around and start barking at the dog. So neither dog was perfect, but to be honest both of them seemed kind of half-hearted about it. When Gustav started I stopped and had everyone sit, because I don't like these incidents to end "I threw a fit and that dog went away, I should definitely try that again next time." I like them to end in a calm quiet sit while the dog goes away. If only I could control everyone else and their dogs! So it wasn't the end of the world, the dogs weren't lunging like crazy or anything, just being a little barky and sassy.
Dottie found a snake, which was funny. I've never seen her respond so gratefully to "leave it!" in my life.
Otherwise, we saw tons of dogs and a fair amount of people. Gustav is still really slow with his watch cue, he still doesn't trust me to take care of the situation completely. Especially with dogs, with people he's a lot better.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I go to different neighborhoods all the time! Sometimes it is a breath of fresh air for the dogs and you will notice them relax!
ReplyDeletere: lady....People like that just make me shake my head. Actually I'm not as polite as you. I should take note of your words, as they'd surely get some sympathetic/empathetic apologetic response from me.
I'm known to first yell "Call your dog or leash your dog" when they're in the distance and when they get to me say something more to the effect that "my dog doesn't like another dog in their face...and personally neither would I."
Truly, I can't believe what people think dogs should endure....but that's only because I live and deal with dogs who aren't bulletproof.
The last "train and play" class we practiced rude people trying to say hello to your dog who is fearful.
We practice body blocks (so you're inbetween the stranger and your dog) on people :)
Practiced stopping them from approaching, and saying things like "my dog is in training, and will touch your hand if you put it out like this"...and you show them.
Then the focus is on the dog performing a 'touch" rather than the stranger taking over and trying to smooch with your fearful dog.
I already do that but it's always good to have practice.
Some people have even changed their mind if they can't control the interaction and smooch with your dog. Whatever...They're not stuffed animals. Have a good week! Thank you for blogging!
Arrgh, a long response from me was lost while the computer tried decide whether I was logged in or not. In short:
ReplyDelete1. a funny story in which Dottie was loved and communed with by a guy on the street clearly having some kind of hallucinogenic experience. He rubbed her fur in this really weird way and whispered to her. I was about to say "let's go" when the guy drifted on by himself. Good for Dottie for putting up with it. Not that she should have to, though. Ever notice how people ask "can I pet your dog?" at the exact same moment they pet your dog?
2. If people want to meet Gustav I just say "he bites!" I used to say all this "fear aggressive" and "shy" and "temperament" blah blah blah, now I just get the point across even if it's not technically true, he hasn't actually bitten anyone. I bet he would though. Good thing he looks mean enough to make people keep their distance, there's always those self-ordained dog whisperer types (not like Cesar Millan/dominance stuff, like 'all dogs love me') who think it's about them instead of the dog.
2. It's been great to have Gustav because he has forced me to respect my dog's comfort zone. I feel like I used to put Dottie in situations where she wasn't having fun just because she wouldn't really do anything about it. Gustav would, though.
3. Do you ever hear people say something like "my kids can do anything to my dog?" I always feel bad for the dog. Just because they could feasibly endure without biting someone's face off doesn't mean they should be put through it.
Thanks for reading, and for blogging yourself. Always good to have someone to bounce ideas off of!