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Tom in harness sitting and Zora sitting outside ready to start a walk
This morning we joined a friend and her 5 month old lab pup on a walk. He’s a fun, bouncy pup. At that age where social graces are often a quite bit of a struggle. Observing him shift from in your face plowing excitement OMG DOGS!!! To hey look at us just hanging on a walk this is fun I’m pretty cool! Over the course of the walk was a joy.
By the end of our walk he was just one of the crew. Sharing sniffs. Hanging together. Exploring. Comfortable in his own doggie skin.
How did we get from social dork to one of the crew? A long line, help from his mum and me at times, and really Tom and Zora doing a lot of puppy training. T and Z are really good at reinforcing behaviors they feel are acceptable in pups.
Usually goes something like this:
Bouncy dorky pup explodes into a space. Tom and Zora ignore it. Tom being “I have a job to do, pup you ain’t worth my time”. And Zora, “ugh, you are soooo not cool.” With an eye roll and flip of her hair.
Bouncy dorky pup attempts to charge into their space. A human prevents that and using long line and space encourages pup to move in a curve, or sniff, or even just slow it down or stop moving forward.
Pup does any of those behaviors, Tom and or Zora look at pup
Pup loses his shit cuz “OMG they looked at me!!”
My dogs, look away from pup and go back to ignoring pup
Pup goes “But but but! I’m so cute and awesome you must want to love me! Don’t you know how awesome I am?! Talk to me!!!!”
Tom and Z ignore pup. Yea no kid.
Pup gets distracted and sniffs the ground. Zora moves closer to pup
Pup loses shit again cuz “OMG she’s coming to play with me!!!”
Zora goes Yea, no and moves away again.
Pup goes, but but but look I can do that sniffing thing again?
Zora comes back toward pup. They sniff the same patch of leaves. A half second passes, pup starts to lose his shit again cuz OMG Zora is right here next to me!! Human intervenes, Zora ignores pup and moves away
Rinse and repeat throughout walk until final third when pup has finally grasped the way to get Zora or Tom to acknowledge he even exists and to “OMG they let me walk beside them!! We sniffed the same thing! OMG the cool kids, I get to be one of them!!” Is to chill it out. Be cool man, be cool.
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Max is getting quite the education this week. As an adolescent intact 11m old Golden retriever with raging hormones, and apparently a belief that of course everyone will think he’s as awesome as he knows he is, he’s learning more appropriate ways to talk to girls (and dogs in general!)
Max the golden retriever tongue out smiling as he leans against my leg
1. Be cool. Let the ladies come to you. Let her know you’d like to chat by occasional glances, a bit of a waggy tail, and sniffing the ground. Don’t stand there staring at her drooling. Or even worse don’t race right up to her! Be cool man, be cool!
2. Keep it short and sweet. When she decides you’re being cool and comes up to you, keep it short and sweet. Couple of sniffs, then take a break. Girls don’t appreciate it when you stay up in their business. Just because she decided to come up and say hi doesn’t mean you now have full access permission! When you keep it short and sweet there is a higher chance the girl will ask you to chat more. And then maybe decide you’re cool enough to play with. Wait for her to ask once more, see rule 1. Be cool!
3. No means no. No matter how much you wish they wanted more, how much you think they just don’t realize how awesome you are and you need to keep at it until they realize they were wrong, you really are the best, no means no. If you don’t respect the first level of no, ie being ignored, you’re being a rude dumbass. The girls will quickly make sure you are fully clear on just how much of a dumbass you’re being. No doesn’t mean give a play bow. No doesn’t mean keep sniffing. No doesn’t mean hump her. No doesn’t mean whine, or drool, or paw at her. No means walk away and go back to rule 1. Be cool!
3 simple rules to have a chance with the ladies. Max says, “so many rules, so many rules!” But he’s starting to grasp following the rules leads to higher chance of the outcome he wants, so maybe there is something to them. Learning to be a gentleman is hard work!
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the pipes the pipes are calling
from glen to glen, and down the mountain side…
Been singing this tune all week because we have Danny visiting!
Danny the lab lying on a dog bed in the house
Isn’t he adorable?! His family has been doing an awesome job with him, making my job as easy as can be this week. Which is wonderful.
As most lab pups who have come through my door for training or boarding, Danny has benefited from learning about balanced reciprocal play and that dogs don’t enjoy having their heads jumped on as a way of greeting. Zora is, thankfully, a great puppy teacher and has been enjoying making Danny her minion. She tells him what he can and can’t do with her, and with some consistent reminder’s he’s steadily grasping the realities of dog social interactions. Just yesterday, for the first time, I saw him actually ask her politely if she would play with him, and it worked! She obliged. This morning, on the other hand, he forgot and tried the classic lab jump on her head, which yea dude, that’s a no go, she no like that.
Zora lying in the grass ignoring Danny as he flops around belly up teeth chomping the air
He is a sweet moose of a pup. And a labrador in every sense. Sweet, a bit slow on the uptake, needs loads of consistent repetition, and is currently a puppy version of Jaws. Seriously, he tried to eat my concrete garden statue, ignoring the antler lying right next to it. He is for sure all lab.
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This is Rey
A tan reddish and white corgi winking for the camera
Rey can sometimes be a bit of a snot rocket. Really she can be a bit of a resource guarder if you want to get all technical. With other dogs. She’s lovely with people. Except she likes to guard them. From other dogs. And food, and toys, and places to sleep, and door ways, and water dishes, and you get the idea.
Rey has stayed with us a number of times over the past couple of years. And she really likes Zora. REALLY likes Zora.
The last time Rey stayed with us, compared to the times previous, though her resource guarding had gotten much worse. But her owners were receptive to feedback and they worked with her on it a lot.
So this stay she was really appropriate and not guardy for the first 4 days. Then Monday came. With non stop torrential rain for 12 hours. We didn’t go for a walk. The dogs napped all day. Rey was still good.
Until Tuesday. When she regressed to her old ways. And guarded the water dish. And some toys. And the kitchen table. And the back door.
Tom decided he wasn’t going to come out of the bedroom until she decided to play nice. And Zora decided she was going to pretend Rey didn’t exist.
Wednesday found Rey a very sad little red corgi. Neither Tom nor Zora would acknowledge her. At all. She was being shunned to the max.
Rey assumed Zora would want to play their usual morning wrestle game. Nope, Zora wouldn’t even give her the time of day.
Rey assumed Zora would play their usual chase games in the yard. Nope, Zora walked right past her without a second glance.
Rey was very confused. Why don’t they like me anymore?
She came over to me with her sad corgi moves. “Sorry kid, that’s what happens when you don’t share. No one likes it.”
Cry “They don’t like me anymore?!” It is very pitiful when a little brown corgi cries.
She tried all manner of things to get Zora to talk to her again. Appeasement behaviors. Wiggling. Play bows. Invitations to chase. Nothing worked. Zora maintained her position that Rey was not to be acknowledged. (Tom still refused to come out of the bedroom unless he knew Rey was behind a gate).
A full day of being ignored by 2 dogs she likes very much and Rey has gotten herself back on track.
This morning Zora decided to give her another chance. Rey was delighted. “She LIKES me again!!” Racing and wrestling ensued. Then some sharing of toys. Happy wiggling. “Zora likes me again!!!” I’m not sure I’ve seen a dog so relieved in a long while. “She likes me again!!”
Rey a tan reddish and white corgi with a happy panting look having just had a racing wrestling match with her corgi friend Zora
Zora is more forgiving than Tom, Tom is still saying “brown corgi? What brown corgi? No brown corgi here. Stupid corgis.” Though he as at least decided to come out of the bedroom. Which is progress. (Tom really does think corgis are devil spawn. Zora slightly less so than others, thankfully. He secretly likes Zora though will never admit it if asked. Rey he puts squarely in the ‘devil spawn’ category.)
*As of Feb 1, 2019 We’ve moved!*If you like this post please come on over to the new blog at https://www.maplewooddog.com/blog/Where you can find all the archives you’ve read here plus new posts nearly every week! Hope you’ll join me over at the Maplewood Dog Blog. Thanks!
A reader posed a question about best practices for introducing a new dog to their family. Especially with regards to their existing dog. Congrats on the new family member! Here is some general advice I give folks and honestly, what I practices I follow when introducing a new dog in my own household.
Now in my own situation, my dogs are used to very high traffic of dogs coming and going. But I’ve found when I add a dog to my life that will be a permanent addition, my crew has always assumed the dog was a visitor until about day 14. Then I’d practically hear them say, “Wait, what? This one is STAYING?! For real?! You’re kidding me?!” And then depending on the dog they’d either “Here we go again,” or “Why do you hate me so? Life was so great before and now this?!” or in the case of Tom practically cry, “What did I do to deserve this?! Why, oh, why is this happening?” There is also the dog that will go, “NO WAY IN HELL!” Those dogs are definitely more challenging and higher risk factors. I’ve worked with clients numerous times in such cases.
Lena, Dulce, Beau & Zora one summer day last year in the grassy yard. Where is Tom? Oh he’s avoiding it all sniffing somewhere in the yard far far away from these goof balls.
Regardless, my point is, don’t assume it’s all great for real in the first couple of weeks. Those are your honeymoon period. If you’re lucky. So many times when I was working with behavior cases full time I’d get the call, “Every thing was going great! I don’t understand?” Basically it boils down to, “Transitions are hard,” “change is hard” so dogs will tend to not let their guard down as much or take their time sorting out the situation, then as time progresses and they get more comfortable things will often shift.
So here are a couple of my general ‘rules’ when I have new dogs in the house:
The honey moon period is real. Always err on the side of caution. Most dogs take about 6 months to fully acclimate to their new home and environment. On average in my experience within the first month you’ll start to see the new dog start to settle in and the existing dog(s) realize this is their new normal. But it may be a few more months before you see any escalations of strife if they’re going to happen. If any of the dogs are under age 18-24months also be prepared that you may see some (sometimes major) shifts in their relationships with each other as the younger dog reaches 18-24 months, regardless of how long the dogs have been in your home.
Slow and steady wins the race. You want this relationship to last their lifetime, not start off hot and heavy then burst into a massive bunch of flames and ashes. Give the dogs the space, opportunity, structure and time to form a lasting, safe, socially appropriate relationship.
Please, oh please, don’t treat to create or enforce any of those “well this dog is older/here first, so he’s the alpha” nonsense or do things based on some misguided sense of fairness or guilt. Oh good lordy the problems such arbitrary human directed ‘hierarchy’ things cause. It is perfectly ok to have different rules for different dogs, even if they are with you at the same time. Here’s my basic hierarchy rule. Every thing is mine. I just happen to let the dogs borrow it. the house is mine. the food is mine. the crate is mine. the leashes are mine. the yard is mine. the toys are mine. I am the world’s worst (or best depending how you think about it) resource guarder. Everything is mine. The dog’s ability to access all that is mine is dependent on their behavior. Not anything to do with which is oldest, or who was there first, or such. In my house for example, furniture access is a privilege not a right. Dogs have to prove to me they can be safe, responsive, follow the rules, not guard things, and a list of other behaviors before I’ll give them access to the couch. So yea that often means the pre-existing dogs are allowed on the couch and the new dog isn’t. (though in some cases it doesn’t, I’ve had dogs in my life who never were allowed on the couch, even when others at the time were). It has nothing to do with the pre-existing dogs being their first or older, other than in context of they’ve proven to me in their time with me they can be safe and not abuse the privilege.
Safety is my basic barometer. Just ask my nieces and nephews, “What’s Aunt Kate’s rule?” They will sigh, “Safety first.” Has this dog proven to me they can be safe in this situation? if yes, then ok we can begin the process of relaxing various management strategies. if no, then other criteria for managed safety comes into play. if you are unsure, then use environmental management to ensure safety will happen. This applies to all of the dogs in the situation, both pre-existing and new, and is an on-going criteria.
Leashes, baby gates, barriers, and crates are your friend. Use them. This goes back to #1: Always err on the side of caution. Ex: For example at the early stages, ensure either dog can’t leap onto the other dog. As pain responses don’t make for good starts to friendships. Or don’t assume that meal times for the dogs are going to be all rainbows and unicorns. Feed the dogs with a least a baby gate between them. use some common sense, and have a healthy respect. They are dogs. They all have 42 teeth and jaws strong enough to crush bone. They are new to each other. Again always err on the side of caution. And #4.
Structured physical and mental exercise is your friend. Make sure the primary needs of all of the dogs are being met. Ideally their primary means of exercise isn’t playing with each other. See #7.
Decide if you want the new dog to have a solid relationship with you. Because if you don’t make that decision and then a plan for it to happen, reality is dogs will most often bond to each other faster, more easily, and therefore also learn from each other faster and more easily than with humans. Unless their environment and world is orchestrated so that the relationship with the humans is made a priority. So in my life, new dogs get tethered to me in the house. Where I go, they go (unless they are in their crate, on tie down, or behind a gate). They get individual training, play and exercise time with me where the focus is building a bond and relationship with me. I interrupt any hyper-fixation on the other dogs. I set up the environment to encourage the new dog to include me in the decisions they make and to include me to gain access to things they want (including the other dogs). And honestly, my existing dogs learn to also reinforce those things in the new dog as they get reinforcement from me when they do. (example: existing dogs learn if they hang back when I call new dog and wait until new dog is coming to me before also coming they will get rewarded. But if they charge ahead so new dog is now following existing dogs to me, reinforcement rates change. As I want new dog to learn to come to me when called, not simply cue off the other dogs and follow them). The dogs all get time together, but my priority is to have dogs that each have a relationship with me in addition to with each other. Dogs that are super bonded and co-dependent on each other, not usually a healthy situation. Especially if you are bringing a new younger dog in to a home with an existing adult, often the puppy will fixate or hyper-bond to the adult dog and the adult dog doesn’t reciprocate to the same degree. This can cause major problems. And also runs high risks of separation anxiety and stress if the dogs are separated.
Decide before the new dog comes home the house manners, outdoor manners, various rules, behaviors and such you are going to want with your dogs in the long run. Devise a plan to reach these end goals before the new dog even arrives. Then implement your plan from moment one. I personally think one of the biggest errors people can make is to have a week or 2 period where they let the new dog do all manner of things that they aren’t going to be ok with in the long run, then suddenly change all of the rules on the dog. While I absolutely do agree with my ‘slow and steady wins the race’ and that you need to develop this relationship over time in the ebbs and flows of it, I don’t agree with creating a world for the first 1-2 weeks that is completely different from the reality you live on a day to day basis. If you work a full time job out of the house, then by all means sure if you can take a few days off when you first get your dog. But spend those few days helping acclimate your dog to the concept that you are going to be leaving them home alone for 8 hours a day. Start off small, with short periods of leaving, and build those lengths of time up. Get them comfortable with the area you will be leaving them. Get them on a toileting, feeding, watering schedule similar to the one they will experience when your off at work. And so on. Use the first few days to progressively build your new dog up to the reality of daily life that is your family. Use those first few days to feel out your new dog and their comfort level with things, but don’t overwhelm them and flood them.
If your new dog was in a shelter kennel or other high stress environment for more than 10 days or in loads of transitions on a transport, shelter shock is a real thing. It’s when dogs go into a self protective mode of psychological shut down. If your dog is a rescue dog and is super calm, and quiet upon arrival and you think “Wow this dog is really easy…”, don’t assume it’s their true personality. The dog is likely experiencing some level of trauma response or shock of the transition of it all. And you may see significant personality changes as the dog acclimates. Again slow and steady wins the race.
Remember your pre-existing dog(s) are having their whole life changed kind of out of the blue (from their perspective). And being expected to get along with a complete stranger who is now not only in their house but sharing their stuff, their yard, and their human. And because the new dog is well new, he/she will often get more of your energy, time, focus and attention. That’s a tough pill to swallow for many pre-existing dogs. Make sure you plan for some daily one on one time with each of your dogs. Pre-existing and new. Imagine you were in a situation of a blended family with step kids now all being asked to live together, make a new life together, share their parents together, etc. That’s hard for people to do! And think of how many times it goes poorly. Remember, it’s hard for dogs too.
Those are my basics for introducing a new dog to my home and lifestyle. Now some basics for introducing the dogs to each other. In this I’m assuming your pre-existing dog enjoys other dogs, and has had generally amicable relationships with other dogs in the past. And you have had some assurances from whatever caregivers new dog had prior to you that new dog enjoys other dogs and has had generally amicable relationships with other dogs in the past. If you know your pre-existing dog or new dog isn’t thrilled with other dogs, or has had past interactions with other dogs that did not go well, well that’s a whole nother ball game and well beyond the scope of this post. In such cases, I strongly recommend professional assistance, guidance and advice prior to bringing the new dog home, and throughout the transition period.
Tom and Zora sleeping side by side on a dog bed
Assume the new dog will be stressed. They’ve just had some level of transition. They will likely (hopefully) be more cautious. They may be less likely to want to be vulnerable. They may be less tolerant of social interactions they would be comfortable with if they weren’t stressed. If you’re super lucky you’ll have the most confident dog who goes, “Ok this is new life? Great, what do we do together now?” If you’re not lucky well then they might be more fearful, nervous, or even aggressive. Depending on the dog you may know a lot about their history and background, or you may be completely blind. In either case, again, err on the side of caution. In this vein, many rescue organizations recommend using no fail limited slip or martingale collars to reduce the risk of the dog getting scared, slipping their leash and collar and bolting, and using a leash with a locking clip (such as the ones Ruff Wear sells. I get nothing for that recommendation, just know they sell a leash with a locking clip) and a back up no fail slip leash. 2 points of contact to reduce risk of the dog getting lost. I further this recommendation.
Get pre-exisiting dog tired before new dog arrives. Likely the last thing new dog will want or need is pre-existing dog full of energy bouncing around. That will probably be rather overwhelming to new dog and may start things off on the wrong foot. If pre-existing dog has been physically exercised before hand, they are more likely to be some level of calmer at least.
Watch your body language through out. Even if you feel unsure, nervous, or concerned, as the old adage goes, “Fake it till you make it.” Relax your muscles, smile, laugh, unclench your jaw, when you stand bend your knees and elbows slightly, breathe through your belly. For some people it can help to hum or sing a silly song as you go along with the dogs. Relieve the tension.
I like walks for introducing dogs. (again I am assuming both dogs are not leash reactive or frustrated greeters towards other dogs. If that is a known factor, again strongly recommend professional input prior to bringing new dog home). Person A starts walking Dog A (pre-existing dog). Then Person B meets them on the walk with Dog B. And you walk the dogs on the opposite sides of the street. Try to avoid tensing on the leash when the dogs look at each other. See where the dogs are comfortable with each other position wise. Can they both relax when they are parallel? Or only when Dog A is in front? Or Dog B in front? Or none of the above? Get data on how the dogs are feeling about each other with the distance of the street between you before then progressing closer. And definitely before you do direct contact introductions. As the dogs relax, slowly decrease the distance between them until you are walking parallel to each other (again Dog A still with 1 person, dog B with another person) with the dogs comfortable and relaxed side by side. I don’t encourage moving closer if either dog is really focused on the other. I encourage moving closer only once the dogs have relaxed and are able to focus on their handler as well. If once you are walking close enough, the dogs want to do a sniff greeting and you feel confident it will go ok, then do that (again trust your gut. if your gut says this might not be a good idea right now, trust your gut. And see #5 for my preferred way of doing the first direct contact interactions). Encourage the dogs to keep it brief (count 1, 2, 3 then have the dogs disengaged and refocus on their respective handlers) and to sniff rear ends before faces/heads/necks if possible. Prompt frequent handler refocus breaks. All the while you are gaining data on how the dogs feel about this all.
On leash direct contact greetings though aren’t my favorite, as the risk of leashes getting tangled and dogs feeling trapped and humans inadvertently escalating situations through leash tension are high. My preferred is through a chain link fence or other physical barrier (not a crate though, too confined a space). Dog A is on leash on one side the fence. Dog B is on leash and walked in a nice curved approach towards the fence. While Dog B is moving towards the fence, handler of Dog A is encouraging Dog A to move around and not stand fixated staring at Dog B through the fence. If it is known that neither dog is a food guarder, then scattering some treats on the ground on both sides of the fence can really help lower arousal levels and tensions, as the dogs sniff around eating treats gradually shifting to sniff each other. As Dog B reaches the fence, handler of Dog A allows Dog A to approach the fence. Dogs sniff through the fence, then are encouraged to disengage from each other and reengage with their respective handlers. As the dogs are given chance to sniff, meet and greet with the fence between them the handler’s can assess body language. Are the dogs wiggling and loose posture? Or are either or both showing signs of tension? Is one seeming more confrontational or forward in body approach than the other? Is either seeming nervous, shy, uncertain, afraid?
As the dogs are showing signs of comfort with each other, move the walk into the yard with both dogs in the yard. Rather than just opening the gate and having the outside the yard dog enter it, pick up Dog A’s leash (dog inside the yard) and start walking Dog A around in the yard on leash. Then have Dog B enter also leash and have a walk through the yard, and with the dogs still on leash with their respective handlers, walk the dogs around the yard, letting them sniff the ground, acclimating to the space. Try to interrupt if one dog tries to mark (pee) over the other dog’s pee. Again encourage frequent focusing on the handlers by the dogs. Then as you feel the dogs are relaxed and you feel comfortable, drop the leashes (if your gut is telling you something doesn’t feel safe, trust your gut and keep holding the leashes). Keep yourself moving. The 2nd worst thing people do at this stage (1st is assuming “oh they’ll be fine!” and not do any of the gradual prep described above) is to stop moving and just stand around. Keep a relaxed amble going. This will encourage the dogs to keep moving too, which in most cases helps to diffuse potential tension.
Keep up your frequent asking the dogs to refocus on the people. If the dogs decide they love each other and are happy happy joy joy awesome! But still give them frequent breaks to refocus on people as this will help keep arousal levels at a safe level hopefully and clue you in if tensions or discomfort levels are starting to rise from either dog.
As the dogs tell you they are happy and comfortable, then head on inside together. Again watching all the while for body language clues that either might be getting uncomfortable, overwhelmed, defensive, nervous, etc. For my house, I teach the dogs early on that outside is for playing/running/active, inside is for quiet settle time. So I try to time the moving inside to as I’m seeing both dogs get happily tired, increasing my odds that they’ll be ready to nap and settle once we all go inside. And as I said above leashes and other environmental management tools are your friend. In the house and out.
If during your outside transition stages you are seeing warning signs that either dog is less than thrilled with the situations, then I highly recommend using environmental management even more so once inside, and involving a qualified professional for additional assistance. Use physical barriers to keep the dogs from making full direct contact with each other. I usually recommend the ‘2 fences rule’ as well if you are seeing warning signs. The 2 fences rule is 2 forms of environmental management in effect at all times. This could be leash on plus gate barrier up. Or in a crate plus gate barrier up. Or door closed plus gate barrier up. Or leash plush muzzle. Etc. This way if 1 form of management fails, you have a back up already in place and can prevent the dogs from ending in a situation that is unsafe, dangerous and likely to make the chance that in the end they will get along even more difficult.
This post is meant to provide information on what I do when adding a new dog to my life and frequently recommend to clients with dogs without any prior dog on dog behavioral concerns. But, dog training and relationships aren’t one size fits all. As always, dogs, their people, and their lifestyles are very individual. So if you are considering adding a new dog to your home, these tips might get you started, or at least help you think about the processing of integrating dogs into your home in different ways, but please reach out for more individualized coaching. Learn more about the services I offer visit Maplewood Dog including remote private sessions or check out the referral listings through IAABC.org for a behavior consultant local to you. All the best! 🙂
Every once in a while someone, like a taxi driver, or waitress or random person on the T will ask me, “Does he ever get to be just a dog?” Does Tom ever get to be just a dog?
A sandy and wet Tom having just come out of a swim in the lake. He sitting and smiling, happy dog.
That answer is both yes and no. And I guess depends on what you mean by “just a dog.”
Does he get to have play time? And social time? And family time? And lots of love and attention with his harness off? Yes. Quite often actually. Being a guide dog in public can be stressful, so I feel it’s not only important but critical to my guide dog’s overall well being to have time when he’s ‘not on the clock’ so to speak and can do doggie things like sniff and run and swim and get petted by my family. Tom has learned when his harness is on he needs to keep is focus on his guide work and ignore others except me, and when it’s off and I cue “ok go play” or “ok go visit” he is free to be social and do his own thing. To a degree.
The to a degree is the no portion of the answer because even when he’s off the clock there are some rules Tom is asked to follow that maybe other people don’t have for their dogs. Like he’s not permitted to take food from other people unless I specifically cue him that it’s ok to do so, if they tell him it’s ok to take it but I haven’t he isn’t allowed to take it. And he’s not permitted to take food off the floor if someone drops it, or if someone calls him over to ‘help clean up the floor’ he isn’t to listen to them. And if I’ve asked him not to cross a boundary, like at my aunt’s lake house when we arrive before I take his leash off I remind him he’s not allowed to go up the stairs that lead off the deck, he’s not to go there even if another person tells him it’s ok. Basically the ‘no’ portion of Tom having time to be just a dog involves him ignoring other people telling him to do things and remembering what I asked him to do or not do even if someone else is telling him something contrary. And it involves his behavior around food.
The other part of that is even when he’s off the clock, Tom prefers to keep an eye on me himself. For example last night we were at a family gathering at the lake house. Tom and Zora came too, and were off leash roaming around the deck area with us all. Being social, swimming, getting petted, visiting with people and the like. But anytime I moved, Tom checked where I was and where I was going. When I was in the lake, he wanted to know where I was. When I came out, he wanted to know where I was. If I changed seats he wanted to know where I was. He checks in with me, gets a bit of a pet, and then goes wandering off to socialize with others once more. And when he’s done with socializing, he comes and finds me.
So yes, Tom gets to be just a dog. A civilized dog with healthy boundaries, but time to be just a dog all the same.
“Wow I’m impressed he behaved himself with such a crew!”
Is a response I received from the owners of a dog, Rascal, I have staying with me currently after I sent her some video clips of our group walk in the woods this morning.
Video clips where he was among a group of dogs, doing his own thing, having a good time sniffing and wandering in the fields and pine forest. Video clips where he wasn’t barking, lunging, dragging or otherwise upset.
Her surprise doesn’t surprise me as her dog is often upset and reactive around other dogs. The owners have done a fantastic job getting Rascal to where he is, able to walk on leash passing other on leash dogs, but they are afraid to let him really engage with other dogs because ya there are many he doesn’t like. Don’t blame him, he thinks young dogs especially are rude little snots. He’s right much of the time. LOL. Like many of the dogs on my overnight string at any time, he needs support to be successful in social situations. Often a lot of support. Which is one of the reasons he comes to me when his owners are on vacation. Because, I hedge my bets. (and because his owners are awesome and they love when he’s happy)
Before gearing up for our walk this morning even began, I thought through what, if anything, would make this outing so the chance of success for Rascal would be near assured. And I mentally went through a plan, with plenty of bail points in it should he tell me he really wasn’t ok with this.
Some key areas of my plan:
I know he trusts and is completely comfortable with my 2 dogs. He is more likely to be ok with another dog if he feels Tom and Zora are ok with that dog. They would both be on the walk.
I know he trusts me to keep him safe and is usually willing to defer to me for safety. I of course would be on the walk.
I know he is highly food motivated, so I packed some extra awesome treats.
I know he is never trustworthy completely off leash (hound dog mix, he will follow his nose completely), so had my trusty easy to handle 30′ long line.
I also know having him with complete 30′ range to start to walk would be much harder to manage his initial introduction to the setting, so started him off on his regular walking leash and gentle leader that his owners use with him for daily walks, switching him to the long line only after I saw he was chill and happy with the environment and goings on.
I also knew because he’d be on the 30′ line and I’d be holding it the entire walk, having Tom in harness likely would massively complicate things with a hound mix zig zagging around Tom’s feet, so the trusty cane was brought out and used instead of the trusty guide dog.
I know he’s most likely to be comfortable around other dogs if he feels he has an escape route. So we planned the walk at an area that starts off with huge wide open fields where the dogs all have plenty of room.
Video from the start of the walk in the large open green fields. Zora and Rosie fetching the ball, Tom at my feet, and Rascal and Ted watching the 2 girls retrieve the ball:
I carefully planned what dogs he would be around. Making sure they were all dogs that a. prefer to ignore other dogs if the other dog shows no interest in playing, b. have solid relationships with both myself and my walking friend and are willing to respond to what we ask quickly, c. all prefer to play with us humans and/or fetch the ball over playing directly with each other on the walk (meaning most likely dogs to ignore Rascal and give him whatever space he wants) and d. are all rather tolerant of some rudeness (ie not likely to react if Rascal showed some posturing)
I also planned and orchestrated the system for getting him most comfortably to and from the walking area in my friend’s car. Loading all of the other dogs into the car first, leaving Rascal in a room in the house. Then bringing him out alone, and keeping him at my feet during the ride providing him high rate of reinforcement and reassurance that all was well. This also gave him space and time (on the 12min drive) to figure out the other dogs in the car had no interest in him at all, and he could relax (which he did), as the other dogs were in the car rows behind where he and I were with no chance of them encroaching on his space in the car.
My bail out plans included: assessing the arousal level of the regular group of dogs before getting Rascal out of the house. If any of the usual walking group seemed atypically wound up or aroused, I would have left Rascal in the house and gone on the walk without him. Then of course observing and monitoring Rascal from the time of putting his leash on in the house, through the walk to and loading in the car. We sat in my driveway for an extra few moments, to double check that Rascal was settling in. If at any point then he had shown he was uncomfortable, he would have gone back into the house and not gone on the walk. If, while on the walk, he started to have trouble coping with the other dogs, I would have split off from my friend and walked just Rascal, Tom and Zora while she took her dogs to give Rascal more space.
Video from about 1/2 through the walk in the pine forest:
All of these pieces I thought about and planned long before my friend pulled into my driveway, and even before I put leashes on the dogs at all.
All of these pieces were key in setting Rascal up for success.
Had I not thought through the parts of a successful group walk for Rascal, chances are he would have had a miserable time as would we all have. It would have been no fun, very stressful, and further reinforced for him that other dogs are scary and to be barked and lunged at.
Instead, all of these pieces were why Rascal had an awesome time on the walk. Sniffing, romping, coming when called, getting some treats, and appropriately engaging with the other dogs.
All in all an excellent time was had by all! Success!
Post walk Rascal wagging his tail till it blurs and Zora sitting looking happy & tired in my kitchen nook