I reduced Charis’ stress level by socializing her. It did not matter whether she encountered big dogs, small dogs, female, male I would ask every dog owner that we saw if Charis could meet their dogs. At first it was a disaster. She was cowering, peeing or running away, but I persisted. We did not have to greet and spend time with every dog but we at least had to give her a chance to meet a dog or walk away. I knew constant exposure was the only way for her to adjust. So we went on meeting Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers, German Shepherds, Labradors, Pekingese, mixed breeds – the size really did not matter. The only thing that mattered was that she met them. Some meetings would only be two seconds, some 5 minutes, some would not even happen because she's too scared but we kept trying and trying and trying. She started adjusting to the owners first. She would greet them and let them play with her even if she was still hesitant to meet their dogs.
Slowly she started allowing the smaller dogs to smell her. With the bigger dogs she preferred to smell their butt first - some dogs allowed her to, some did not. Sometimes she would still pee whenever she encountered a very aggressive or excitable dog but we persisted. After month and a half of doing this she was now the one calling dogs to say hi to her. She would pull at her leash or bark every time she sees a dog. In fact every time she sees a dog in front of her she insists that we run so she can meet them. She gets very upset with me if she doesn’t get to meet the dog. To her these were lost opportunities to make friends. Her best friend was a 35 lb - 4 mo old bull mastiff. She even had a good bye play date with her before we left Canada. Now her problem is different she is trying to meet all the dogs she sees but there are times she gets too excited that she scares them away. Time to find the balance so she can make friends with the different dogs she sees. Hope she succeeds.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJoy has had 17-20 dogs, four cats, at least a dozen rabbits, three to four chickens and one turkey in her lifetime. She was close to her brother's bear cat and the snake, who she rescued from the attic. While in Canada she decided to get a cat and ended up with two. Since she lived alone she had to find ways and means to develop a harmonious peaceful relationship with her cats by "training" them. Eventually she decided to get formal training and invited dogs to join her family. Archives
May 2012
Categories
All
|