A Fresh Perspective: Part Two

There was an obvious difference in Lucy's reaction to this new dog (young and male) than to the dog that had just vacated the room (older and female). The moment he came into the room, her ears perked up (which, actually, is not a good thing; you want the dog's ears to be laid down and forward; sorta floppy) and she immediately started her weird talking/crying noise. I can't describe it; I'll have to video tape her maybe and post it (not that I want a video of my dog misbehaving as evidence I'm a crappy parent!) Anyway, Lucy was far more agitated with this dog. Obviously he had not yet been completely trained in how to calm other dogs down! He looked directly at her several times (and also kept looking at Samantha for guidance; the other dog pretty much new exactly what she was doing).

Samantha got a bit closer with the young male and Lucy's tail started to bush out. Her hair wasn't yet rising on her back yet (a sure sign of aggression and/or fear or both) but she was looking perturbed. Samantha informed me that the bushed out tail was usually a sign of arousal, not aggression (great, that's all I need, a horny Lucy; but, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised what with the way she lays on her back with her legs spread wide open all the time, ha ha).

Samantha suggested something new. We each anchored our dogs to the wall on opposite sides of the room. We pulled out a movable fence that went from wall to wall width-wise across the room. The fence was about up to my upper chest and it, too, anchored to the wall. She instructed me to let Lucy off the wall (ha; as if!) and she did the same with her dog. They both went running up to their side of the fence and started to investigate one another with Lucy still waving that bushy tail around and, unfortunately, her hackles going up somewhat. Samantha told me the purpose of this was to let them get to know one another in a safe environment, meaning, if Lucy chose, she could run away and the other dog could not come after her. She advised me that when dogs are aggressive on the leash, it almost always stems from their fear of not being able to get away (because they are on a leash) if they decide they don't like the other dog/what is going on. So, as is often the case with fear in dogs, they become aggressive as a defense mechanism. The slobber and drool and all of that is from anxiety. BTW, this sort of slobber/drool is not the same as the slobber/drool a dog may get when, say they are panting or certain dogs that just are slobbery as a general rule.

After observing Lucy for a while, she noted (which we had already realized) that Lucy was ok with sniffing another dog but when it came time for that dog to sniff her, she freaks out. She said it was very apparent Lucy needed to build up her confidence around other dogs and the only way that could happen would be if we made sure she always felt safe around them. What does that translate to? Never allowing another dog to approach her on leash (and vice versa) when she'd feel she couldn't escape if she felt (in her doggie brain) that something was not right/was going wrong and, of course, being mindful of her interaction with dogs off leash (providing an opportunity for them to get to know one another with an escape hatch built in).

After five or so minutes of Lucy and the other dog running alongside their own side of the fence, Lucy visibly calmed down. Some of this was due to the fact the other dog was very subservient and only wanted to lick her. Samantha said he was SO subservient, he would try to put his head into another dog's mouth! Lucy never actually ran away from the fence (e.g., back to the other side of the room) but she did, at first, run towards me several times. Samantha said this (and she'd also observed Lucy standing pressed up against my leg when the male dog first came into the room) was indicative of Lucy looking to me for security. Eventually, Lucy did allow the other dog to sniff her and they actually started to play with one another through the fence. On this positive note, Samantha put her dog in the other room. Lucy looked perplexed as she stood there with a big goofy grin on her face. Another point from Samantha: Always try to leave her experiences with other dogs on a positive note; maybe when she's not even quite ready to say good-bye.

So, what had I learned so far from this training session (and, yes, I really was getting the bulk of the training here!); first and foremost not to put Lucy in a situation with another dog where she feels she's trapped and can't get away. Second, don't let her socialize with any dog that is aggressive towards her. Third, something apparently bad happened to her (which we'll never know what) and that is causing this; it's not her fault. Fourth, it's up to me to protect her and fifth, she really does want to be friends with other dogs so long as (and this is no different from us humans), they are nice to her.

Regarding the protect Lucy aspect, Samantha advised me to always, always, always keep my body between Lucy and another dog while we're walking. Meaning, if we are walking down the street and another person and their dog are approaching, make sure the order is other dog, me, Lucy. Even better if the order was other dog, other person, me, Lucy, but, obviously we can't control the other person. She showed me a quick technique of how to switch sides if need be while always keeping me between Lucy and the other dog. She told me to take long strides and just walk on by the other walkers; emitting to Lucy the signal that, "Nothing is going to get you; it will have to go through ME first!"

I'll wrap this up next time with a few more pointers Samantha gave me about our walks and how to keep Lucy from jumping on people when they enter our house.

Mrs. B