Casey Laurie
05-12-2005, 10:01 PM
Rusty, my recovering dog/human fear aggressive dachshund started doggie manner, play, and calming lessons (teaching) with Lilly (our defensive foster moppet) tonight.
Lilly has been trying to befriend Rusty for several days now and Rusty has completely ignored her..until this morning. Rusty had walked away from his food dish and Lilly tried to sample from it. He walked quickly over to his dish and grumbled at her(this in itself is odd because Rusty has never guarded dog food), but did not snap or snarl. Lilly backed off.
Now tonight, DH and I had the two out for potties and they wanted to run so we let them race on leash to the basketball courts (nobody there this time of night and very quiet). Rusty was wagging his tail so happily and he sort of buzzed Lilly with a play growl and they started racing around leaning into each other. Lilly would sometimes try to dominate Rusty, and he would give her a warning growl and back off. Then they'd start to play again. Each time Lilly offered rude behavior Rusty would growl and walk away from the game. Then when ever she would get too excited for him, he would start wandering randomly at a slow pace sniffing at things. He yawned a couple of times and licked his lips and she calmed right down. Rusty asked to go home (he walks toward the corner and looks back at us) and both dogs walked confidently and happily home. It was about as close to perfect as I could ever hope to get. I'm still stunned that my little Rusty has learned so much. I wish he could consistantly apply these skills to himself..and he does try very hard but sometimes there is just too much going on and he still reacts defensively.
Tonight was just such a dream though.
Lilly has been trying to befriend Rusty for several days now and Rusty has completely ignored her..until this morning. Rusty had walked away from his food dish and Lilly tried to sample from it. He walked quickly over to his dish and grumbled at her(this in itself is odd because Rusty has never guarded dog food), but did not snap or snarl. Lilly backed off.
Now tonight, DH and I had the two out for potties and they wanted to run so we let them race on leash to the basketball courts (nobody there this time of night and very quiet). Rusty was wagging his tail so happily and he sort of buzzed Lilly with a play growl and they started racing around leaning into each other. Lilly would sometimes try to dominate Rusty, and he would give her a warning growl and back off. Then they'd start to play again. Each time Lilly offered rude behavior Rusty would growl and walk away from the game. Then when ever she would get too excited for him, he would start wandering randomly at a slow pace sniffing at things. He yawned a couple of times and licked his lips and she calmed right down. Rusty asked to go home (he walks toward the corner and looks back at us) and both dogs walked confidently and happily home. It was about as close to perfect as I could ever hope to get. I'm still stunned that my little Rusty has learned so much. I wish he could consistantly apply these skills to himself..and he does try very hard but sometimes there is just too much going on and he still reacts defensively.
Tonight was just such a dream though.