Major progress!!!!

[Casey Laurie]

I started using a muzzle on Lilly a couple of days ago when we went to the park in the mornings, just to be safe. We did heavy duty r+ every time we passed, or were passed by people of all shapes, sizes, and ages. (people+look at foster mamma= ::click!::BACON!) Since she had the muzzle on, she also couldn't pick up refuse on the sidewalk and was heavily r+ for "leave it"..once she even walked past an entire line of trash bags out for pick-up (jackpot!)..r+ also for heel and "relax" (loose leash). I let her set the training pace and kept an eye on her for stress. I used an extend-a-lead locked at 4-5',so because of the hard handle, she couldn't feel and tension coming from me through the leash. She outlasted ME! This doggie has just plumb worn me out two days in a row. This morning there was absolutely NO growling, not even a grumble, at anyone. There was slightly nervous body language toward a group of loud women, but she looked up at me and JACKPOT!

This morning I made it a much shorter session so I could still have energy left to take my own two out to the park just to play by themselves in the sun and relax...this evening I decided to give her a go at the park again. More people and dogs in the park. She did fabulously! She greeted people appropriately, and even let herself be petted. She wanted to go up on the hill with all the other dogs, and she looked a bit excited, but not stressed (bouncy step, head up, tail wagging..happy). She LOVED IT! We only stayed about ten minutes, but she just LOVED all the dogs, and also plopped her fuzzy little butt down in front of a man holding a bag of treats and let him scritch her ears. She had such a good time. She started looking a little nervous after a bit so we started home, but then Dart, a little papillion chased her and she wanted to run with him. She didn't want to leave after that, but after a couple of minutes I took her home anyway. She was so happy! I took the muzzle off while we were on the hill and left it off for the trip home. She really wanted to go up and sniff people, but I don't think I want to encourage that. Not everyone likes dogs (a mystery to me too ;) ), so I figure it's best to have her ignore strangers until introduced.

Now..I plan to continue short..gradually longer sessions at the park, but here comes the biggie I have been dreading:

Visitors to my home.

My dogs are HORRIBLE for the first few minutes.
If it's repair persons, I generally just put them behind the baby gate and reward them once they are quiet. If it's my mom, or a friend that they know, as long as I enter the apartment first, they will calm down within a minute.
If it's new person, I put the muzzle on Rusty until they are calm, and he has had a chance to sniff them. I tell my guests not to pet him unless he initiates it, then he gets a scritch and ignored the rest of the time.

My concern is that their terrible barking is going to put Lilly on the defense.

In my wildest dreams, there is a quick way to have my dogs be calm when people enter the apartment, but I need a way to teach Lilly proper behavior before she learns bad habits from them. Would it be possible to teach my dogs to have good guest manners in a short period of time?
One on one I could probably do it in a reasonable amount of time, but together they give new meaning to the phrase "barking mad". With Lilly so close to being ready to go, I have hope that she can be re-evaluated and up for adoption within a few weeks. She's learned so much, so quickly. I'm just amazed at this little girl and how brilliant she is. >^_^<

PS: Rusty is mostly back to his normal self around Lilly. He still doesn't want to be around her, but he's not afraid of her as far as I can tell. He just doesn't want anything to do with her and really wishes she would go home.

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Casey,

You're doing a wonderful job with Lilly. Congratulations on all the progress!!

You said,"My concern is that their terrible barking is going to put Lilly on the defense."

Yes, this could happen. What I think might help would be to put the dogs in a nice quiet room when you know people are coming to visit that would get all the dogs to barking. Don't let them near the front door! Also, when you're expecting visitors, put an OUT OF ORDER sign on the doorbell so they won't ring it. You can also tell guests to call you right before they arrive at your driveway so you can have the dogs in that quiet room, and they won't have to knock, which will get the dogs going bonkers. Once guests arrive, you can allow the dog's out to greet people AFTER those people have been seated and are comfortable. Remember that if they're not excited or exciting, the dogs will be much less likely to bark at them. You might have to see how things go at first. Maybe it would be a good idea to just let one dog out to greet visitors at a time, rather than letting everyone out at the same time.

Let us know how things go.


I started using a muzzle on Lilly a couple of days ago when we went to the park in the mornings, just to be safe. We did heavy duty r+ every time we passed, or were passed by people of all shapes, sizes, and ages. (people+look at foster mamma= ::click!::BACON!) Since she had the muzzle on, she also couldn't pick up refuse on the sidewalk and was heavily r+ for "leave it"..once she even walked past an entire line of trash bags out for pick-up (jackpot!)..r+ also for heel and "relax" (loose leash). I let her set the training pace and kept an eye on her for stress. I used an extend-a-lead locked at 4-5',so because of the hard handle, she couldn't feel and tension coming from me through the leash. She outlasted ME! This doggie has just plumb worn me out two days in a row. This morning there was absolutely NO growling, not even a grumble, at anyone. There was slightly nervous body language toward a group of loud women, but she looked up at me and JACKPOT!

This morning I made it a much shorter session so I could still have energy left to take my own two out to the park just to play by themselves in the sun and relax...this evening I decided to give her a go at the park again. More people and dogs in the park. She did fabulously! She greeted people appropriately, and even let herself be petted. She wanted to go up on the hill with all the other dogs, and she looked a bit excited, but not stressed (bouncy step, head up, tail wagging..happy). She LOVED IT! We only stayed about ten minutes, but she just LOVED all the dogs, and also plopped her fuzzy little butt down in front of a man holding a bag of treats and let him scritch her ears. She had such a good time. She started looking a little nervous after a bit so we started home, but then Dart, a little papillion chased her and she wanted to run with him. She didn't want to leave after that, but after a couple of minutes I took her home anyway. She was so happy! I took the muzzle off while we were on the hill and left it off for the trip home. She really wanted to go up and sniff people, but I don't think I want to encourage that. Not everyone likes dogs (a mystery to me too ;) ), so I figure it's best to have her ignore strangers until introduced.

Now..I plan to continue short..gradually longer sessions at the park, but here comes the biggie I have been dreading:

Visitors to my home.

My dogs are HORRIBLE for the first few minutes.
If it's repair persons, I generally just put them behind the baby gate and reward them once they are quiet. If it's my mom, or a friend that they know, as long as I enter the apartment first, they will calm down within a minute.
If it's new person, I put the muzzle on Rusty until they are calm, and he has had a chance to sniff them. I tell my guests not to pet him unless he initiates it, then he gets a scritch and ignored the rest of the time.

My concern is that their terrible barking is going to put Lilly on the defense.

In my wildest dreams, there is a quick way to have my dogs be calm when people enter the apartment, but I need a way to teach Lilly proper behavior before she learns bad habits from them. Would it be possible to teach my dogs to have good guest manners in a short period of time?
One on one I could probably do it in a reasonable amount of time, but together they give new meaning to the phrase "barking mad". With Lilly so close to being ready to go, I have hope that she can be re-evaluated and up for adoption within a few weeks. She's learned so much, so quickly. I'm just amazed at this little girl and how brilliant she is. >^_^<

PS: Rusty is mostly back to his normal self around Lilly. He still doesn't want to be around her, but he's not afraid of her as far as I can tell. He just doesn't want anything to do with her and really wishes she would go home.