Week3 (4/12)
Muzzle work continues, now she will keep her nose in the basket muzzle (straps not attached), waiting until I give her a cookie through the front of the muzzle, 5, 10 , then 15 seconds… time and patience…
Golf cart update, she rides like a pro. I have a board on my cart so it would be very difficult for a dog to jump out. I can take her out alone now, between the board and a leash with the pinch collar. It has got to the point, I do not even worry about her riding along.
Muzzle work update, she will now take walks with the muzzle on. I do not put a muzzle on her for our normal walks, having her comfortable with the muzzle on in preparation for meeting my friend's dogs next week.
With the muzzle on, she can drink water and get cookies. This is a great achievement for her and allows me to now try to measure how serious her issue is without fear she will hurt another dog. There is no evidence that she would, but I want to be safe.
We took a journey in the cart down to the dog park off if Moyer Loop. No muzzle, I had zero intentions of meeting another dog. Instead we spent 20 to 30 minutes hanging out next to the path folks use to walk their dogs to the park. Our goal for the visit was for Z not to lunge, not move away, not bark, but relax, even if a dog barked at her. A couple of times we did not succeed, which was my fault as I reacted late.
There were no dogs in the large section of the dog park, so I ventured down to the park and we went into the large dog section alone. I left her leash on so I could provide feedback. The nice part about this setup is that there is a chain link fence separating the large dog section from the small dogs. There were quite a few dogs in the smaller dog section. I walked her up and down that fence. In short order a small anxious dog came over barking it’s head off on the small dog side of the fence. This was perfect, I stopped within 18 inches from fence and Z and I just stood there. She did very well, a couple of very minor leash corrections and she just stood there, eventually sitting on her own and then laying down ignoring the nutcase a couple of feet away from her. Meanwhile the dog on other side of fence never stopped. I was so happy for Z.
On the way out some large dog passed us on path, the dog glared and growled at her to which she showed aggression back. I corrected her and had her stay and watch dog walk away. When she finally relaxed, we drifted home. It was a quick reminder how difficult this journey will be.
All in all, some good things, but no real progress yet with dog aggression. Next week we try to meet a friend’s dog. As I have said and will say again, I am not sure I can do this, but I am sure she deserves it and with patience and time I am optimistic we will prevail.
This thread will focus on helping her deal with this ‘anxiety’ around other dogs, so it may seem negative about Z at times. I want to be clear.
This is one great/sweet dog. There is no aggression around food, toys or people.
One thing I need to do is find a way to exercise her. We go for walks, but she needs to run and this old fella (me , not Z) is not capable of doing that any more. Previous dogs I have had loved to chase a ball, so I could take a tennis rack and ball to exercise them. Need to consider something for Z; since she is so good on a leash, I am considering a bike ride with her alongside in a quiet area. Yes, I have pondered the crazy things that could happen to me if things go off the rails
