Wow, no blog yesterday; sorry guys. I can't even remember the last time I didn't blog. I woke up crazy early but my eyes fought hard and won; they closed and we didn't get up again until 7. Very strange for me but once I was up I was so groggy from going back to sleep; dogs never seem to get the grogs from napping too long do they? So I had a late start and a slow one at that.
I had Elsa out at the park today and it is clear that she is becoming much more aware of her surroundings. The four month mark is just around the corner and it is somewhere around about that point that a fear stage can begin. It is important to get her out as much as possible and introduce her to as many different things as I can. She is highly intelligent and doesn't miss a thing which means that we really need to see stuff. Many dog s go around on a day to day basis not noticing a whole lot, not Elsa.
Luke was the same, he noticed every thing around him. He noticed body language and posture from humans and dogs down to the slightest eye movement. It can be difficult to deal with it all if you have one like this and you must remain on your toes. Always ready to counter a bad reaction; which typically means remaining calm. You want to show that the things they may fear or worry about are nothing.
Today at the park we came across a couple of bear statues. I had forgotten that they were there but as soon as I saw them I was ready. Of course most dogs are going to be worried about these statues; they are the size of small bears, one adult and one adolescent. They are frozen in their stance, giving off an dominant posture. As they remain frozen it becomes more worrisome. I immediately jumped into action with general happy chit chat as we moved about. I asked for a sit at a distance and she complied nicely. I then got some kibble out and put it between the bears toes. Elsa was stretched out in the reaching but ready to run position.
I made a lot of "good girl" comments as she gobbled up the food. Each time she looked up at the bears her tail went down a bit; ahhhhh that wonderful tell tale tail of hers. I moved quickly not allowing her time to ponder or dwell and within a minute or two she was good. Tail was up, the stress gone from her face and she was fine with these big beasts. Just feet away was another statue, a smaller bear in a sitting position. Again she reacted so I took a bunch of kibble and tossed them all around. This was quicker, being that the bear was sitting made it less threatening to start.
We walked around and around the bears; had lots of treats and by the end she even ate off of one of the bears backs, nice. Elsa has a very good turn around time; but it definitely helps that I don't buy into her fear. Had I run to her side when she jammed on her brakes and balked; things would have gone from bad to worse. Instead I took on the "this stupid thing?" attitude. We eat meals off of these bear type creatures.
We also walked past a threesome of scream whining Boston Terriers. I thought from afar that they might be nice to say hi to, they are typically a very friendly breed. Not these three, they were carrying on something crazy and their high pitched whining was enough to keep me moving quickly past. Elsa stopped of course being freaked by their behavior but I just kept the chatting going and moved on.
Its all about timing and response.
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