This week my father and his wife were down to visit and came over Sunday. Now Jack has met them before, but it’s been about a year since he has seen them. Last time he saw them he was very standoff. Well when they got to the house, I let Jack out so he could “met” them outside, he of course was excited and barking…but it was almost “good” excitement but not quite, hard to describe. I can’t say he was “oh boy people, cool I love people”, but it wasn’t “oh crap people must drive them away, scary, scary” either. And the barking almost sounded “obligatory” verses a real feeling of need to bark and drive them away or a I am scared bark.
I let everyone go into the house first then Jack and I followed. Once in and everyone was seated I had them offer Jack treats, as he has reached a point he is generally ok with having someone offer treats provided they don’t then try and touch him. That went very good. After a while Jack was going over to my dad, sitting down in front of him with his back to him and asking for back scratched. Later after a quick bathroom break he even jumped up on the couch with my Dad’s wife and fell asleep. Snoring an all.
Then on Thursday, we all got together again, but this time with a friend of mine from out of town and his family on the beach for some dinner and roasting hotdogs, marshmallows and chocolate. Again, Jack did amazing. Very little barking to start, and quickly settled down. He would from time to time range off a little but then come right back. I would take him for breaks up and down the beach from time to time. When my father, my friend and I were just standing there at the water’s edge just chatting, Jack just sat at my feet and looked up at me.
Both situations while showing significant progress also showed there was still a ways to go. BUT, compared to where he was at the beginning of the year when I realized the depth of his issues with human, WOW, he has come a long way. While I can’t say he was 100% relaxed the whole time, he defiantly wasn’t shutdown and he body stayed pretty loose and not in a hyper alert on guard stance. He did eventually reach a point (right about when I did) where he was done and started giving off clear “ok, enough” signs.
How I dealt with the kids was under supervision I had them give Jack treats from their hands but no touching. Then later I had them ask Jack for “hi 5” (put your hand out, palm up, Jack “smacks” your open palm with his paw) and then provide a treat. Again, no touching otherwise. They did beautifully and after that didn’t really show too much interest in Jack and didn’t try and touch him or chase him or anything like that.
He also had two really amazing dog, dog situations. The first situation happened about a week ago. On our walk we had run into his buddy Luna and were walking with them and ran into a lady with two poodles about Jack’s size. Turns out that one of them was also reactive, though at this point you couldn’t tell. Well Luna and her mom walked away and I stayed an chatted with the lady sharing briefly Jack’s story. During this time I had dropped Jacks leash and he was being all nice and calm and giving this dog he had never met before a very nice dog / dog experience. He would regularly come and check in with me and get a chicken treat.
Well Luna comes back and at a fast pace excited to see the two new dogs and her buddy (jack), but it was too much for this other dog and it went into reactive mode, to which Luna responded with her own growl, bark and advance…..expect Jack (he was on leash, but I had dropped it) jumps in between and showing teeth and low growl backed Luna up, then turns back to the other dogs and in a completely different attitude approached the reactive dog but no teeth, no growl, very calm and relaxed looking. The reactive dog stopped reacting. Then he turned and came to me when I called him away. This is the second time this year Jack defused a situation between other dogs, both times Luna was involved. Luna doesn’t generally start things, but she will respond if someone else starts something.
The second dog/dog situation happened today. Some new dogs in the neighborhood, a golden and small dog of some kind. Well the people just let them out loose, open door let dogs out which they aren’t supposed to do. The homeowners association has signs posted about keeping dogs on leash. Well we were passing their house when they got let out and of course the golden comes straight for us, growling the whole way. Well the people called them back and Jack and I moved on. But suddenly the dogs came back towards us, again growling. I dropped Jack’s leash and moved to block the golden, but Jack beat me to it, and with lips curled, teeth bared and low growls body blocked this golden off. That golden instantly started giving off the submissive/”just kidding” signals. And Jack RESPONDED correctly
. He backed off, turned back to me, and started ignoring the golden. Not only did he not flip out, he told the other dog it’s approach was not appreciated and showed restraint and read the other dog and backed off after his point was made. It’s been quite the week for us and we are both pretty tired. We are keeping it low key today, I started him on rescue remedy in preparation for the beach outing and continued a couple days after. I know Jack, this week took a lot out of him, but he has so far handled it like a champ. As a precaution we are in destress mode for a couple days.
Oh I almost forgot to mention that my Dad brought his dog down with him. a little female shih tzu. Jack and her greet politely, no issues with her in the house, Jack follows her around very relaxed but curious sometimes, other times they just ignore each other and give each other space.
