Demon eyes say "Feed me now camera person or my head shall remain inappropriately placed on the table".
Demon eyes are successful. My dad tries pitifully to be inconspicuous as he feeds the obviously starving dog under the table. Would you like some wine with that TWO (too)?
So my dad has taken the hand targeting to the extreme and whenever TWO gazes at him, skeleton visible through his pathetic starving eyes, food is forthcoming from the table. All in the name of counter conditioning of course. Poor Samson is thinking he should become a crazy, antisocial weirdo so he can get free food from the table too. It's gotten so bad that TWO places himself very politely between my dad and I and rests his head on the table which is conveniently exactly at his height. His eyeballs swing back and forth pitifully between the two of us. I am now immune. My dad however, is far from it. His right hand will drop slowly under the table and TWO's head will slowly disappear under the table with it and then reappear as a table ornament with a slight lick of the lips. He is a sly little manipulator.
His penance for his atrocious table manners was to wear the lovely white tee shirt Lori so kindly donated to us for T Touch. He is now officially metrosexual.
What with the hot new muscle shirt we acquired which makes my T Touch wrapping much easier (thanks Lori!) and makes TWO feel even more secure, as well as the addition of full body wrapping, we have been progressing well with our T Touch training. In addition, I bought some cones (yes, I actually paid for them even though there are approximately 3 gazillion floating around Bellevue right now, capital of construction AND I only needed 6. I am so damn honest.) and we practiced weaving with two points of contact. He took to it immediately and did fantastically well. By the end I only needed to point to sides and could even take the leash off completely and he put himself through with no problems. Since he did so well with the cones (and to wipe that smug smile off his face), I set up a little jump about a foot high and he didn't even blink. Went over it like an English jumper, both on leash and off. He really seems to love this kind "agility" such as it is. When he is concentrating on using his body, he forgets to be fearful and his confidence is almost visible. My dad is donating an old ladder and some PVC piping for a labyrinth so I can set up more of a course in the backyard for him to practice with. If I cannot have a horse, I will have a dog who jumps and does dressage in lieu of. Even if he looks like a ridiculously clad purse dog while doing it!
A desperate attempt to look noble and wise in order to refute the previous pictures. Too bad he's not raking my yard which was vandalized by our latest wind storm. So much for my "working breed".
Today, for the first time, we ventured to the off leash dog park at Marymoor with muzzle on to try it out. He was so excited to be back at the park, he didn't bat an eyelash at the muzzle and all the positive reinforcement and treats that I have been painstakingly working on seem to have paid off. But alas, the muzzle I sent back was probably the right size and this one too big. It stayed on but flopped around and at one point he was able to rub it off on a large clump of grass. I would be irritated too if that thing were bouncing all over my nose. But it gives us great freedom from worry for him to wear it.
He continued his orbiting as I call it, of random people, both men and women. He runs up to them, runs in circles around them barking, talking and growling and runs back to me. Fortunately everyone he did this to found it rather amusing. I almost get a sense that he is trying to communicate in his dog way and doing so inappropriately because he doesn't know how to communicate normally in a social environment. I see this as far less aggressive than I first interpreted it to be but I think the muzzle is well worth it. It gives me freedom, him freedom and people react much more positively, when they know he can't hurt them. I still dislike the behavior and we will continue to work on it but the more people we ran into, the less he orbited. As with the car, he becomes out of practice in a sense, if he is not exposed to things regularly so I do believe that isolation is not a solution for him. I think if we continue to go to the park, rather than reinforcing the behavior and allowing him to continue practicing it, it will begin to fade. Once we find the right size muzzle, I will take him as much as possible early in the morning when it is still relatively empty but with just enough people for him to get socialization and have the chance to run and stretch his legs.
And finally, one of those random shocking events that he springs on me now and then. As we walked the trails at the park, a woman with a pack of doggie day care dogs approached. TWO was initially nonplussed by the sight of all these dogs, got separated from me and looked predictably ill at ease as a result. The woman recognized this, reassured him as he was some distance from me and before I could say a word, she reached out over his head (ack) and stroked his head, down his back to his tail. He stood calmly while she petted him, didn't flinch, run, growl or duck. I stood not so calmly with my tongue dragging in the mud in shock. I never thought we would see the day where he would allow a stranger to touch him. I think my grin was bigger than the entire park. A wee thing for all you owners of normal dogs but in our world, this is earth shaking. He is so random with his progress, whom he likes and accepts and whom he decides warrants a talking to or an orbit that I have no idea if or when I will see that kind of confidence in him again any time soon but we will be sure to make the most of this while we can.
And now I must go wander the halls of my empty house as my boy is at my parents' for two days while I attend training and he continues to prepare for my upcoming trip to Turkmenistan. My mom swears she will get some photos of him at their house so we can dispense with my standard deck, yard and snow photos. You have to admit though, he is a handsome, photogenic boy, even with his demon eyes!
He continued his orbiting as I call it, of random people, both men and women. He runs up to them, runs in circles around them barking, talking and growling and runs back to me. Fortunately everyone he did this to found it rather amusing. I almost get a sense that he is trying to communicate in his dog way and doing so inappropriately because he doesn't know how to communicate normally in a social environment. I see this as far less aggressive than I first interpreted it to be but I think the muzzle is well worth it. It gives me freedom, him freedom and people react much more positively, when they know he can't hurt them. I still dislike the behavior and we will continue to work on it but the more people we ran into, the less he orbited. As with the car, he becomes out of practice in a sense, if he is not exposed to things regularly so I do believe that isolation is not a solution for him. I think if we continue to go to the park, rather than reinforcing the behavior and allowing him to continue practicing it, it will begin to fade. Once we find the right size muzzle, I will take him as much as possible early in the morning when it is still relatively empty but with just enough people for him to get socialization and have the chance to run and stretch his legs.
And finally, one of those random shocking events that he springs on me now and then. As we walked the trails at the park, a woman with a pack of doggie day care dogs approached. TWO was initially nonplussed by the sight of all these dogs, got separated from me and looked predictably ill at ease as a result. The woman recognized this, reassured him as he was some distance from me and before I could say a word, she reached out over his head (ack) and stroked his head, down his back to his tail. He stood calmly while she petted him, didn't flinch, run, growl or duck. I stood not so calmly with my tongue dragging in the mud in shock. I never thought we would see the day where he would allow a stranger to touch him. I think my grin was bigger than the entire park. A wee thing for all you owners of normal dogs but in our world, this is earth shaking. He is so random with his progress, whom he likes and accepts and whom he decides warrants a talking to or an orbit that I have no idea if or when I will see that kind of confidence in him again any time soon but we will be sure to make the most of this while we can.
And now I must go wander the halls of my empty house as my boy is at my parents' for two days while I attend training and he continues to prepare for my upcoming trip to Turkmenistan. My mom swears she will get some photos of him at their house so we can dispense with my standard deck, yard and snow photos. You have to admit though, he is a handsome, photogenic boy, even with his demon eyes!
1 comment:
I am not a softy. I am just being "therapeutic". Does he miss us?
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