You learn from your mistakes. That keeps running through my head. We brought another nervous dog home this week so clearly we didn’t learn not to do that! I’m hoping that phrase keeps replaying because I’m evaluating how we did things in the early days with Pooh compared to how I think we should do things this time. (I’m not saying she would be less crazy now, but maybe we would still have a poker table or she would be less whiny?)
Our plan was to find an easy dog that was big and energetic enough to play fetch with, but polite enough to initiate play with Pooh when she wants and leave her alone the rest of the time. What we brought home was 55 pounds of rowdy, nervous adolescent male chaos. He was an extended guest at the shelter with a combination of anxiety and reactivity and a “not a dog park dog” label because he’s such a wimp he caused a fight. The thing is, he’s a wonderful lap dog that just hasn’t figured out that he should lie down yet. He wants to cuddle, but he is distracted by everything around him so he walks back and forth nervously across your lap. We’re working on that.
We’re also working on getting in the truck so he can get a checkup at the vet, attend training, or even go anywhere. We chose the one dog that would rather stay at an animal shelter than get in the extra cab and go home with us. (Thanks, Chip, for lifting him into the truck.) I don’t lift 55 pounds anyway, but I sure as heck don’t lift 55 pounds that does NOT want to be lifted and may pee on me too. We’ve done garage door opener, washer, dryer, dishwasher, and vacuum introductions this week with ease, but we have a long way to go. What I definitely learned the first time around is that anxiety dogs need extra time to relax after being in a shelter. Once he settles in we’ll see his real issues. My only hope is that we can make it through the transition.
Our plan was to find an easy dog that was big and energetic enough to play fetch with, but polite enough to initiate play with Pooh when she wants and leave her alone the rest of the time. What we brought home was 55 pounds of rowdy, nervous adolescent male chaos. He was an extended guest at the shelter with a combination of anxiety and reactivity and a “not a dog park dog” label because he’s such a wimp he caused a fight. The thing is, he’s a wonderful lap dog that just hasn’t figured out that he should lie down yet. He wants to cuddle, but he is distracted by everything around him so he walks back and forth nervously across your lap. We’re working on that.
We’re also working on getting in the truck so he can get a checkup at the vet, attend training, or even go anywhere. We chose the one dog that would rather stay at an animal shelter than get in the extra cab and go home with us. (Thanks, Chip, for lifting him into the truck.) I don’t lift 55 pounds anyway, but I sure as heck don’t lift 55 pounds that does NOT want to be lifted and may pee on me too. We’ve done garage door opener, washer, dryer, dishwasher, and vacuum introductions this week with ease, but we have a long way to go. What I definitely learned the first time around is that anxiety dogs need extra time to relax after being in a shelter. Once he settles in we’ll see his real issues. My only hope is that we can make it through the transition.