Two weeks ago I took Lara and Jackson to the park, to see how Jackson would react when I know for certain we'll be in close proximity to other dogs. I must admit that he doesn't appear to be aggressive when near them, merely curious and excited. There is lots of sniffing of the other dog's face, and his tail-wagging goes into overdrive. It's difficult to tell whether his ears are up or pinned back to be honest, I've only ever seen them in one position, and it's neither one nor t'other. With Mishka on the other hand, it's easy to see when his ears are up (nervous or excited) or pinned back (relaxed).
I still didn't let Jackson off his lead though, even with his muzzle on. I just don't think he'll respond to my calls or the whistle if he goes to investigate another dog, and that's just not acceptable. This is a big park though, and perhaps in a smaller one, I might be more tempted to let him off, where I know I won't have to chase him for hundreds of metres.
Last week Olga and I got very brave one midweek lunchtime, and we took the boys to our local, smaller park together, and with no-one else around, we let first Jackson, then Mishka, off the lead together. There were no other dogs (or even people) around, and we tried some simple Sit, Wait and Come commands, and they were both fine. We moved onto a slightly bigger park, and let them go more further afield, and between a mixture of us calling them, and the dog whistle, both boys came to us every time. We did this for about 10 minutes, and it was great.
Then last weekend we took them back to this "middle-sized" park, and let them both off again, and this time I'd brought a ball for Mishka to fetch. Jackson has never taken to fetch, or at least we've never been able to teach him. Besides, he has his muzzle on and couldn't fetch a ball back even if he wanted to! Mishka traditionally plays this game very well for 5 minutes then gets bored and gives up fetching, and he was true to form on this occasion. I've bought a second dog whistle, just like the first one, so Olga and I can be consistent in calling them, and both boys responded. They were given more freedom to wander this time, and both disappered into some overgrown bushes, chasing some small animal or other, but both returned after toots on the whistle and some encouraging calling.
I think the idea is to get them in the habit of always coming back (and wanting to come back, not us going in search of them) when called, no matter what, and then we'll have a go with other dogs around.
On that note, I'm not going to take Jackson to the puppy classes where we took Mishka, I'm happy that he's not aggressive, having seen him interact with several dogs in the last few weeks since we bought his muzzle. Mishka is almost the bigger concern, he tends to rear up on the lead a few seconds after meeting another dog, although how much of this is for Jackson's benefit I don't know, I really need to take Mishka to the big park next weekend on his own and see how he reacts around other dogs when Jackson is not there. I think £7 might be well spent on getting him a muzzle, as it's given me much more confidence with Jackson around other dogs.
I am going to contact the dog walker in Beaconsfield that I found on the web, who offers a Social Walking service, where she will pair up like-minded and like-sized dogs for walks under controlled conditions. I really think that will help both boys. Perhaps best if we treat the dogs separately at first, and see how they get on with other dogs when the other one is not there, but we'll see what the lady thinks.
Since the introduction of the muzzle, Jackson seems more reluctant now when presented with his lead for walkies. He used to be very keen, coming to us and happy to have his halti put on. Now we use a harness that goes over his front legs and fixes behind his shoulders, and since we started using that, more often than not he'll run away at walkies time, and go and sit on his bed, shaking. We do tempt him out and occasionally he will even offer a paw to help me put his harness on, but then he'll stand still, but shaking a lot, until we open the door, and from that point, once he's outside, he's absolutely fine with the muzzle and harness.
The new diet is popular, there's always two clean bowls. I've ordered a month's supply of the four different flavours of NatureDiet (chicken, rabbit & turkey, fish and lamb) and we've got a goof routine going with regards to serving it up. The boys have to sit, then give a paw, before they get their food.
The doorbell and visitors is still an issue. We've actually moved the doorbell up to our office, so they don't hear it when it rings, but they can sense someone is outside, and once one of us starts to come downstairs to answer the door, they boys start their barking, more often than not initiated by Jackson. Funnily enough, when we spent a few minutes a couple of weeks ago ringing the doorbell, it was Jackson that learnt quicker than Mishka that if he gave one bark then sat still, he got a treat and praise. Mishka didn't get it at all. We need to repeat that exercise much more often than we currently do.
I still didn't let Jackson off his lead though, even with his muzzle on. I just don't think he'll respond to my calls or the whistle if he goes to investigate another dog, and that's just not acceptable. This is a big park though, and perhaps in a smaller one, I might be more tempted to let him off, where I know I won't have to chase him for hundreds of metres.
Last week Olga and I got very brave one midweek lunchtime, and we took the boys to our local, smaller park together, and with no-one else around, we let first Jackson, then Mishka, off the lead together. There were no other dogs (or even people) around, and we tried some simple Sit, Wait and Come commands, and they were both fine. We moved onto a slightly bigger park, and let them go more further afield, and between a mixture of us calling them, and the dog whistle, both boys came to us every time. We did this for about 10 minutes, and it was great.
Then last weekend we took them back to this "middle-sized" park, and let them both off again, and this time I'd brought a ball for Mishka to fetch. Jackson has never taken to fetch, or at least we've never been able to teach him. Besides, he has his muzzle on and couldn't fetch a ball back even if he wanted to! Mishka traditionally plays this game very well for 5 minutes then gets bored and gives up fetching, and he was true to form on this occasion. I've bought a second dog whistle, just like the first one, so Olga and I can be consistent in calling them, and both boys responded. They were given more freedom to wander this time, and both disappered into some overgrown bushes, chasing some small animal or other, but both returned after toots on the whistle and some encouraging calling.
I think the idea is to get them in the habit of always coming back (and wanting to come back, not us going in search of them) when called, no matter what, and then we'll have a go with other dogs around.
On that note, I'm not going to take Jackson to the puppy classes where we took Mishka, I'm happy that he's not aggressive, having seen him interact with several dogs in the last few weeks since we bought his muzzle. Mishka is almost the bigger concern, he tends to rear up on the lead a few seconds after meeting another dog, although how much of this is for Jackson's benefit I don't know, I really need to take Mishka to the big park next weekend on his own and see how he reacts around other dogs when Jackson is not there. I think £7 might be well spent on getting him a muzzle, as it's given me much more confidence with Jackson around other dogs.
I am going to contact the dog walker in Beaconsfield that I found on the web, who offers a Social Walking service, where she will pair up like-minded and like-sized dogs for walks under controlled conditions. I really think that will help both boys. Perhaps best if we treat the dogs separately at first, and see how they get on with other dogs when the other one is not there, but we'll see what the lady thinks.
Since the introduction of the muzzle, Jackson seems more reluctant now when presented with his lead for walkies. He used to be very keen, coming to us and happy to have his halti put on. Now we use a harness that goes over his front legs and fixes behind his shoulders, and since we started using that, more often than not he'll run away at walkies time, and go and sit on his bed, shaking. We do tempt him out and occasionally he will even offer a paw to help me put his harness on, but then he'll stand still, but shaking a lot, until we open the door, and from that point, once he's outside, he's absolutely fine with the muzzle and harness.
The new diet is popular, there's always two clean bowls. I've ordered a month's supply of the four different flavours of NatureDiet (chicken, rabbit & turkey, fish and lamb) and we've got a goof routine going with regards to serving it up. The boys have to sit, then give a paw, before they get their food.
The doorbell and visitors is still an issue. We've actually moved the doorbell up to our office, so they don't hear it when it rings, but they can sense someone is outside, and once one of us starts to come downstairs to answer the door, they boys start their barking, more often than not initiated by Jackson. Funnily enough, when we spent a few minutes a couple of weeks ago ringing the doorbell, it was Jackson that learnt quicker than Mishka that if he gave one bark then sat still, he got a treat and praise. Mishka didn't get it at all. We need to repeat that exercise much more often than we currently do.
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