Dear Mountain Bikers
Did I mention that nonstop stress greatly lowers my tolerance for baloney? Well, here is another rant, inspired by the mountain bikers who nearly ran me and Lilly over on a hike recently.
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Dear FedEx Guy
One day last week after dinner, the dogs and I wandered around the upper pasture so that they could get some supervised time outside. This summer’s rattlesnake encounters mean they get little to no time outside alone. Everything was going great, until the @#$@ FedEx guy pulled up and did about the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.
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Ginko, The Hero!
Ginko is a doggone, five-star, full-fledged HERO! This morning, he protected Lilly from a rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike mere feet from the back of the house. I’m still shaking, and it’s been a few hours since it happened.
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Weekly Training Update (July 16)
I know. I know. The headline ONLY works if I’m actually updating you every week on our dog training progress. But, I’ve already reported this week on a couple breakthroughs with the scary kitchen window and the thing about NOT coming inside only in the summer, only at night. So, today … just a quick note about Lilly’s first trip to the Farmer’s Market this summer.
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Another Breakthrough: Summertime Fears
While we’re on a roll, let me add that we seem to have overcome Lilly’s fears of coming inside the house, only at night and only in the summer. It has been one of the most puzzling of her fears over the years.
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The Scary Kitchen Window: An Update
Past experiences tell us that the window over the kitchen sink terrifies Lilly. Over time, we isolated it as a sound issue. I tried, tried, tried to counter-condition it via the Relaxation Protocol and by only opening it a little bit while Lilly ate meals in the kitchen. Then, to be honest, I sort of gave up.
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Baby Bunnies
Friday morning, Lilly flew from her crate to the dog pen to potty when she awoke. A scent, however, derailed her morning routine. I could NOT for the life of me get her to stop sniffing one corner of the pen. She was intrigued. So, when she made a B-line for that same spot outside the pen after breakfast, I thought for sure we’d found a snake den or something worse. Imagine how happy I was, then, to see baby bunnies, not snakes.
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What Dog Fears Look Like
We like to use all kinds of euphemisms to describe our fearful dogs. Shy, reactive, aggressive are common words we use, but what exactly does fear look like when it isn’t necessarily obvious that it’s fear?
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5 Mistakes People Make With Fearful Dogs
Let’s continue our discussion about fearful dogs from a broader perspective. It’ll be VERY clear next week why I’m revisiting some of these key points. I promise, but for now, let’s talk mistakes.
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Wouldn’t You Like to Be a “Woobie” Too?
Sing it with me, kids. I’m a woobie. He’s a woobie. She’s a woobie. Wouldn’t you like to be a woobie too? (Look at me dating myself again, with an obscure 1970s Dr. Pepper reference.)