Sunday’s leash walk with Ginko and Katie went much the same as Saturday’s, except without all the barking. Ginko only barked a couple times when he first saw Katie, then he settled down and walked nicely next to her and even did several heeling passes, where they approached somewhat head-on. Both sat, while the other walked a circle around. Today (Monday), Tom and took turns walking each of them. Here’s how it went for our first solo outing with the dogs since the orginal drama.
Katie was VERY excited to see me, when I went to leash her up her backyard. And, when she saw Ginko, she was pulling and jumping around like a wild bean. She was hilarious. She is such a gangly girl and wanted to badly to play.
Once she settled in, we walked up and down the fire dept driveway several times. A couple times their faces got very close together, and once Ginko made a slow-motion, almost trying to be funny snap at her. It’s similar to what Lilly does when she pretends she is going to bite my nose. So, I wasn’t too worried. Plus, he didn’t follow it up with anything. Just a somewhat joking warning that she was too close.
Since it seemed to be going well, we went ahead and took them back to Katie’s yard and played some fetch with Ginko with both off leash. I held on to her for a few throws of the ball, so Ginko could get his fetch rhythm going.
Once I let her loose, she did everything in her power to get him to chase her. She spun. She bowed. She raced around in tight circles, but he pretty much ignored her because as I’ve said before … he loves the BALL. He would look at her smiling as she raced by, but he did not take the bait.
The few times he actually made like he was going to approach Katie, she sprinted away with a tinge of fearfulness, so that’s not good. We are VERY worried that he will scare her enough that she’ll jump our fence. Since she is impossible to catch or recall right now, that’s a major concern.
But, we were mostly happy that he ignored her. That seems good.
I tried to get her to play with her ball, but she was too nervous since Ginko expressed interest in the ball too, and it surely seemed that she was NOT going to challenge him in any way. That reaction felt very much like the way Lilly will NOT play in front of other dogs.
After a while, she went and got some cuddling from Tom, who was sitting on the edge of the deck, and Ginko totally did not care. He got a drink and just hung out right there, a few feet away.
I could tell that Katie needed a drink too, so I called Ginko a few feet off the water bowl, and Katie was brave enough to approach and get a drink.
Tomorrow, we might try bringing Lilly along as a play bridge. We figure, either she’ll show Katie that it’s OK to chase Ginko when he’s playing fetch because all he cares about is the ball. OR, when he takes a break, Lilly can play with Katie and show Ginko how much fun she is to chase.
We’ll see.
I still have a million and one worries about a third dog in our staunchly two-dog household.
I was more nervous about an on-leash intro since that can be dicey, if dogs aren’t used to meeting while being restrained.
But, yes, we felt like it would be OK as long as he got good and focused on the ball.
Part of it too is that I’m somewhat impatient. I tend to be a pretty decisive person, so the fact that this is taking time is hard for me.
Still, her undercurrent of fear of him concerns us.
*sigh*
It really tells me a lot that you had the confidence to let them be off leash together. And, it went well. It sounds from your description like an absolutely huge step forward compared to last time that they were loose together.
I have to say that Katie sounds like a super dog – doing all the right things to make friends with Ginko. I bet that she’ll learn recalls really fast if she works along side Lilly.