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?
My piece for WebMD called Your Partner vs. Your Pet went live earlier this week. Since there doesn’t seem to be a place to discuss over there, I’m posting a link here so that we can chat a bit about it. So, I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you the story of Gilbert, the dog we gave up.
I know I should rename this much-overdue dog training report something like Monthly Training Update since the whole weekly concept fell to the gutter of real life. We’ve been otherwise occupied in a million ways. So, I’m sorry we haven’t had much to report. However …
A few weeks ago, one of Tom’s friends dropped by to chat. The boys stood out front for their conclave, and Lilly decided that Tom’s friend was her newest, very best friend. That’s quite a breakthrough for my fearful girl.
If it’s summer … it must mean that Lilly suddenly is terrified to come inside, but only in the evening. How many years now has this pattern emerged? Five, six years?
Since Ginko is pretty much Sofa Captain, homebody, boy about the house, I forget what he is like in public. In a word: Unruly. It’s a good reminder for me when I get my rant on about people who have little control over their dogs and how that affects my sensitive Lilly Girl.
It’s been a LONG couple of days, so I only have energy for some quick medical updates. Here is the latest on Lilly’s health, Ginko’s health, and that dog emergency we witnessed last week.
With work and family things, I haven’t had much time to do any training with Lilly lately, but I wanted to share a behavior and health update from Lilly’s wellness exam this week with our “new” veterinarian.
Lilly and I began our much-overdue 100% togetherness day on Sunday with a visit to Mom’s place (the assisted living facility). Lilly showed improvement in some areas, but … alas … one pretty “scary” thing happened.
Now that it’s finally feeling at least a little like spring, I’ve noticed one funny thing about visual/auditory cues that get Lilly and Ginko a’ running. The big, brown UPS truck.
