Make the time to enrich your dog’s life…🩵🧚
Pal has fully transitioned to @walnutgroveboarding as I have returned to work full-time so that his daily activity needs can continue to be met, and our sweet boy is THRIVING! Anna has continued to work on his touch sensitivity and trust building and THIS made my fairy heart swell with pride!! What a good boy your are Pal!!🧚🩵
It took several weeks of trust building and the help of meds for Pal to be ok with touch, but it is still a work progress. He will often seek it out, but he is still uneasy when he doesn’t initiate it, but he is trying so hard…🩵🧚
#goodboypal
Pal enjoyed his first beef bone today. It was the longest he has sat still apart from when he is sleeping!
Beef bones for the win!! 🧚🩵
Dog people are the best people 🐾🫶🏻
#dog #dogsofinstagram #doglover #followforfollowback
Saying goodbye on my last day with the flock! @the_snuggled_hens
Today’s Pal update isn’t as bright and shiny as some of our previous updates. I have been working on reconditioning him around moving vehicles, admittedly though, with very little success. Of all of the quirky behaviours he came with, this one puts him in greatest danger, as he is hell bent at dodging head first at passing cars seemingly unaware of the danger they present. As you can see in the video, he is also quite noisy and I’m sure people must think I am harming him in some way based on the sounds he makes as they drive-by - which has made our walks together anything but enjoyable. Lately, I have been walking him early in the morning and late at night when there’s less traffic, just because it’s easier. However, I know in my heart that this is not a long-term solution. Pal needs to relearn how to respond and react in a calm manner for his own safety. Imagine if he slipped out the front door, or if he was able to slip his leash or get out of an open gate? He would certainly meet his demise in a big hurry. So, after some conversation with our trusted veterinarian, we took a different approach today. I walked Pal to an area where we could watch traffic from a distance in the hopes that by allowing him to observe and process, he would feel less anxious, and I felt it was a very promising first attempt. At this point, he is still fixated on moving vehicles, and it is impossible to distract him with treats. So even though he will follow the sit/stay command easily when he is not in a high state of anxiety, when moving traffic is involved, he is completely nonresponsive to me. So that is our next step once we have the reactivity under control, Pal will needs to learn that these commands apply outside of the house as well, so that if he ever slipped off leash, we could count on the sit/stay command to save his life.
I am not a professional trainer, but I will do my best during our time together to work on this very important part of his rehabilitation. Pal
The day is finally here!! ✂️ #spayandneuteryourpets #goodboypal
Jiggs, you have stolen my heart…🧚🩵
Pal Update!
Having an under socialization dog doesn’t mean they are not canine friendly. Pal is a perfect example of an under socialized dog, who struggles with reading body language and behavioural cues from other dogs. He wants so desperately to be in their space, and to introduce himself with lots of sniffing and to initiate play. However not all dogs (like senior boy, Jet) are comfortable with his puppy energy, and although it sounds intimidating, he is simply trying to let Pal know, he isn’t interested. For the first couple of days, Pal could not understand the cue for more space. Here we are on day four, and he is finally slowly starting to get it, and instead of me, having to redirect him with his leash, he is backing off on his own. He is generally easily corrected with a firm verbal “NO” however, I’m trying to give him an opportunity to process and understand what Jet is trying to say here. Because Jet is my dog, I know that he is all talk… so I’m comfortable letting them have some time to sort it out on their own. Not all dogs however, would be this patient and I would never allow him to approach a dog I did not know who is clearly uncomfortable with his invasiveness. Not having these social skills and the capacity to understand canine body language makes placing Pal in a home with another dog very challenging, and why ensuring puppies have the appropriate level of socialization in their first 16 weeks of life (and beyond) is so vitally important to their growth and development.🧚🩵🐾
#fosteringsaveslives #k9crusaders #goodboypal
