10/11/2025
This big pair of ears is Bowie, a rescue pup from the Northwest Territories that found himself fostered (and then adopted) in Nelson BC. His background is a bit of a mystery but at under 2 years old, he has his whole life ahead of him, and his top-notch family want to see Bowie boy get the best of the best 🌟
He had a test day at a local dog daycare but was... well, there's no polite way to say it - hu***ng everybody, and it was a bit much. Now, mounting is one of those faux-pas behaviours in the eyes of humans that simply doesn't have the same connotations to dogs. Sure, it can mean THAT 👀 but it's also frequently a sign of arousal of a more chaste nature- just increased energy and nowhere to put it. This is part of why we see this in female dogs, too, despite the obvious efficacy problem if the goal had ever been procreation. That said - plenty of dogs mount each other, and while some tolerate it, others REALLY DON'T - and it's generally not an appropriate way to displace feelings in a group setting like daycare.
It doesn't matter the intent of a behavior if the result is an undesirable outcome - we need to change the approach.
Bowie made a questionable first impression, so his thoughtful owners decided to take him out of that context and send him with me on a small group, and then large group, forest walk. This gave him a chance to flex his social muscles without as many spatial components coming into play. Bowie made new friends, made good social choices, and navigated his feelings appropriately - and after a couple of reps he was able to try daycare again with much more success 🙌🏽
Consistency is only worthwhile if you're seeing progress towards the desired outcome- if the results aren't showing up, change the plan. Do it in a thoughtful and measurable way, of course, but there is no need to keep trying something if it simply isn't working - get some professional guidance and try something a little different 😊
