Rusty started Intermediate obedience classes and just to our luck - there's another dog that's been rescued has some of the same problems! Ok, so it's not really lucky, but as owners we can compare and contrast what works and what doesn't, especially with skittish dogs that have separation anxiety. (Oh, I HAVE to blog about what we've done to combat anxiety!)
It's a super cute Dalmatian that has anxiety around people. It needs personal space much like I do. I back away. And I back away fast. Sometimes I back into walls trying to get away, so I know exactly what this dog feels like! If you put a hula hoop around me, well, that's my bubble. You can't come into my bubble unless I give you the cue to come in (like I want to give you a hug).
But Bimmer Man and I are pretty good therapy people for dogs. To ease this Dalmatian's anxiety all we got to do was or sit and just be. We could either pet the dog on its back (started at the top of the shoulder and petted in one long stroke down to the tail) or give treats. The Dalmatian would either sit or stand right next to us.
The reason for working on this - because the Dalmatian is going to be in a show in two weeks! How cool is that? And it's also an anxious dog. So, this exercise will definitely help in the show ring and in every day life.
By the end of the day, the Dalmatian was pretty content around either of us (but around Rusty is a different story, still a little anxious around other dogs and Rusty isn't really a good "therapy" dog for other dogs yet!).
I've decided that I like intermediate class much better than beginner! There's not very many dogs, so class gets tailored to what we want and what we need to work on.
So much fun!
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