jackpandadog

Jack vs. The World

Jack is now about 2.5 years old. He's been with me for about 2 years. Somewhere along the way, he's started to develop some bad social habits. He doesn't play too well with certain dogs in the neighborhood and he makes it a point to tell them (with his snarls and growls). He specifically doesn't like bulldogs and a specific boxer. The other social problem is that he's not too fond of other humans. He doesn't seem to respond well to high-pitched squealing that so many women tend to do and if you're not sure about petting him - then he surely isn't sure about you petting him. And as with bulldogs and that boxer, he will bite you if you try to touch him. 

Because he's got some problems with his hips and knees that requires him to not over-exert his hind parts, I've started taking him on longer brisk walks. We walk around the park, about .25m. Then we go to the dog park. He sits and calms down before entering. Over the last two weeks, I've watched him go from being totally nervous and aloof to starting to be curious about other dogs and even initiating play. More amazingly I've seen other people pet him. Just small quick moments of other hands touching him. In the dog park, I try to keep to myself and keep out of his way. I try not to talk to him and pretend I'm very busy looking out of the park. 

Jack, seen here after a nice long walk to the n6th pier. 

I'm still having issues with Jack's anxiety. He gets very nervous around new people and will bite them if they come too close. Since the last update, Jack's bitten my co-worker, snapped and threaten to bite a friend, and in a moment of chaos, bit me. I don't think this is okay and I am not trying to make excuses for him - but it's all because he's afraid. 

A lot of his usual walks consist of walking around the parks near us. I've been trying to build his confidence and help him confront his unfounded fears of the world by taking him on longer walks down blocks he's never been before. His tail would drop and his eyes would grow wide, at every unexpected sound, he would try to dash away, only to be yanked back by the leash. I hope that with more practice he will be less afraid. 

Last night, we went for a long walk with our neighbor and her dog. Cupcake (another dog from the shelter) is quite nervous herself. During the walk, I tried letting him go through his motions and not interfere too much. As a result, I noticed his tail was up about 80% of the time. He seemed to have done better with a dog-friend. 

We had a session with Blake from DCTK9 this past week and things have been - shaken up - to say the least. The main purpose of Blake's visit was to address Jack's insecurities by way of his aggression.

Admittedly with no reservations, having Jack with us since his early puppyhood, made us victims of his cuteness. He got away with many things whether it's, "oh, he just doesn't know any better", "he's still a puppy", and the worst case, "he's just being cute". 

Steps towards a better Jack: 1. We are going to try training him with a prong collar. (I will write about this in another post) 2. Really disagreeing and following through when he growls, barks or disobey. 

I will expand on point number 2. He's always gotten his way, when told to sit and be chill, he does it for 1.5 seconds and then he's off again. What it all means is that I'm showing him, I mean what I command. 

This morning he got possessive over a ball and snarl at me when I tried to take it from him. He knew immediately to retreat to his safe place as soon as he did it. So instead of letting him hide like always, I dragged him to the other corner of the room and had him sit. He tried to get up a few times, probably to head back to his little nook, but I disagreed with him and repositioned him. He chose to stand for a little while, then tried to escape again. Repeat disagreement. He sat very still for a while, which is the desired effect. And now probably at 45 minutes or so of this show down, he's finally laying down, which is the ultimate desired effect. Full surrender. 

It is unbelievably taxing emotionally. It is stressful. And I have to tell myself repeatedly to be patient, something that does not come naturally in these kinds of scenarios. 

Jack Shephard! You are a pain in my ass. 

Looks like Jack's been acting up under the watchful eyes of his dog walker. He's been growling/barking/lunging at our neighbors in the hallway. This is of course, troublesome. If you recall, we really just nipped the same problem with Clark Kent (his older brother, the pitbull) a few months back. 

We're going to work with Blake from Dream Come True K9 again and see how it goes. 

Jack is getting so much better at catching the frisbee! 

We've gotten a bit of a routine in the mornings now. First, the business walk, where he does his business. Then Frisbee or random stick (when I'm lazy) fetching. I'm trying to teach him to finish his "business" before play so that we're not just wandering around till he finds the best spot in the park. It's been working out quite well. 

As a general note, he's much more obedient. He now sits on command while we wait for the elevator and he also sits when we are inside the elevator. It's good training but it's also good for when there are other people in the elevator. 

121225_FirstBirthday (by liztan)