Discussion
Boxnoggin was SUCH a good boy on walkies today. He was gentlemanly toward other pedestrians, kept to his "space" at my side on a very loose leash, and looked to me for direction when a cat appeared.
He's worlds away from the reactive, nervous dog he was. It's so nice to see.
@lilithsaintcrow We’re working with our rescue (formerly abused) doggo who seems to have many of the same issues. Patience is definitely the way to go, but whoo, boy, there are times…
@reay What a sweet face! Look at those eyes!
There are frustrations, yeah. It’s never the doggo’s fault, and sometimes it’s odd what sticks in their poor little memories. But oh, the satisfaction when you see them set up for success and they deal with a challenging situation wonderfully! That’s always amazing.
@lilithsaintcrow Yeah, we’ve had him a couple of years now and he still goes into a fugue, blown pupil, feral state when he finds something he wants (usually random garbage or something to chew on) on walks — all three of us have been bitten by trying to get such stuff away from him so he doesn’t get hurt or sick from it — and he often still gets aggressive when he wants some post-walk snuggle time (which I’m happy to give him any time I can, but not in response to that behaviour, which we think he learned from a former home where aggressiveness at least got him attention), so there’s miles to go yet. But he’s way better than he was, and we’re going to be his forever home, so we’re determined to get there with him.
Meanwhile, he’s mostly good and can relax with the best of them.
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Gentle, patient training, rewarding the behaviour you want to see, is good for both canines and humans. All carrot, no stick is by far the most effective route. There are no bad dogs, only incompetent owners.