Before you read. Serenity was MUZZLED through this WHOLE experience!
As some know, Serenity is a tad fearful of dogs and people. She is reactive at times and does not like fast movement.
I am beyond proud of Serenity. I can't even put out how proud I feel. I thought Serenity would never improve. I knew she would but I thought it would take a lot longer and a lot more work. I just can't believe how good she was today.. I'm shocked.
I haven't worked with Serenity as much as I would have liked. I have taken any chance to allow her to interact with people and honestly, lately she seemed to be worse because these past two weeks she started staring people down (I stopped her of course) but she kept trying.
I understand people don't agree with dog parks but a new one opened near me, one that is incredibly close. It's normally very empty and if it isn't, you'll find maybe one to four dogs in there. I started taking Sunny randomly because I felt like it. Anyway, I've decided to ask a few of the people if they'd help me out with Serenity. They fully understood her issues and were fine with it or I would have left.
I have been blown away. This is a dog that would growl and try to attack if they got close, especially high energy dogs. She was a tad fearful but she also came out of her shell and sniffed another dog, she showed actual interest, she showed a bit of play interest with a Poodle. Never did I think she'd be this good with strange dogs. She behaved while around strange dogs. I have been blown away.
Now.. To the people. My biggest concern. She was muzzled of course. They even welcomed me to drop the leash. Serenity did bloody so well. No barking at anyone, she walked around and behaved, she stood beside people. I did see her wanting to nip at a girls leg twice, separate times but I told her off and she left it alone. I watched her like a hawk, she didn't get to even nip, I saw she wanted too. These two people ran, she just stood there beside me. That is a big set off but she behaved.
My biggest happy moment was when Serenity was standing a few feet from this lady. All of a sudden her tail wagged so fast as she turned around and went in for a pet. I haven't seen her offer herself for a pet for LONG time.
My brother needed me to baby sit and he picked me up with Serenity. Serenity doesn't exactly love his pup Leo but she did do pretty well with interacting with him. I can't wait till she actually tries playing with him.
Now. I lock Serenity up around my niece and nephew because I don't trust her. She has tried to go for them. I was at their house tonight and had Serenity so I thought I'd see how she'd interact with them. I kept Serenity on a leash and muzzled around them but she shocked me so much. She went up to them for a pet! She has not done that before. She was interested in them, in a good way! She did try to chase my niece twice but was told off and after that, she was fine. This is big since last time Serenity was near my niece, she really showed a unfriendly side (due to her doing fast actions. Serenity is fine with slow movements). Even fast movements didn't set her off. She was behaving.
I don't where the big change came from. I haven't been harsh on her. I haven't even done that much work with her. I've only started doing a bit more training and I've been walking with her in the morning now (I never used to). Before this, there was no way I'd trust her like I did today. Clearly she has a LONG way to go and I will only do these interactions with small groups at the dog park but I hope this helps her. Clearly something is working because this is a dog that would try to attack any other dog, she'd try to instantly nip at people if she could. She's getting so much better with accepting people being around without going after them. She seems more interested in getting attention.
I'm beyond proud. I never expected her to be this far along, especially after little effort. I look forward to putting a lot of effort in and seeing her go further. We'll take things slow. I have nothing but good things to say about her. She had many more good moments today then bad. She did so well. Maybe I've done wrong today but the results speak quite loudly. I hope we are following the right path.
As some know, Serenity is a tad fearful of dogs and people. She is reactive at times and does not like fast movement.
I am beyond proud of Serenity. I can't even put out how proud I feel. I thought Serenity would never improve. I knew she would but I thought it would take a lot longer and a lot more work. I just can't believe how good she was today.. I'm shocked.
I haven't worked with Serenity as much as I would have liked. I have taken any chance to allow her to interact with people and honestly, lately she seemed to be worse because these past two weeks she started staring people down (I stopped her of course) but she kept trying.
I understand people don't agree with dog parks but a new one opened near me, one that is incredibly close. It's normally very empty and if it isn't, you'll find maybe one to four dogs in there. I started taking Sunny randomly because I felt like it. Anyway, I've decided to ask a few of the people if they'd help me out with Serenity. They fully understood her issues and were fine with it or I would have left.
I have been blown away. This is a dog that would growl and try to attack if they got close, especially high energy dogs. She was a tad fearful but she also came out of her shell and sniffed another dog, she showed actual interest, she showed a bit of play interest with a Poodle. Never did I think she'd be this good with strange dogs. She behaved while around strange dogs. I have been blown away.
Now.. To the people. My biggest concern. She was muzzled of course. They even welcomed me to drop the leash. Serenity did bloody so well. No barking at anyone, she walked around and behaved, she stood beside people. I did see her wanting to nip at a girls leg twice, separate times but I told her off and she left it alone. I watched her like a hawk, she didn't get to even nip, I saw she wanted too. These two people ran, she just stood there beside me. That is a big set off but she behaved.
My biggest happy moment was when Serenity was standing a few feet from this lady. All of a sudden her tail wagged so fast as she turned around and went in for a pet. I haven't seen her offer herself for a pet for LONG time.
My brother needed me to baby sit and he picked me up with Serenity. Serenity doesn't exactly love his pup Leo but she did do pretty well with interacting with him. I can't wait till she actually tries playing with him.
Now. I lock Serenity up around my niece and nephew because I don't trust her. She has tried to go for them. I was at their house tonight and had Serenity so I thought I'd see how she'd interact with them. I kept Serenity on a leash and muzzled around them but she shocked me so much. She went up to them for a pet! She has not done that before. She was interested in them, in a good way! She did try to chase my niece twice but was told off and after that, she was fine. This is big since last time Serenity was near my niece, she really showed a unfriendly side (due to her doing fast actions. Serenity is fine with slow movements). Even fast movements didn't set her off. She was behaving.
I don't where the big change came from. I haven't been harsh on her. I haven't even done that much work with her. I've only started doing a bit more training and I've been walking with her in the morning now (I never used to). Before this, there was no way I'd trust her like I did today. Clearly she has a LONG way to go and I will only do these interactions with small groups at the dog park but I hope this helps her. Clearly something is working because this is a dog that would try to attack any other dog, she'd try to instantly nip at people if she could. She's getting so much better with accepting people being around without going after them. She seems more interested in getting attention.
I'm beyond proud. I never expected her to be this far along, especially after little effort. I look forward to putting a lot of effort in and seeing her go further. We'll take things slow. I have nothing but good things to say about her. She had many more good moments today then bad. She did so well. Maybe I've done wrong today but the results speak quite loudly. I hope we are following the right path.
