The dog musing/vent thread

One of my neighbors recently got a new dog. She has decided that Jubel is the devil and must die. They met twice briefly when she first came home. Nothing has happened between them other than a brief exchange of dirty looks that led to a quick snark from her. They don't come anywhere near each other now.

Jubel is fine, couldn't care less about seeing her. She on the other hand goes ballistic lunging, barking, and snarling seeing him from a far distance. I've tried talking to my neighbor about LAT and my willingness to work with her on training so Lucy can see Jubel without losing her mind. She seemed receptive but don't know if she'll actually follow through. I hope she does. They don't have to like each other but I really don't want to risk Lucy getting out and attacking Jubel. I've seen them leave their front door open with the storm door closed. She's a big strong dog, I don't trust that storm door to contain her. Plus they have kids, I'd guess the youngest is 9-10, don't trust them not to let her slip out if she sees Jubel.

Really hoping this doesn't end badly.

Zoe got her RATI!

She was one of 13 dogs to do so in the first ever Barn Hunt Instinct Test in Alaska. I am so proud of her for working, even though she was really stressy. A dog barked on the other side of the blind, and she still went back to the tubes, but she was barely working. I'm sure there are people that watched who figure I just made a lucky guess, but I know her subtleties from Nose Work.

I don't think we'll get any qualifying legs in Novice, because she is so not into those tunnels, but right now I am just happy to see her working at something new and want her to have fun despite the fact that other dogs exist.

Sports that accommodate reactive dogs = win. Our first ribbon and first title.

Do you have a reason to be concerned? Doesn't sound like anything other than reactivity if all that happened upon a meet was a snark. Sounds unlikely she would approach him willingly with that sort of intro. Def not out for blood, anyway.

Training would of course make it more pleasant, but even if a dog isn't reacting it could still be very aggressive and attack a dog if it were to get loose. Some of the most seemingly pleasant dogs can do the most damage when you least expect it.

Hope it works out! The stress alone is enough to drive you crazy.

Zoe got her RATI!

She was one of 13 dogs to do so in the first ever Barn Hunt Instinct Test in Alaska. I am so proud of her for working, even though she was really stressy. A dog barked on the other side of the blind, and she still went back to the tubes, but she was barely working. I'm sure there are people that watched who figure I just made a lucky guess, but I know her subtleties from Nose Work.

I don't think we'll get any qualifying legs in Novice, because she is so not into those tunnels, but right now I am just happy to see her working at something new and want her to have fun despite the fact that other dogs exist.

Sports that accommodate reactive dogs = win. Our first ribbon and first title.

Well I guess I should make it "official." Pen will be living with my in-laws. He loves them, they love him, he gets along VERY well with their dog... It really hurts me to not get to see my boy every day, but I visit my in-laws frequently anyway since they only like 15 minutes away, and I know that this is the best option right now. My house is happy and calm, their house is happy and full of life... Win-win I suppose. Though I do love my boy <3

I was kind of proud of myself today...

Had Cajun at the dog park, she was prancing around in the pond and this dog came charging at her and rammed into her and knocked her sideways into the water. I didn't think too much of it, accident right, exuberant dog? Except then Cajun comes out of the water and he charges at her AGAIN growling, but this time I think he got zapped with his e-collar because he stopped in the middle of it and ran away.

After watching him put on this show with a few other dogs, he started coming back towards Cajun and I... and as he was running toward her, I stepped out and blocked him. He ran into my legs, looked up at me, turned around and walked away. His owners witnessed the whole thing and I think there was NO mistake what message I was sending. They ended up leaving after that

I don't normally do "confrontation" so I was pretty pleased with myself for my split-second decision to try to protect my dog! And glad that it actually worked instead of just making me look silly lol.

So, Cohen, Megatron and I had the opportunity to perform at the All About Pets Show with Woofjocks yesterday. Such fun. Such wonderful trainers and amazing dogs. Of course, none of the action shots turned out since shooting indoors under fluorescents sucks. I'm hoping that someone, somewhere got some good ones but I'm not holding my breath.

The dogs did well. She was a bit over tired and overworked when we went to perform our solo freestyle routine, but she was a champ and soldiered through it. According to my sources in the audience, it still went over well. We did obedience, agility, flyball, high jump.. Very fun.

Cohen was on one of the new posters the team had made up, so I had to snap a shot.

Bit of gushing about my awesome dog.

We were visited family in Indiana these past few days and I cannot be more proud of how Abrams behaved himself. (Besides not knowing how to react in a multi-level house with a ton of people and other dogs.)

12 hour car ride north? He did great, even if he did bark at people at gas stations. First night in an unfamiliar location, after said car drive and no exericse? Perfect. He fell right asleep in his portable crate, that he had NEVER been exposed to before, without any fuss. He didn't care about the cats, he didn't care about the multiple dogs, and for the first time in his entire life he was able to be around Chloe without her trying to kill him because he actually respected her when she told him off. He was thrown into a lot of different situations - staying in a kennel outdoors in an unfamiliar area, staying in my car in busy parking lots while we ate out, a strange house he had never been in before and then had to sleep at, going from one place to another without Cynder, being off leash in unfamiliar areas - and he just took everything in stride. No anxiety, no nervousness, just, "Okay, sweet, what's next?!" On the trip back home he just dozed the entire time and when we stopped at gas stations or rest stops he didn't bark at anyone or anything. Got out, calmly did his business when asked, and went right back into the car and fell asleep.

I was so proud of him. <3 I love having a dog that takes everything in stride. I haven't had a dog like that since Blackie.

My travelling buddy on the way home: