Royal K9 Korner Welcomes Miss Celine

3 yr old Celine - currently non social

3 year old mixed breed Celine came for her meet and greet on June 19th. She comes to us with an unpleasant history with other dogs. Celine was adopted from a litter of pups who were born in the woods. Her breed is unknown and we suspect she could be of quite a mixture. Possibly shepherd,  maybe coyote and whippet or greyhound. Who really knows. She has a wonderful loving family who started off her training perfectly. She has a solid knowledge of the basic skills and is happy to please. Her family is more than willing to help her overcome her adversity.

Over her few years, and during some of her walks, Celine was confronted aggressively by unleashed and 'less than friendly' dogs.  She has now built up defensive behaviours when she sees any dogs. She goes into "Get them before they get me" mode.
Celine is sweet and cuddly with people and proved that on our first meeting. Fortunately Lady May is very laid back with new dogs. Due to her disability she greets them all in a laying down position. 

I always introduce new dogs behind a gate and have a safely lead on.  When Celine first saw Lady May, she went into the expected defence mode and reacted negatively. Fortunately, Lady May has seen this before. She did not respond and looked away.  Good girl Lady May! By the end of the M&G Celine was able to allow me to lead her past Lady May and even shared space with her outdoors.

Celine came back for a 3 hour "test visit" yesterday. She came through the gate full of happiness and was eager to say hello to me. Lady May laid quietly behind the gate when Celine approached. Although Celine was obviously on guard, she approached with out any negative reaction. Good girl Celine. Well done Lady May.

I kept various gates between the two for the beginning of the visit and slowly moved towards removal as the visit progressed. 

Celine - "Oh, hi, I know you"

Outdoors time was very limited due to our heatwave. We made the most of the few minutes we spent each time and practised going in and out. Of course Celine was eager to head out and tried to head towards the gate for home. She was reluctant at first but did comply and did a thorough check around the yard. Lady May laid a few feet away until she felt safe enough to come closer.

Lady May keeps a safe distance away. She keeps her back to Celine.
Is she showing Celine she trusts her?

I have agreed to allow Celine to visit when there are no others on site. We believe it's very important for Celine to learn that she is safe here. My hope is for her to build on that with Lady May before we begin to slowly and safely introduce her to others. I like to believe Celine will eventually be happy when she has other dog friends. That may not happen. We know other dogs who remain people friendly only.

Celine still wearing a safety harness for protection.

Just so cute! Celine rests her chin on the bench. She can clearly see the entrance gate.
Is she watching for her daddy?

Celine investigated the entire yard. There are so many scents here.
It was too hot to complete the full yard in one time.

Safety halter is removed and Celine was free to investigate with just a long lead.

Lady May is laying on the sidelines and Celine showed no reaction at all.

While we were indoors we used some time to practise her basic skills. Celine was very compliant and showed me how clever she is. She has a solid foundation for various commands.  She was 5 for 5 on Sit from stand, Sit from down, Down from sit, Down from stand and Stand from down.
Her 'stay', was also very evident when I asked her to stay in place while I puttered in the kitchen. I removed the gate and she still stayed put! Well done Celine! Well done mommy!!

Celine- "Maybe it's close to food time?"

By the time home time rolled around, it was obvious Miss Celine had her fill and was most definitely ready for nap time.

This dog sitting place is sure tiring!

I will be looking for a few days in the next while when Celine can visit and continue to build on her feelings of safety with Lady May. At the moment my calendar is very full with few open days. I'm hopeful we can one day introduce Miss Celine to a few of our other calm, well-mannered Royal K9 extended pack members.
We welcome Miss Celine!

lil Molly and Sadie are Buddies Again

For quite some time now, our Marchioness lil Molly has been over the top reactive towards our mellow, happy go lucky girl, Miss Sadie. When the two see each other their engagement is anything but friendly. As you can clearly see, that is not the case any more!
Thank dawG!!

Sadie - "Okay we're friends now right?"
lil Molly - "Sure, but - the toys are mine okay?"

From their initial meeting and onward, when they visited together, I saw no sign of disapproval from either towards the other. There showed normal behaviours over who would get the 'best' toys or jockeying for position or squabbling over romping techniques and buddies. Nothing out of the ordinary that couldn't be rectified by a "BIG VOICE" with a "Leadership Bark" from me.

However, somewhere down the line something happened and I could not put my finger on what it was. Had I done something to create such disdain between these two. It was beginning to eat me up and I could feel my confidence wain during their visits. I know enough about dog's behaviours to know they can, will and do feed off their leaders emotions. I believe I was showing them my own self doubt and insecurity. I was dwelling on what the heck must have happened on one of their past visits.
Was I now giving them some form of chemical signal that I was not in control. Did that put them into a defensive mode when the other was present? Did they feel they needed to step into a leadership role because their current leader was failing? The more I thought about it the more I lost confidence.

During their visits together, I had to separate them with a gate and swap around who played in what area, and who laid where indoors. One was not walked past the other when leading in or out. One used the downstairs door the other went out upstairs. One would be in the living room the other behind a gate with a buddy One slept upstairs with me the other downstairs with daddy. I was on my toes at all times. I made it work and all were kept safe but I couldn't figure out why??. 

Clearly these two no longer need to be separated by gates!

Finally during a conversation with their mom and dad, I discovered what had happened! 
There had been an altercation between these two as they met up on a public walk.  They were bringing that history into daycare and continuing the battle. Well, for cryin' out loud! Puzzle solved.

Self confidence restored! Lesson learned.
Stay in leadership mode at all times even during an altercation of unknown origin.
Aggression and bullying are NOT allowed here. I had let my love for these two sweeties get in my way and was not displaying the proper authority they required to "Get over it"

Hey Sadie, Wanna share my ball with me.

Action plan in place.
Reintroduce using safety. Step up the leadership stance and voice!
Allow the milder character to feel safe and remove the need to go into defensive mode.
Show the stronger character there is no need to step into leadership role. I am present and in control here.
Whew! Now we can get back to just being dogs having FUN!

June Dogs Just Being Dogs

 When the weather turns warm, the grass becomes greener.  The furnace is turned off and the doors are opened.  It's time for the dogs to be able to come in or go out at will.  Not all visiting dogs want to be outdoors playing all day long. Some of them really prefer to just lay on a cozy mat or the cool floor and just sleep the day away. That's just fine by me.
It's common to see half finished chores in and around my house and yard. I do house chores and yard work both at the same time. I'm in and out with the dogs and doing half chores back and forth. What I didn't complete the time before will wait until the next time I'm out, or in. Sometimes I get to just sit on the porch or on a yard bench and watch them rest. They don't always want me to throw a ball or tug a toy.  It's not always about run and go crazy and zoom and romp.
When the yard is full of dogs, I love it when they just want to lay around.Thank goodness for the warmer temps. Even though we have to be "home" we take full advantage of being able to just, be!

Little Sage seems to enjoy the cool floor over a mat. The sun can reach her little tummy.

lil Molly enjoying quiet pool time with little Sage.

Even little Sage likes to chill indoors some time.

Mylu and Hazel just waiting to be let indoors again.

lil Molly - "Hey! I see your new strawberry beds are here! Great! Can we eat them now?"

Mylu and Lady May loves the porch. lil Molly usually chooses the indoor mat

There's something about fresh outdoor water. It's loved the best.

Lady May loves the sun and The Baroness Mylu loves the shade