Mokume playdate
Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 5:23 pm
So have been working a lot with Moko's social anxiety stuff. I've been on vacation last week, so I had a lot of extra time to really get lots of extra socializing work in. 
He always comes to the barn to do chores with me, but I picked up some extra shifts since I didn't need to be at school so got to be there all day for a couple of days and he got to interact a lot more with people coming and going. I tethered him via seat-belt harness to the atv that we use for mucking stalls and he got to ride around with me. (though I think he thought I was being especially cruel that there was a giant mound of horse-poo just under his nose in the back and jusssssst out of reach! 
)
I also took him to downtown Burlington several times, which is the acid-test for dog social skills (or a great venue for developing them,) but much safer than a dog-park due to strictly enforced leash laws. The Burlington Marketplace is a huge pedestrian mall. Dogs, people, bikes, action, but also a very dog-friendly community and wide and open so easy to avoid contact if needed, and easy to engage if desired. I started by just doing a short loop at the top block of Church Street, went from Ben and Jerry's shop to the top where the fountain is, then back to the car. Then another day we spent an hour walking up the street from the bottom, and then back down, taking frequent long pauses to sit on the one of the large boulders that line the street to just observe. We did this again Saturday and the Magic Hat Brewery hosts an annual Mardi Gras parade/street festival. We hung around for an hour and a half a few hours before the parade, so there was lots of people and costumes and action, but not as crowded and insane as it would get, and we left before then. He was doing much better each time, and we even allowed some folks to approach and say hi.
Yesterday, at the family farm, Jon's dad was visiting and he brought Bella, a 4 year old goldendoodle. She was perfect, she's big, and young enough to have energy, but past stupid puppy years. She goes to daycare everyday at Comfort Hill kennel and is used to being around all manner of other dogs. Bob and I walked her and Moko together on-leash while Maiyou ran around in the lower fields. Well apart from one another, but near enough to be able to talk to one another and the dogs could see,smell, but not touch. Moko spent the first several minutes lunging toward her and acting all vicious, (which we know is a huge front to mask how scared he is) but she daintily acted as though he wasn't there. (Good Bella!). After he'd settled down a bit, I told Bob he could let her off-leash to run and play with Maiyou, as Bella seemed to show no interest in coming to say hi to Moko, and when Moko seemed chill enough, after watching her run and explore without coming toward him, I deemed it safe to let him go. His body language had shifted from fear and aggression to tail-wagging interest, and based on other experiences with Bruin, (a Bernese that belongs to Jon's cousin, who has also been a good dog to work with to help Mokume become less dog-reactive,) I decided it was safe to give it a try. (If leashed, he's all slavering bravado, off-leash, he thinks better of being an ass.)
He's definitely more reactive on-leash than off. He ran toward Bella all bold-looking, and she turned to greet him and he veered off like "Oh crap! She saw me!" And after dancing around the fringes for a bit he got more and more relaxed, as she was open to play when he made overtures to her, but not overexuberant or proactive about it. If he came to her she'd play, and if he wasn't trying to engage her, she just trotted around sniffing about and doing her own thing. She couldn't have been more perfect. (Which is what I was banking on, as I know her well, even though Moko had never seen her before.)
He ended up having a really fun time romping and running, chasing each other and goofing about with a high happy tail. body posture engaged and relaxed.
Made me feel really good to see him so successful with an unknown (to him) dog.
He always comes to the barn to do chores with me, but I picked up some extra shifts since I didn't need to be at school so got to be there all day for a couple of days and he got to interact a lot more with people coming and going. I tethered him via seat-belt harness to the atv that we use for mucking stalls and he got to ride around with me. (though I think he thought I was being especially cruel that there was a giant mound of horse-poo just under his nose in the back and jusssssst out of reach! )I also took him to downtown Burlington several times, which is the acid-test for dog social skills (or a great venue for developing them,) but much safer than a dog-park due to strictly enforced leash laws. The Burlington Marketplace is a huge pedestrian mall. Dogs, people, bikes, action, but also a very dog-friendly community and wide and open so easy to avoid contact if needed, and easy to engage if desired. I started by just doing a short loop at the top block of Church Street, went from Ben and Jerry's shop to the top where the fountain is, then back to the car. Then another day we spent an hour walking up the street from the bottom, and then back down, taking frequent long pauses to sit on the one of the large boulders that line the street to just observe. We did this again Saturday and the Magic Hat Brewery hosts an annual Mardi Gras parade/street festival. We hung around for an hour and a half a few hours before the parade, so there was lots of people and costumes and action, but not as crowded and insane as it would get, and we left before then. He was doing much better each time, and we even allowed some folks to approach and say hi.
Yesterday, at the family farm, Jon's dad was visiting and he brought Bella, a 4 year old goldendoodle. She was perfect, she's big, and young enough to have energy, but past stupid puppy years. She goes to daycare everyday at Comfort Hill kennel and is used to being around all manner of other dogs. Bob and I walked her and Moko together on-leash while Maiyou ran around in the lower fields. Well apart from one another, but near enough to be able to talk to one another and the dogs could see,smell, but not touch. Moko spent the first several minutes lunging toward her and acting all vicious, (which we know is a huge front to mask how scared he is) but she daintily acted as though he wasn't there. (Good Bella!). After he'd settled down a bit, I told Bob he could let her off-leash to run and play with Maiyou, as Bella seemed to show no interest in coming to say hi to Moko, and when Moko seemed chill enough, after watching her run and explore without coming toward him, I deemed it safe to let him go. His body language had shifted from fear and aggression to tail-wagging interest, and based on other experiences with Bruin, (a Bernese that belongs to Jon's cousin, who has also been a good dog to work with to help Mokume become less dog-reactive,) I decided it was safe to give it a try. (If leashed, he's all slavering bravado, off-leash, he thinks better of being an ass.)
He's definitely more reactive on-leash than off. He ran toward Bella all bold-looking, and she turned to greet him and he veered off like "Oh crap! She saw me!" And after dancing around the fringes for a bit he got more and more relaxed, as she was open to play when he made overtures to her, but not overexuberant or proactive about it. If he came to her she'd play, and if he wasn't trying to engage her, she just trotted around sniffing about and doing her own thing. She couldn't have been more perfect. (Which is what I was banking on, as I know her well, even though Moko had never seen her before.)
He ended up having a really fun time romping and running, chasing each other and goofing about with a high happy tail.
body posture engaged and relaxed.Made me feel really good to see him so successful with an unknown (to him) dog.