[Dailydrool] Mr Good Boy

[Dale Rutz]

Hi it's Dale,
We are THRILLED with Chomper's improving behavior.  I was really afraid of loosing the housekeeper due to Chompers behavior.  He was being SUCH a pill with ANYONE ..... I really feel it was fear motivated but he just wouldn't quit .... he'd bark, growl, lung and SNAP at anyone who came near  .... even family who visited the house.  Rosa comes once a week and it's been EIGHT months and he was following her around the house growling and snapping at her ..... terrible.  A couple of weeks ago she told me she was very stressed by his behavior and couldn't continue working for me if changes weren't made.
So ...... I started doing a few things:
1)  on walks I'd have him watch me and tell him how brave and smart and good he was....non stop, as someone or some dog approached.  This served two purposes in that it distracted the dog AND let the approaching party know that Chomper was fearful (like Horton, he's so cute people want to rush up to him and that terrifies him)
2)  we went to the dog park.  The one close to my house has a big dog side and a little dog side and it's based on height at the shoulder so even though Chomper is over 50 lbs he can go on the little dog side.  Turns out, he isn't afraid of dogs 1/5 his size and weight.  He lets them sniff him and he will even sniff then when they aren't looking.  The first time we went he jumped up on the bench and hid behind me.  Second time he stayed on the ground and let 4-5 people pet him.  By now he is a pro, Monday he plopped down next to a lady and let her stroke him for 20 minutes.  then, we went over to the BIG DOG side and he let huge 100 lb dogs who were wildly jumping and racing and dancing sniff him.  He didn't join in but  he didn't panic either.  Tail not tucked (not high, pretty low in fact but not tucked)
My 5 year old rescued dog is pretty affectionate these days, and friendlier toward everyone.  And Rosa isn't going to quit.
Whew!!Dale
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