@WrylyBrindle@Kuma123 If anything, having had Tsune and now Ren has been a lesson in patience and expectations. Someone on here said level your expectations with where a dog is (expectations for a puppy vs expecting them to act like a trained adult) and that really changed my outlook. We're taking it a little bit at a time and every step is an achievement. Thank you for the support
@CarabooA I know right? Almost every time my dad comes in and hears the growl it's "Aww don't worry Ren" "DAD ignore her, no eye contact" "Ok, sorry Ren" "SHHH" lol.
@tjbart17 If it didn't worry other people that'd be pretty cute, he's a manly man. I did for the most part. I moved her dog food tub under the desk, packed up the dog toys etc into one big duffel bag and set them under the table, put my motorcycle helmets under, pretty much everything that wasn't clothing. I'm going to have to get some empty cardboard boxes and just put them under to fully block the non-leg areas. This would be easier if it was a real desk and not a table.
To back up for a second: My sister, Keanu, and Ren went to a different nearby dog park today that had a nice long rectangle shape with multiple segments of sidewalk and multiple benches, with one offset covered picnic table. As well as small clusters of palm trees with no shrubbery at the bottom. As opposed to our usual dog park which is one long fan shaped area with one path around the perimeter and one main pagoda with benches in a circle inside. This causes most people to cluster at either end and the pagoda. With the layout at the new park, which is twice the size, people and dogs are naturally encouraged to spread out and have plenty of space for small groups of 2-4 dogs with random dogs running around between the groups. I think Ren felt much less clustered in here, that combined with her small step by small step progression of being more confident at the parks gave us a BIG step today. Both at the dog park and at home.
At the park she didn't do much playing with other dogs besides Keanu, but she did independently go up to multiple dogs and inspect them. She would still shy away when they inspected her back, but once she was in a "safe spot" near my legs or on a bench she would allow herself and the other dog to both smell each other at the same time without apparent anxienty. She also let a young girl and a man, separately, give her neck pets and some scratches. I told the girl to see if Ren would give her a paw, and she did that too! She also independently went up to six different people, including large men, to inspect them. To top it off, in the car she gave my sister constant hand licks let her pet her freely without any flinching or nervousness. I was very proud and happy for her today!
Our downstairs layout is like this: Imagine a box, except the bottom line is missing. Outside of the box, on the left is the living room with the couch and tv, right side is the dining room, top is the front door and the stairs going up. Now normally Ren will scoot down the stairs and run immediately around the right side where not many people go through and it's usually dark at night, then if I'm in the kitchen she'll sneak around to where I am. She wont access any other areas of the downstairs on her own unless I pick her up and put her on the couch. This has been the norm since I got her.
After the dog park I came home and heated up some left overs with both sisters, brother, and my mom in the kitchen. Ren trotted around the living room side slightly cautiously, then walked under the table without any feet scrabbling. I brought my food to the couch to watch Shark Tank (guilty obsession) figuring Ren would just go upstairs like usual. Nope! She came right out to the living room and hopped up on the back of the couch behind where I was sitting and curled up like a fox, but relaxed. Not curled up in a tense ball where she looked 1/2 her size. She still kept an eye on everything, but was just... chilling on the couch. It may not sound like anything spectacular... but it's a pretty big change from being stuck under my desk all day and feeling guilty that she's so worried all the time
As for the growling it's gone down in frequency, it seems the main thing she's not liking at the moment is just stomping steps down the hall moreso than individuals. I'm thinking that not feeling the need to resource guard the desk area has taken some stress off of her.
Some pics from today: Happy derp face after taking a jog around the park perimeter and some sniffing with small puppies
Ren interacting with my sister on her own for the first time, just after giving a paw. She was a little reserved and scrunched in this and the next lol.
Comments
@CarabooA I know right? Almost every time my dad comes in and hears the growl it's "Aww don't worry Ren" "DAD ignore her, no eye contact" "Ok, sorry Ren" "SHHH" lol.
@tjbart17 If it didn't worry other people that'd be pretty cute, he's a manly man.
I did for the most part. I moved her dog food tub under the desk, packed up the dog toys etc into one big duffel bag and set them under the table, put my motorcycle helmets under, pretty much everything that wasn't clothing. I'm going to have to get some empty cardboard boxes and just put them under to fully block the non-leg areas. This would be easier if it was a real desk and not a table.
To back up for a second:
My sister, Keanu, and Ren went to a different nearby dog park today that had a nice long rectangle shape with multiple segments of sidewalk and multiple benches, with one offset covered picnic table. As well as small clusters of palm trees with no shrubbery at the bottom. As opposed to our usual dog park which is one long fan shaped area with one path around the perimeter and one main pagoda with benches in a circle inside. This causes most people to cluster at either end and the pagoda.
With the layout at the new park, which is twice the size, people and dogs are naturally encouraged to spread out and have plenty of space for small groups of 2-4 dogs with random dogs running around between the groups. I think Ren felt much less clustered in here, that combined with her small step by small step progression of being more confident at the parks gave us a BIG step today. Both at the dog park and at home.
At the park she didn't do much playing with other dogs besides Keanu, but she did independently go up to multiple dogs and inspect them. She would still shy away when they inspected her back, but once she was in a "safe spot" near my legs or on a bench she would allow herself and the other dog to both smell each other at the same time without apparent anxienty. She also let a young girl and a man, separately, give her neck pets and some scratches. I told the girl to see if Ren would give her a paw, and she did that too! She also independently went up to six different people, including large men, to inspect them. To top it off, in the car she gave my sister constant hand licks let her pet her freely without any flinching or nervousness. I was very proud and happy for her today!
Our downstairs layout is like this:
Imagine a box, except the bottom line is missing. Outside of the box, on the left is the living room with the couch and tv, right side is the dining room, top is the front door and the stairs going up.
Now normally Ren will scoot down the stairs and run immediately around the right side where not many people go through and it's usually dark at night, then if I'm in the kitchen she'll sneak around to where I am. She wont access any other areas of the downstairs on her own unless I pick her up and put her on the couch. This has been the norm since I got her.
After the dog park I came home and heated up some left overs with both sisters, brother, and my mom in the kitchen. Ren trotted around the living room side slightly cautiously, then walked under the table without any feet scrabbling. I brought my food to the couch to watch Shark Tank (guilty obsession) figuring Ren would just go upstairs like usual. Nope! She came right out to the living room and hopped up on the back of the couch behind where I was sitting and curled up like a fox, but relaxed. Not curled up in a tense ball where she looked 1/2 her size. She still kept an eye on everything, but was just... chilling on the couch. It may not sound like anything spectacular... but it's a pretty big change from being stuck under my desk all day and feeling guilty that she's so worried all the time
As for the growling it's gone down in frequency, it seems the main thing she's not liking at the moment is just stomping steps down the hall moreso than individuals. I'm thinking that not feeling the need to resource guard the desk area has taken some stress off of her.
Some pics from today:
Happy derp face after taking a jog around the park perimeter and some sniffing with small puppies
Ren interacting with my sister on her own for the first time, just after giving a paw. She was a little reserved and scrunched in this and the next lol.
Being social