New Kiba update. Good progress this weekend.
Now that the weather is FINALLY getting better, I really want to push to have a one of the days in the weekend be a "get Kiba out and about from underneath the futon and have some fun" day.
We went for REALS hiking this time. Not the flat path we usually take, but a 2 mile up hill. He obviously LOVES being outside and really enjoys hiking. Kiba is SOOO much better at walking on a leash than Taro. Taro is all over the place and Kiba is more attentive to where you are at and if he notices you are too far behind or he is pulling on the leash, a good chunk of the time he looks back and then hangs back without you calling him.
After the hike, I took the dogs to the monthly shiba meetup which Kiba ALSO LOVES. Last time (according to Adam) he was more interested in the people than playing with the dogs, but he found one shiba puppy that he decided he loved and was chasing and wrestling with it. Taro also decided to play with the puppy, but the both of them got a bit too aggressive in their play and obviously emotions went out of control and they had a typical shiba vocal "fight". I picked Taro up and walked her away and what was interesting is Kiba followed me. He seemed EXTREMELY concerned that I was holding Taro. He was even jumping on me to get to her and followed me until I put her down and then he went about his business.
I was by myself and worried I wouldn't be able to get close enough to grab him to go home, but he was coming to me every time I called him. He actually came all the way and would let me pet him. It was obviously more reluctant than with pretty much everyone else, but he didn't run off or flinch away terrified like he usually does.
I've now noticed on our walks the past couple of days that I can now pet him. He still is reluctant so I am NOT pushing him, but he doesn't run from me if I crouch down and hold my hand out and he is pulling way less. He also isn't flinch running away if I turn towards him regardless if I am paying attention to him or not. He also seems to be less scared of me when I am putting on his harness, way less running away, but I still have to do our routine of him coming to me on his terms.
I've also noticed that at night, sometimes Adam forgets to close the computer room door which has his futon, his safe place, which we close off to force him to sleep in the room with us but now he seems to choose to be there now. The door was open this morning when I woke up, but Kiba stayed with us the whole night. I think he enjoys the structure and the fact that I pet him for a good 10mins when I wake up.
Anyways, super long post and I've attached photos and most of you have probably seen them on the Kai Ken facebook group so these are for those who haven't.
We went for REALS hiking this time. Not the flat path we usually take, but a 2 mile up hill. He obviously LOVES being outside and really enjoys hiking. Kiba is SOOO much better at walking on a leash than Taro. Taro is all over the place and Kiba is more attentive to where you are at and if he notices you are too far behind or he is pulling on the leash, a good chunk of the time he looks back and then hangs back without you calling him.
After the hike, I took the dogs to the monthly shiba meetup which Kiba ALSO LOVES. Last time (according to Adam) he was more interested in the people than playing with the dogs, but he found one shiba puppy that he decided he loved and was chasing and wrestling with it. Taro also decided to play with the puppy, but the both of them got a bit too aggressive in their play and obviously emotions went out of control and they had a typical shiba vocal "fight". I picked Taro up and walked her away and what was interesting is Kiba followed me. He seemed EXTREMELY concerned that I was holding Taro. He was even jumping on me to get to her and followed me until I put her down and then he went about his business.
I was by myself and worried I wouldn't be able to get close enough to grab him to go home, but he was coming to me every time I called him. He actually came all the way and would let me pet him. It was obviously more reluctant than with pretty much everyone else, but he didn't run off or flinch away terrified like he usually does.
I've now noticed on our walks the past couple of days that I can now pet him. He still is reluctant so I am NOT pushing him, but he doesn't run from me if I crouch down and hold my hand out and he is pulling way less. He also isn't flinch running away if I turn towards him regardless if I am paying attention to him or not. He also seems to be less scared of me when I am putting on his harness, way less running away, but I still have to do our routine of him coming to me on his terms.
I've also noticed that at night, sometimes Adam forgets to close the computer room door which has his futon, his safe place, which we close off to force him to sleep in the room with us but now he seems to choose to be there now. The door was open this morning when I woke up, but Kiba stayed with us the whole night. I think he enjoys the structure and the fact that I pet him for a good 10mins when I wake up.
Anyways, super long post and I've attached photos and most of you have probably seen them on the Kai Ken facebook group so these are for those who haven't.
Comments
We have ONE orange neighborhood cat that is actually super friendly. The dogs seem to LOVE this cat and the cat doesn't mind them. He is always chilling out in this patio area and both dogs freak out when they see the cat. (I've seen the cat before and had to dogs say hi). They usually bump noses and try to play with her and the cat just rubs up on them.
Kiba did the silliest thing. Taro eventually lost interest in the cat, but Kiba was still super into the cat. He gently grabbed the end of the cats tail and then started to pull the cat towards him, which first he was dragging the cat and the cat just sort of looked at him like "wtf?" and then pulled his tail out. Then Kiba took the whole back of the cat in his mouth, according to Adam, extremely gently, because the cat just sort of gave this "I don't like this look" and walked out of Kiba's mouth and then hissed at him, which made Kiba back off, but then the cat was back to rubbing on him. Then Kiba took the whole cat's head in his mouth and just stood there (I would have probably freaked out a bit after him grabbing the cats back). Kiba moved his head and the cat pulled his head out and sort of just looked at Kiba with this "DA FUCKS YOUR PROBLEM" look and then just stared at him, did another rub and slowly walked off.
Adam said that it looked like how a parent dog picks up with puppy. I am not entirely sure if I would agree with that, but he said Kiba wasn't being aggressive and obviously the cat wasn't really distressed about it. It does seem like Kiba is in love with cats. I think he wanted to take the cat home with us, but he didn't know how...
Cute story about the cat, but I'll definitely try to be careful. Never know if he decides to do a rough shake up.... And it'll have a sad ending
The only reason why I keep it to new threads is that I've had more people say they enjoy the new threads more since I usually post a lot of info and photos, but I can start putting it into 1. I've never done forums before this one, so I am used to Reddit where you always post a new discussion and it is easier to follow new content that way.
I've been following Kiba on FB, and I said it there, but I'll say it again here: That is excellent that Kibes is coming around and feeling safer making choices at home, and hiking in the mountains. I know it's taking months and months, but he is feeling more safe and comfy and always moving ahead. Thanks again for taking on this boy and giving him the patience he needs to bloom!
I guess whichever is more comfortable for you, Jwall, And if other forum members are more comfortable with new threads, that's fine as well.
I know Jwall has been through a wild ride with Kiba, and I have read most of Jwalls post about Kiba but I just haven't posted much
But now that I'm on leave, I have the time to pop in and say hi lol. And of course show my support.
On the topic of multiple or single threads, I know I have expressed my opinion before.
Those of us from the Shiba Forum are used to a much stricter thread policy, and duplicate threads are not allowed. It is an ingrained reaction to want to keep things orderly and tidy. Additionally, unlike Reddit, a new post to an old thread will bump it to the top of the main page, so there is no concern for it being buried.
I see the gripe about waiting for too many images and videos to load in big threads, but I still don't think linking related content is ever a bad thing. Pagination will occur after a certain amount of posts (I think 50 is default, but maybe it could be lowered). When logged in, your account will save your place and take you to new unread posts automatically. And on mobile, where bandwidth is a bigger issue, the older posts aren't loaded until you scroll up to them. This beats stalking a user's comment profile trying to piece together the context of older posts. How is a newcomer who hasn't seen the history going to catch up? It is definitely harder to quickly compare the expressions of joy and happiness on Kiba's face and posture now to the earlier pictures where his tail was always down! Link to his first meetup for comparison - http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/9409/kibas-first-meetup/p1
But personal preferences aside, the biggest reason to keep updates for one topic in a single thread is subscriptions, so readers invested in your story can star your thread to get update alerts. This feature is rendered useless if each thread is abandoned after each update.
I don't have a problem with multiple threads, but it is a little harder to keep up with his progress than if it was all in one thread. Either way, it's great to see updates on Kiba and he's doing great!
1. He jumped up on everything and wiggled, rubbed himself on blankets and pillows. It was the silliest thing I've ever seen a dog do.
2. I FINALLY got to witness him and Taro playing. It was amazing.
3. He slept with us in the bed and even nuzzled into me and snuggled for an hour
4. Kept following me around and anytime I was in the bedroom on the bed, he would jump up in there with and and slept with me and Taro in the bed.
You can't really see me in the bed in this pic, but both dogs and me were taking a nap. Adam snapped the pic.
Kiba LOVES Adam's mom
Also here the first time Adam had witnesses Taro and Kiba playing. It was a sneaky shot video, so kind of hard to see it through the window, but you can see them wrestling.
Video also might still be processing on Youtube.
LOL @ you guys spying on your furbabies. Do they tend not to play with you guys around? And just act "cool"?
But to see the dog so happy, it's all worth it in the end. Happy for ya!
He wags his tail when we come home now (though he still barks for a min when we first come in), but he likes to come out and check in when I sit down on the couch. He also is starting to come running to me to take treats when he hears the bag.
I still can't seem to do any training with him since he isn't really food or toy motivated. I think I still have to wait, but at least he already knows sit and come so that's about all I've been doing.
He has just been doing so well!
Here are some pics and videos!
I totally understand the issues with not being food or toy motivated. Meitou is the same way. There are only a few food items he will takes as training treats when outside of the house (he likes more things in the house). So far chicken seems to be his thing, so that's what I go with. Sometimes he'll take fish fudge.
He has progressed SO MUCH in just the last few weeks. His confidence has gone up immensely and he is way less fearful.
Here are the things he is starting to do.
1. He comes 98% of the time when called, especially if he hears the treat bag. He is way less reluctant to take treats from me and follows his sit commands very promptly.
2. He has started to come out on his own intermittently and just wandering around. Just the other night, we were watching TV and he just came out on his own and laid right next to me for pets.
3. He is far more confident on walks. Tail up pretty much all the time, lots of sniffing, chasing squirrels etc.
4. Plays with Taro on a daily basis (though it always seems to happen right after I leave for work, so only Adam witnesses it).
5. He has begun wagging his tail and less barking when we come home for work. Even will sometimes come down and sit on our laps when we first sit on the couch which is our routine when we first come home.
6. Will stay in the dog bed in our bedroom most of the time even if we leave the bathroom and computer room door open (where his main spots are).
7. Hops in the bed when asked to and will stay for a bit
8. Will sometimes reveal his belly when he is getting lots of pets, relaxes and drools a little bit.
9. No longer immediately runs away or flinches when I approach him and now I can pick him up with no problems about 80% of the time.
Ok so first off here are some video links to see him in ACTION!!
Now for a bagillion pics!
Kiba looks nice and happy.