Jubilee

Wednesday 30th May

Chance came with me to my canine behaviour class tonight. We arrived late and so all of the dogs had settled down when we arrived. He was a little stressed but did well to mostly ignore the dogs and sit with me at the back of the room where he played with his toys. He did lock eyes with a couple of the trainers dogs (Dago and Socrates) who were nearest to him and did growl a bit at them in a lunge stance.
At break we had a little walk around the yard where he socialised with Meg (Crossbreed) and Raven (Labrador) at a distance. He sniffed Meg's bottom but did not display any aggression.
He played with his toys a lot and seemed a bit anxious - sitting on chairs and seeking attention from Caroline. He chewed his toy into pieces and was obsessed with playing with the ends which became like balls. I encouraged him to sit and remain calm. He did very well but I'm a bit worried about him being so anxious and destructive with his toys. Would like him to be calmer.

A Week in the Life of Chance

Thursday 24th May

I took Chance to the shops and tied him up outside. When I came out there were two girls with a Shih Zu who were too scared to pass him. He was looking excitedly at the girls with his tail up. He was sniffing a bit. The girl picked up her Shih Zu to walk past, as she did so he jumped up a little but it appeared to be more at the girl than the dog?

Friday 25th May

Ciaran walked Chance to the shops and on the way back, a puppy JRT came up to Chance and sniffed his bottom. He didn't turn around and didn't really react. It was a bitch. Ciaran said 'come-on, come-on' and they carried on walking. Chance froze a bit and let him do it but then carried on. Not sure if he sniffed him. He turned around to look at the dog a couple of time when they were walking away but not in an aggressive way.

Saturday 26th May

No incidents to report

Sunday 27th May

I took Chance to Debdale Park to practice being calm around other dogs. Frankie came too. I tied him up to a tree and sat next to him with his toys, water and Frankie and we tried to relax. 

Chance had a few wobbles and made a few lunges but his control was still there as he would sit mostly on command and play with his toys whenever he felt threatened. 

[Pictures]

It became harder for him to correct himself or follow commands without being physically moved into a sit as the park filled up with dogs and they came closer and closer to us. 

He lunged at one dog that came over to see him and snapped at this face, almost biting his lips. I corrected him and checked that the other dog and owner were ok. I tried to put his muzzle on at this point (probably too late, I know) but it still won’t fit properly and it still freaks him out. 

The next time a dog came past I was stood talking to someone so didn’t see when he lunged at the dog but I held him tight and he didn’t make contact with the dog. I corrected him into a sit and started to calm him down when the owner of the other dog started her verbal attack on us. Apparently his behaviour was unacceptable and I was to apologise for it. I explained that he was in training but she wanted to know why I hadn’t ‘done’ anything to correct his behaviour. I explained that remaining calm was a part of his training to which her friend decided to declare ‘god help him with you as his trainer’.

Five minutes after this incident, we started to walk home when my bulldog crew of friends greeted us on the path out of the park with open arms, cheers and cuddles over Chance who they’d never met before. Chance happily let all three all three dogs sniff his rear and owners pet him.

Monday 28th May

No incidents to report

Tuesday 39th May

Sheba, a collie came to my house to get a cut. I locked Chance inside the outdoor kennel as he has attacked Sheba in the past. Chance wined a little. I tried to get Sheba to come out into the garden. She was fearful and unsure at first but when she did go out, Chance did not stare or bark at her.