We have been back from our trip for almost 2 days now. Dogs are good, house back to normal (more or less) and my schedule all updated. While we were away I ran into many things that I wanted to share with you. This is one.
We had a wonderful getaway, spending 5 days on a lake house in Northern Washington state. We rented a beautiful VRBO with a wonderful huge yard; but the houses were pretty close together and we shared the dock with the house to the right of us. On the first night I noticed two dogs way up on their balcony. They were extremely interested in me as I walked past the balcony. Their ears were up high, and frozen posture as they just starred while I moved on.
The next day I saw them out in their front yard. As I head towards the water they stopped, froze and starred until I was out of sight. Of course I tried to figure out if they were friendly or not but they just gave me the frozen message which is not warm and fuzzy.
The next day I was out on the end of the dock (one of my favorite places to be) alone. I was sort of tucked behind a boat when two women with the two dogs appeared 10 feet away. I don’t think they knew that I was there and I hadn’t seen them coming.
We had a little small talk; the sister to the guardian of the dogs was surprised when I asked if one was a Catahoula mix. She immediately told her sister that I knew what a Catahoula was. Next I asked if “they” were friendly. This is where it gets weird, people truly do not seem to know how to answer this. She sort of mumbled a bit and then said “ya, he’s okay…a bit skittish and she’s new,” as they began to approach me. The guardian spoke up saying “we’ve just had her a week.”
Both dogs darted their eyes around, checking out the environment as their humans coaxed them to me. The one they’d had for years wanted nothing to do with meeting me. The sister continued with her oblivious chatter; telling me that the rescue had growled at her in the morning when she came down. Made sense to me, a dog that had only been in a home for a week taken on a trip to the lake where she would be meeting other new people, who was very skittish.
Its funny when things happen so fast. They continued their approach but the dogs did not want to say and frankly I did not want them to say hi to me as I read their body language. I said “no they don’t have to come see me,” but they continued slowly coaxing. Finally I said “NO, they don’t have to say hi,” with my hand held up to stop their forward motion. The male had got within inches of me, stretching his body out to sniff but leaning back ready to bolt. He startled at nothing as I kept turned away. I told them I was a trainer and that it was best for them to have a touchless non interaction.
I was on the end of the dock, I had no options to exit; except to squeeze by the two dogs that wanted nothing to do with me. It was very uncomfortable for me and both dogs. The owners had no idea what was going on. Not only were they skittish, they both had prong collars on so each and every pull and startle, inflicted a painful pinch. This was a horrible situation for the poor dogs.
They finally got the hint and moved away and down the dock. I had what I needed and knew to keep my Grandsons at a good distance. While the dogs were at the house beside us, I kept my hyper scanner on so I’d know where they were when my boys were out.
I really wish that people would research about dog behavior and try to get to know their own dogs. These two dogs would have been just fine sitting on the other side of the dock just watching me leave. Being forced into a corner so to speak was not going to end well.
It is so important to advocate for our dogs; but to do that we need to know what we are advocating. If you don’t know your dog, their likes and dislikes; how comfortable they are in certain situations, then you cannot help them.