Tag: crate
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tho… I don’t think Mocha had a very happy one himself.
We dropped him off at a kennel back in September. Since then, he seems to have developed a case of stranger anxiety. At least, that’s my theory.
Before the kennel, he didn’t bark much. After that, he’s been getting increasingly vicious. I don’t think it’s aggression, since his body language hints at fear more than anger. Neighbors, strangers, odd noises at 2AM in the morning, he’ll bark at anything scary.
Then at a camping trip, he lunged at some friends with bared teeth. The growls were a distinctive, “Stay away from me” warning. Lunges are now part of his daily repertoire too.
I watch enough Dog Whisperer to know that us – Mocha’s owners – could be triggering this defensive move with our own anxiety. So we’ve worked hard to maintain a calm & assertive demeanor.
The other problem could be a lack of exercise. However, after alternating days of three-mile runs and dog park romps, he’s still a barking, growling, lunging mess of anxiousness. We might not be exercising him enough though; he might need a marathon to tire his ass out.
Which leads me to why Mocha was in a crate on Thanksgiving. We visited some friends who have young children. Admittedly, we were a little worried about how Mocha would react to them, but remained calm & assertive when introduced him to the others.
We had him on a loose leash while I stood in front of him in a calm, dominant stance. He had on a new PetSafe Bark Control Collar
we purchased.
And what did he do?
He barked and lunged at the children. :( He also lunged at an aunt and both parents of the children. His teeth almost bit through their mother’s pants.
This resigned him to an evening in the crate alone, unfortunately.
It was great to see family and friends this Thanksgiving. But for me, the weekend was dampened with concerns for Mocha. What are we doing wrong? What can we do to help this poor guy? Maybe we ought to call up Cesar Milan one day.
This is Mocha after a nice three-mile run first thing in the morning. It’s part of my new training regime for Mocha. Exercise, discipline & affection.
Ever since leaving Mocha in a kennel, he’s been a changed pup. He’s more skittish, more nervous, and a lot more barky.
During the day, he’s usually pretty good. Playful, goofy, and pretty chill. But at night, he’ll bark at people walking outside, even if it’s neighbors that he once happily sniffed & licked.
Suddenly, he started barking at every person we encountered on his bathroom breaks. Even the nice neighbor and their kids. That was the last straw.
According to Cesar Milan of The Dog Whisperer, one way to restore order and banish the bark is to assert your dominance. Become the pack leader.
I thought I was doing that already, but perhaps not. Or perhaps the time in the kennel knocked me out of that position.
So starting today, I’m getting Cesar on his ass. It’s going to be all about exercise, discipline, affection, and calm & assertive pack leadership, dammit!
I had to travel out of town for a business trip this past weekend and decided to take Mocha with me. Along with a co-founder’s dog, we did a road trip with our best friends safely tucked away in their crates.
We even brought our dogs into the meeting so they could share in all the business talk. I don’t think Mocha approved of our company strategy. Or maybe he didn’t like being stuck in a room full of business talk all weekend.
And yes… I wore that shirt
on purpose. I know. It’s wrong, so very, very wrong.
We’re so happy Mocha likes his crate. I wonder if his previous owners crate-trained him. At night, he walks into his crate on his own to go to sleep. I know it takes months for some owners to crate-train their dogs, so we’re damn thankful that Mocha appears to be comfortable with his crate.
However, he doesn’t love his crate. Not yet. He prefers to chill out at our feet or in his favorite corner. So I’ve been trying to complete his training. And with our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy! Uh… Ahem.
So I was saying… I’ve got to continue his crate training. With plenty of treats, hopefully it won’t be too difficult.
