by animalobsessed1 » Fri Nov 04, 2011 12:06 pm
On monday we finally took her to the beach. (And by "we" I mean the other girl and me. Not my family because they pretend not to like her. But when they think that I´m not looking, they will talk to her, cuddle her, and even feed her.) Instead of cowering, shaking, and being terrified the way she was last time, Wufi acted like it was the most normal thing on Earth. In fact, when we got there, she was walking in front of me and was in the sand before me. That is how much her confidence has improved since last time. (And yet she still pees as a greeting. She even did it to the other girl and to her dogs when we met outside. Before that, I thought she would only do it if she was in our territory.)
We went to a restaurant (which absolutely did not look like one, and where we were the only customers) and I gave Wufi a piece of platano. Despite what my Spanish teacher in South Africa told me, a platano is not a banana. It looks like one, but it tastes more like a potato (and you cook it, of course). The first time I tried to give it to her, she just sniffed it, then turned away. So I gave it to Shadow (the younger one of the two other dogs). After she saw Shadow eat it, Wufi wanted one too, and when I tried giving it to her again, she ate it.
Normally I would never feed a dog while I myself am eating. Since this is a restaurant thpogh, I am hoping that she will associate getting food with the restaurant, not with seeing me eat. She seems pretty intelligent when it comes to identifying food sources though. She has learned to follow my dad around and beg when he has food, but she has never even tried it on me. I am hoping this won´t change, because if she does start expecting food from me, I will dissapoint her as many times as it takes, until she finally gives up on demanding food from me. Rule: I own the food, I decide when I give it to her. And I, as the owner, am not going to give away food while I myself am still hungry. Animals have no understanding of the concept of charity. The true reason is actually that it is better for her own happiness, as it means she will not be dissappointed every time I eat in her presence. And when I do give her something, it is a pleasant surprise, not something to be gulped down with the expectation of getting more right away. Even though it takes me a lot of self restraint not to give them anything, this is probably the rule I am most strict on, out of all my rules.
After that we went to the water. There were little pools of water all over the place, and I made Wufi walk through each and every one I saw. (Remember, I am trying to get her used to as many different things as I can.) In the beginning she was a little reluctant, but after doing it a few times, she just jumped right in without any hesitation. At first, the other girl was surprised that I would force Wufi into something she obviously didn´t want to do (since I am an angel that came to Earth to rescue all animals in need and to provide a paradise for them), and I was surprised at her reaction. To me, getting a dog used to different things and trying to bring it into contact with as many different situations as I possibly can is the most natural thing to do. Especially when the dog is scared of silly things, I try to make it face its fears as often as I possibly can, so that it will eventually learn not to be afraid. I never really thought about it before she mentioned it. Then she started doing it with her dogs too.
Maybe that´s why there are so many dogs with behavioral issues, people tend to ignore any issues their dogs have and try to avoid those situations, instead of actually doing anything about it. When I go on walks, no matter wether it´s in Germany, South Africa, or here in Panama, I tend to see more dogs that actually have issues that could easily be fixed, that I see dogs that are 100% stable. My dogs aren´t perfect either, but they were all strays and are now getting better. I think people often don´t even realize that there is something wrong with the dog, because
1. They are used to it and think it´s normal.
2. As long as the dog doesn´t actually bite or get into fights, or show physical pain, nobody cares.
I´m not just talking about dogs that are too timid, most dogs are actually too overconfident. I notice it because, while that particular dog may not come up to start a full out fight, my highly reactive dog Monkey is very eager to respond to any signs of the other dog trying to dominate her. True, most of the time she is the one who starts it, but she would never start anything with a dog that is actually stable. It has also happened that the other dog was the one that started it, but she was the one blamed because she was the one who snapped at the other dog first, after having tolerated the other ones taunting for a long time.
This makes it sound like Monkey is just a vicious monster that needs to be muzzled at all times and should not come into contact with any other dogs. And it makes me sound like an irresponsible owner who lets his Pit Bull run around mauling other people´s dogs, then still look for excuses. I hate those people. The truth is, most people only know the friendly Monkey, and if I told them about this dark side of hers, they might not even believe me. I also call her to my side the moment I see another dog approaching. Then, with her firmly under my mental control (which works perfectly well without a leash, by the way), I look at the other dog and judge its stability. Then I decide whether to let her go and greet it, or wether to wait for the other dog to come up to us. The only times where I actually put her on a leash is whith these two Border Collies in our neighborhood. Those things are seriously messed up, so I put Monkey on a leash for everyones safety. She used to eat Border Collies for breakfast, but now it´s only those two that she has a problem with. I think it´s actually pretty funny. Every time they see her, they just freeze from shock, then they arch their backs like cats and make a mad dash for it. I have been doing it this way for the past year, (ever since I started watching Cesar Milan and mixed up his methods with my own to develop what I call "the invisible leash") and she has not attacked a single dog while I was doing this. The only times she got into fights this year were when my dad was walking them, because this is what he does:
Nervous person with nervous dog comes along.
Lala starts bristling and barking.
He happily laughs at her (encouragment) and tells the person "Dont worry, she´s just noisy." "Don´t worry, she´s friendly."
Person "Oh good." And let their dog come over, where it then gets pounced on by Monkey, who has seen my dad encouraging Lala´s aggression and now thinks this is what she is supposed to do. The other dog starts screaming while Monkey continues to bully it and scarr it for life.
Dad: Pulls Monkey off and starts beating her up, then turns to the other person, who is usually checking their dog for wounds at this point, and says "I am soo sorry about this! She has never done anything like this before!"
And that is how it happens every time! Perfect example of irresponsible dog ownership! He won´t even listen to me when I tell to at least leave out the part where he says "Don´t worry, she´s friendly." If you can´t handle the dog, then at least put her on a leash, you idiot! And stop pretending that she´s a harmless little Chihuhua puppy! But noooooooo, putting Monkey on a leash would be animal cruelty, so instead, he went out and bought a shock collar. (He also won´t allow me to get her a Halti because that is animal cruelty, but having them both wear choke chains 24/7 is perfectly allright.)
This is turning into a rant about my dad´s stupidity, so I´ll just catch myself and stop here.
how has she been doing ? have you cured the peeing problem yet?