As you hopefully know by now, my husband & I adopted an adorable shih tzu poodle mix from PAWS. We are so happy to have him & enjoy every second we spend with him. That said, we are still learning some him of quirks. For example, he gets very excited when the L goes by. In fact, his reaction draws so much attention, it is embarrassing.
Another example – he is a bully. Oscar is incredibly sweet to people he knows & dogs in the dog park. However, he has some on-leash aggression that seems to be the issue.
Little story to illustrate…
Pippin, a shepherd mix pup, lives down the hall. Because I work from home, I walk Pippin from time to time. I originally wanted to walk Pippin & Oscar together because it would encourage good behavior in Oscar & help him to be more social while on a leash. Unfortunately, the dream was squashed.
Oscar snipped & snapped at Pippin & he became miserable on our first walk. The second time, Pippin wouldn’t even get near Oscar. So, I ended up walking both dogs – leashes on each arm, pulling in both directions. It was pretty horrible.
The next time I walked them, I decided to re-introduce them off-leash, in my condo. So, I brought Pippin over, unwillingly, of course & re-introduced them. Pippin cowered in the corner, peed on the floor & hid when I tried to put the leash back on him.
At this point, Oscar was happy to see Pippin, wanted to play & shared his toys. As his mom, I thought it was pretty cute. Unfortunately, Pippin didn’t share my same sentiment. I finally got their leashes on (all the while, Oscar saying excitedly, “Come on Pippin, we’re going to have fun!) and we walked out the door. Pippin peed again in the hallway.
Oscar now has a personal trainer, who is teaching us how to make him feel “safe” when other dogs approach. It is so interesting how dogs interpret things – basically things are either “safe” or “dangerous.”
I am hoping that after Oscar finishes training, we can get Pippin & Oscar together & they can become friends. Fingers crossed.
Keep you posted…
