You don't KNOW unless you DO

Baby Bella is a boarding guest at times.    Bella is a sweet, sensitive, shy, lovable, friendly, and gentle English Mastiff.   The only downfall for me when she boards is that she can't be allowed off leash outside on our four acres with the other dogs.  I think this (and on the beach) would help her gain some confidence, and find her inner dog.

A dog who moves slowly, and is hard to motivate when slightly stressed with food and toys IS a hard dog to train.   Give me an aggressive highly motivated reactive dog any day over a ponderous gentle cuddle bug (for training).   Bella is the perfect family dog and fit for her family (adults, children, and they live close to the beach where they regularly see other strange dogs).   The main reason that they came for training (a year and a half ago) was so that when walking, she wouldn't just simply sit and refuse to move.  They did manage to get past that bit of business, but were unable to move onto off leash.

When Baby Bella comes, my husband and I regularly compete on who get get the most kisses, the most snuzzles of the ear, and who she will cuddle up to.   Bella is a totally cute lovable and hugable dog.   I call her "Baby Bella" because I knew her when she was just a baby NOT as the family thinks because she is a baby:)  She is sensitive, sweet, shy and timid, but I do not think of Bella as a baby in that way (I think of the smaller packaged Baby Bella).

So Bella was not in this time for training, but the family has expressed a wish that she knew how to identify with other dogs.   She is not AT ALL aggressive, but it's clear that Bella is shy and unsure around other dogs.   The family knows they baby her (by that I mean coddling, which unintentionally reinforces her fear).  

Three days is usually too short for a dog to break through (or turn a corner as I sometimes call it), especially when it's not three overnight stays.  I took the three days to observe some things about Miss Baby Bella.  Due to the time, I did not want to take video as I wanted to be sure that I was totally there observing the moment in person.  

On day one when Baby Bella first came, she was obviously more comfortable coming to her very rare boarding place than she had been in the past.   She is pretty comfortable with people anyway (just a short warming up), but it was obvious she was a bit more comfortable with the crowd (Leon, Boris, Tommy and Magoo).   I know better than to do this already (read the title of my post), but one might assume Bella would feel MOST comfortable with Leon and Magoo at the beginning (both of them being very mellow dogs with most newcomers).   Bella had a quiet day of following me around, and lying by my feet as I typed on the computer.   She got some moments to visit with her male crush, my husband Robert.

On day two, there were a lot of indoor games going on with the gang, as it was uncomfortably winterish out.   Bella did not join in, but was VERY interested.   She showed this by getting up and barking at the outside of the group.   One would have ASSUMED that the noise and boisterous play would totally terrify Bella.   While I had noticed the day before the noises the guys make when they play took a bit of getting used to for Bella, the fact that she was safe and no dogs bothered her let her relax and observe the interactions for a day.  So on day two, she was more confident to let her interest known, even though she did not exactly know what to do with it.  It occurred to me, that Bella may be told not to bark when dogs come close, and this (especially after day three) appears to be her signal or invitation to play.  I don't know this for sure (whether the family prefers that Bella not bark on the beach OR whether they realize this is her invitation for a dog to play), and so will be copying Bella's owners on this, just in case this might be inhibiting Bella's play drive for other dogs. 

I should also put an aside on how I deal with dog play.   A dog's intentions after vocalizations become clear once you know the dog.   Also, by observing the body language and other physical reactions of the dog, one can usually gauge what is play and what is not play.   If a dog has a style of play that I know is harmless (but might concern others who do not know the dog), I usually have people approach me who want to have my dog play with their dog.   I explain the dog's playing style to be sure the other party is okay with that.   I also am sure the ( many cases my client's) dog is trained, so if the other party has second thoughts, I can call the dog back and leash them back up.   So in other words, I am respectful of other people's needs and concerns.   Many times, the way a dog is going to play IS the way they are going to play.   One can make it more gentle (many times) and perhaps less vocal, but the natural way that dog is going to initiate play usually means play will or won't happen depending on their ability to naturally communicate their intentions.  I find it more helpful for dogs to play with other dogs that understand they are playing (or can learn their play style).  It's also important for the owner and handler to truly be able to read this, and not be in denial about the dog's true intentions (should they be otherwise).  I should mention, in Bella's case the barking is definitely an invitation.   She is actually a little too shy to go to the dog, she wants them to come to her.

Day three, a dog was coming that I has THOUGHT Bella would really be timid around.   Bella loved Ollie on first sight.   Ollie is a very clueless in your face still very young male, who has been in daycare or dog walking with me for much of his life.  Bella sniffed him, snorfled him, licked him, and looked almost maternal with him.   She let him crawl underneath her, lick her mouth, and jump on her with no worry whatsoever.  I began to almost see the playful Baby Bella in full.  What a big goof she was LOL!  I noticed that every time she barked at Ollie, she fully expected him to come to her (and he did come to the little princess).   Who knew that Bella could be a bit bossy LOL.   In this case, it serves to allow her to summon her play subjects on her own.

Later we took the other dogs for their off leash walk, with Bella on a longe line (I held the other end as Bella does not have a great "let's go" for most of the time).   When Magoo, Ollie, and Boris were busy chasing each other, Bella had some moments of going into a play bow with a goofy grin on her face.   She went forward just a few steps, but not into a full chase mode.  Clearly, she would love to be involved in something like this.  It is so much fun to watch something like this.  She also enjoyed digging in the snow as the other dogs were, and sniffing the trees and bark.  Sometimes getting a dog in the mood for play means providing them with interesting and new activities that naturally put them at ease.   The Curious Bella took over, and then the Playful Bella emerged shortly thereafter.

This is a case where habituation has helped her overcome some of her fear.   It is helpful to have dogs who are trained here, so if the other dog feels uncomfortable you can direct the dogs to go elsewhere.   My point in this whole post, is until you try different things with an individual dog, you never know what they will or won't respond well to.  You can assume and make educated assumptions based on the many dogs that you have trained, but until you try something with  THAT INDIVIDUAL dog (that goes toward a goal) then you are not going to KNOW what that dog responds well to.

Bella is able to get past her fear, but people need to remember she needs ways to practice and observe her ways of playing, other dogs ways of playing, the noises they make in a way that allows her to move past the fear (it's by far not the worst case of fear that I have seen, I would say it's mild in form).  Off leash and obedience always (remember you can mix up methods and ways for the human and dog, but you ALWAYS need the work ethic) make for a more confident dog, but there are other ways to do this, albeit they may take more time or be less effective.   The ways that I worked Bella was supervising the other dogs and there interactions with her (which there was really no need to do with our crew), but most importantly letting her express herself and experiment.   Luckily Bella is the type of dog that I need to worry very little about her experimentation or expression.  With dogs, this is often with boundaries and rules still present, but if there is no danger impending then you can let the dog figure it out.   I also changed positions in the room so she didn't get glued to any one safe spot, and I sometimes purposefully walked away from her to give her curiosity a chance to grow and flourish for the other dogs. I am always happy when owners and dogs can make an improvement of any sort, even when it's not the most efficient, effective or speedy way to do it.

Bella could live without playing with other dogs, and maintain her current happiness level.  She certainly enjoys a life that many other dogs in the world would envy.   Bella has a safe home, and a family that totally adores her.  She is walked many times each day.   It's nice that her family recognizes that Bella could enjoy life even that much more.   Many families do not recognize this about their dogs.   Dog ownership and dog training is a journey that takes time and patience; and sometimes several dogs later things start making sense.

I remember my own journey as such:)

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