Max is making improvements. Yvette confirmed my suspicions that Max was a chained dog -he has a lack of experience in well... most everything. That said, he is amazing with people and school-aged children, has the most gentle mouth, and is a loyal Velcro dog. Once he feels safe, he looks for direction instead of lashing out. He is not aggressive at all, he just has poor social skills with other medium/big MALE dogs and can't read their body language to tell if they want to play with or if they want to pick a fight with him so without feeling protected by his handler, he will make sure he isn't going to be bullied.
He is submissive and makes himself into a victim sometimes. He is okay at daycare, but not fantastic, so he will be going with me on the smaller days to slowly build his confidence but hopefully not overwhelm him. He does better when he can meet dogs in very small groups, or even one on one, and that will help him out better in the long run. Yesterday, once he figured out a) I wasn't going to let anything happen to him and b) I wasn't going to let him be a jerk to anybody else, he spent the rest of the day glued to my leg. Providing you make yourself someone that is going to protect him, he looks for direction ALL THE TIME. He isn't stubborn, he's just unsure of himself. I think with some more exposure he will feel safer to go out and explore some more. The only dog he's wanted to play with is Ginger, so I think once he has a few shifts to make friends, he'll become playful. He'd much prefer to shadow his people around though! Max is a people dog through and through.
Max is currently spending 2-3 hours at home alone all days, and once or twice a week he will be staying him himself for about 6-7 hours (the heavy days of daycare). He is easily tired out, as new experiences take a lot of mental energy out of him. He is about a medium energy guy, settles super easily in the house. I'm pretty darn sure there's Alaskan Husky in there somewhere, as he displays a lot of the characteristics of one. There's definitely Bernese too though, as an Alaskan Husky would doubtfully be so loyal :P
Max is housetrained so far, but you have to watch him or he might want to lift his leg to mark. Luckily, he's a glue dog, so whichever room you're in, he's in, usually right at your feet. Max is crate-trained for night-time (granted he doesn't overly enjoy getting in the crate, but once he knows it isn't up to discussion, he goes right in). Without a commitment to a routine, Max has the definite signs that he could show seperation anxiety. It will be a balance of building confidence in him and his handler, and at the same time, making sure he has times where he has to function on his own. The first step is making him comfortable in his handler, but the second is that he needs to develop some confidence in himself. His confidence will be found in the every day socialization with people and new friendly dogs, so it isn't something that is going to a huge commitment time wise. Basically, he has to get used to be a pet and not a backyard fixture.
He has shown little interest in the cats when they are just wandering the yard, but gets alert and wants to chase when they start running (normal, it's rare even a cat-loving dog won't chase if they run). I believe Max would love to be an only dog with a family with older kids or couple or single person that want to continue building his confidence with at least daily walks. At the same time, he could live with the right female dog. He needs continued exposure to make sure he becomes the best dog he can be.
I need to get some better shots, but here are some from the other day.
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| Max always makes eye contact. No matter where he's sitting in the room, he's got his eyes on you! |
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| Max wasn't too fond of posing for the picture. |
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| The face of a loyal dog. |
Emily
2 comments:
How would max do while I was at work? It could go up to 4 days a week at 9hrs? Where is the daycare he's at? How much is it? Please email me at vcg.young@gmail.com
Max is crate-trained and with sufficient exercise (about an hour in the morning, and a good half hour at night) he will be just fine at home for 8-9 hours a few days a week. He is a "Quality Time" dog versus a quantity time dog.
He will eventually be able to be weaned off crate-training and spend his days curled up on a dog bed or such, but I personally would recommend continuing with crate-training for awhile, as he has some signs that he could show seperation anxiety if not kept on a routine.
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