He looks innocent... but he's still got spark under that hair.
On Tuesday I stayed home for the day. It was a good bonding time and it allowed me to watch Beckett as he reacted to different things. For one thing his issue with the stairs and hallway meant he had to be 'caught', which always required a bit of patience and a lot of timing to actually get to him, and then carried down the stairs. After we 'caught' him he would go into a freeze mode and high panic response.
After that we would carry him down to the second floor landing, attach his extension lead, put on our outside gear and then carry him down to the street level. It was stressful for him and extremely awkward for us.
Once outside Beckett became another dog. He obviously hadn't had a chance to run on a long lead and play in snow before. It is something he has taken to quite readily. It starts with setting him down and him bolting away out into the street like he was escaping. I always make sure there are no vehicles before setting him down. He stops about 10 feet away, looks at me and then when I start walking he walks along with me but angles in so he narrows the gap. By the time we get to the empty lot two doors down he is about 3 feet away.
I go to the center ish of the lot and let him roam. He has his "pee" spot and if necessary, his "drop" zone. LOL Then, because of his acceptance of the extension lead, we run the streets...literally. We come out of the empty lot, aim for up the street and run full out until we reach the end of the block. He absolutely loves it! He keeps pace along side at about 5 feet until we reach the corner. Then it's a walk down to the next corner and we round the block for home.
When we get to the front door, we have the issue again of going into a door with no exit obvious. At this point I reel him in and carry him just inside the lower door, set him down and unclip him. I try to pet him before he launches himself up the stairs to the first landing where he waits for me before advancing up the second flight. He's a funny dog.
Last night I tried a new approach. Since he goes into stress freeze when he's picked up, I tried hooking on to him after carrying him down to the landing. To my surprise, the little guy came down the second set of stairs just behind me and waited to have the front door open. He still bolted out the door but he still went down stairs. Then this morning, I pushed it a bit more. I clipped on to him up here in the apartment. It took a little work but he started down the stairs, waited two steps from the landing as I geared up, then he came the rest of the way down with me. As I wrote to Garin, WOW..BIG ADVANCEMENT.
Now, there is one downfall to Beckett making himself comfortable. He has started to revert to his puppy actions. Normally I'd correct the unacceptable actions but since it is his first move to being a free spirit, I'll give him a bit of time to express his curiosity. When I came home this morning from work to walk him, he managed to get my book on reading the body language of horses and chew the cover off and had started in on the corner of the hard cover itself.
On Tuesday I stayed home for the day. It was a good bonding time and it allowed me to watch Beckett as he reacted to different things. For one thing his issue with the stairs and hallway meant he had to be 'caught', which always required a bit of patience and a lot of timing to actually get to him, and then carried down the stairs. After we 'caught' him he would go into a freeze mode and high panic response.
After that we would carry him down to the second floor landing, attach his extension lead, put on our outside gear and then carry him down to the street level. It was stressful for him and extremely awkward for us.
Once outside Beckett became another dog. He obviously hadn't had a chance to run on a long lead and play in snow before. It is something he has taken to quite readily. It starts with setting him down and him bolting away out into the street like he was escaping. I always make sure there are no vehicles before setting him down. He stops about 10 feet away, looks at me and then when I start walking he walks along with me but angles in so he narrows the gap. By the time we get to the empty lot two doors down he is about 3 feet away.
I go to the center ish of the lot and let him roam. He has his "pee" spot and if necessary, his "drop" zone. LOL Then, because of his acceptance of the extension lead, we run the streets...literally. We come out of the empty lot, aim for up the street and run full out until we reach the end of the block. He absolutely loves it! He keeps pace along side at about 5 feet until we reach the corner. Then it's a walk down to the next corner and we round the block for home.
When we get to the front door, we have the issue again of going into a door with no exit obvious. At this point I reel him in and carry him just inside the lower door, set him down and unclip him. I try to pet him before he launches himself up the stairs to the first landing where he waits for me before advancing up the second flight. He's a funny dog.
Last night I tried a new approach. Since he goes into stress freeze when he's picked up, I tried hooking on to him after carrying him down to the landing. To my surprise, the little guy came down the second set of stairs just behind me and waited to have the front door open. He still bolted out the door but he still went down stairs. Then this morning, I pushed it a bit more. I clipped on to him up here in the apartment. It took a little work but he started down the stairs, waited two steps from the landing as I geared up, then he came the rest of the way down with me. As I wrote to Garin, WOW..BIG ADVANCEMENT.
Now, there is one downfall to Beckett making himself comfortable. He has started to revert to his puppy actions. Normally I'd correct the unacceptable actions but since it is his first move to being a free spirit, I'll give him a bit of time to express his curiosity. When I came home this morning from work to walk him, he managed to get my book on reading the body language of horses and chew the cover off and had started in on the corner of the hard cover itself.
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