Beckett had a scare the other day... okay.. I scared the beegeebers out of Beckett the other day to be exact. Given the same circumstances, I probably would have done the same thing again because the only other option was to let him get grabbed by an oncoming dog, of which I don't doubt Beckett would have been badly hurt. This little guy has zero survival skills as far as territory. He's number one in finding a fox track. Mind you he was so intent on the smell of the fox's tracks that he neglected to see the actually fox about 40 feet away! I think I'll have to start small with a mouse or something so he sees exactly what makes the track.
Last night Darrin sat on the sofa and petted Beckett for a spell. At first Beckett when into his statue pose but after about 5 minutes relaxed and by the end of it was very much in the moment of being handled.
There have been some great letters from the WIN group supporting us and offering suggestions. I'm going to try one this weekend of having a 'pre-leash' just to see if it makes a difference. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Beckett had gone back to using the full extent of his lead right after his scare but now walks more near to me a lot of the time. He still is not doing well in the hallway and that is where I use a lot of paper towel and air freshener sometimes. As you can see in the clip, he loves cheese. Let's just say that the block of cheese at our house isn't lasting as long as it used to. It was the same for when I had the Rottie. She was a cheese monger! As soon as she heard the wrapper she was on me like white on rice! I hope Beckett becomes the same way.
Last night Darrin had a great session with Beckett but as he was going out he thought he'd give Beckett a little TLC goodbye moment and instead Beckett peed on the floor. I'll have to talk to Darrin about body language because although he was talking calmly and in a mild voice, he was walking totally upright (how human of him) and full front on and Beckett was cornered. From my vantage point I could see it unfolding but couldn't do anything... except clean up. LOL I think having the good fortune to volunteer with the rescue horses has helped me more with my body language than anything I had done with dogs in the past. Horses are so sensitive because they are a 'prey' animal and for the moment Beckett is conditioned to be 'prey'... so I'm trying to apply the same approaches to him. Some work.. some don't. You don't have to be a genius to figure out which ones don't. The unsuccessful ones cause a stink.
The WIN Parade is coming up and I need to get great pictures of Beckett to submit because he's the sweetest of all dogs but just doesn't know it yet. No bias here huh?
Tonight I'm going out to the cottage to get my snowshoes for so I'll take Beckett with me. We'll see how he does in REAL snow! On Sunday I hope to have a playdate for him with a friend's dog. I'll take lots of pics. It will either be good or bad.. only time will tell!
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