For the bulk of Sensi’s
life, we lived in a place that was set far back from the road. You couldn’t see
the road at all from the house and Sensi grew accustomed to the privacy. He
saw people walking dogs during our walks, but never saw people walking dogs in
front of his home.
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| Alert Sensi |
Now, we do live in a house
where Sensi can see people walking or riding bikes from the front window or
when he’s out in the yard. If he’s outside, he gets upset and barks at them.
With all the time I’ve spent
gardening this year — and Sensi outside with me — I came across a great phrase
to calm him down. I can’t say with any certainty that he really understands
what I’m saying, perhaps it’s just the positive association he has with the
words I use, but I’d like to think he does understand, even if just a little.
One day, we were in the
front yard — me knuckle deep in the flower beds, Sensi sunbathing on the
driveway — when a lady walked by with her dog. Sensi began barking. I walked
over to him to calm him down, kneeled down beside him and said, “That’s a nice
lady walking a nice dog. Don’t you like to go on walks, Sensi? That’s what
they’re doing. They’re going for a walk.”
He calmed down right away,
looking intently at my face like he was really trying to understand. And, I’m
sure, wondering if we were going to go for a walk.
We didn’t.
I went back to gardening.
About 10 minutes later, two
women walked by. Sensi barked once, then stopped and looked at me. I walked
over to him, again saying, “Those are nice ladies going for a walk. You like
going for walks, right?”
About 10 minutes after that,
the first lady with dog returned, likely walking back down the road to her
house. Sensi got to his feet, but did not bark. I walked over to him anyway and
said the “walk” thing again.
About 15 minutes after that,
the two women walkers returned. Sensi lifted his head but didn’t even bother
standing up.
This experience gave me the
courage that Sensi could handle a campground and all the activity going on. It
showed that he can acclimate, and that there’s a very good phrase I can use to
help him do it.
We arrived at our campsite
at about 6 p.m. on a Tuesday evening. Right off the bat, there were plenty of
people walking dogs by our site.
Sensi, in a new place and
I’m sure a nervous and excitable because of it, barked ferociously at the first
person who walked by with dogs. He calmed down reasonably well, me using the
“walk” phrase.
A few more dog walkers later
and he wasn’t barking anymore at them. Just watching. And he’d cast a glance at
me, as if to ask, “What are all these dogs doing here, Mom?”
Of course, all this activity
meant we had to be on our game.
It’s always better to stop a
behavior before it starts — using the “walk” thing is way to react to the
situation, but it’s always better to prevent a behavior if you can.
Like being at a park, I
watched him closely for signs that a person or dog would be passing by. As with
most dogs, Sensi’s behavior can indicate what’s going to happen before it does.
I know, from watching him, whether there’s an off-leash dog in close proximity
while at the park. He’ll sniff the air, his body will tense and he will
suddenly become focused in one direction.
That’s when I holler to my
group, “There’s a dog around here somewhere, everyone stop and be on the
look-out.”
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| See the treat pouch? It's my new favorite thing. |
And it never fails. Within
seconds, a dog will come breaking through the brush with no owner in sight.
Then, it’s Brent’s job to catch the loose dog before it rushes up to Sensi. You
wouldn’t believe what an excellent loose-dog catcher he’s become over the
years.
In the campground, I
watched for the same behaviors to let me know if a dog walker was just about
ready to come into sight.
I learned, the very first
night around the campfire, that having my Planet Dog treat pouch at my side was
going to be a necessity throughout the trip.
As soon as I saw Sensi tense
up, I redirected his attention with treats. Doing that meant being able to
avert the whole, “That’s a nice dog walking” thing, because by the time the dog
finally walked by, Sensi didn’t care anymore. He was focused entirely on getting
that piece of dried lamb lung from my hot little hands.
Lamb lung, by the way, stinks. It's awful smelling. But dogs go crazy for it, so it was important tool for keeping the peace in the campground.
Two really fabulous nonprofit groups focused on helping dogs get adopted will benefit from a fundraiser scheduled for Dec. 4 at the Grand Traverse Pie Company in Troy.
