DAY 2 WITH CUBBY

On Sunday, Cubby came out of the van a frightened dog. 

Fresh from the bus...not sure whats happening yet

 A year ago when I had wanted to foster him he was so stressed about loading into the van they held him back to give him more time.   I truly admire Turtle Gardens for the respect they show for each and every dog.   Some dogs need the push and some are better waiting, and TG truly has the skill to know the difference.  Cubby was good with all the dogs at Turtle Gardens and he was good with the people too, but he only had so many people to solicit attention from and it was his time this dog run, whether he knew it or not.   Once out of the van, he sat back and watched the whole dog run, snugged up alongside the barn with Denise K. holding onto his leash for me (thank you so much Denise for helping in a special way).  I didn’t want Cubby going into the stall in the barn in a rush and me having to corner him to get him out later, so this really was a big help for me and Cubby.  Denise handed me the leash once a lot of the dogs were in the hands of their fosters and adopters and Cubby didn’t want to budge.  I sat alongside him with the side of my leg touching his side and he didn’t move.  I petted his shoulder and he relaxed a bit.  After a while I moved a few steps away and crouched and with a slight amount of pressure on the leash he moved forward. 

Bit by bit he was moving forward.  Within about 15 minutes he was moving around with me walking very bravely.  

After the last of the cars left foster mom Gloria and her pups Cricket and Lolly went for a walk with me and Cubby in Ladner.  I was happy to take advantage of the sunshine and give Cubby a chance to stretch his legs before going home.   He is so comfortable with other dogs.  The pups getting in his face the way pups do and he never bothered about it.  He was walking very easily on the leash by that point.

Lolly

Cubby checking out the new smells

...the start of a smile

a beautiful gentle face

Lolly...'are you my foster mom?'

Cubby rode really well in the truck.  I had to lift him in and he would jump out on his own.  At home he drank some water and ate a full dinner then napped a bit.   When I would reach down to pet him he would duck a bit, as he seemed uncertain of what my intent was, but he seemed to start enjoying being petted and his eyes would squint in happiness.  

Our first night was pretty uneventful. He slept all through the night on a dog bed next to my bed.  

Monday rolled around and it was time for dog daycare.  He was quite tentative going in the door and being led away but still went without too much fuss.  I wasn’t entirely surprised to hear that while he was completely fine with all the dogs he was fearful of the staff.  They change their staff over during the day and he spent most of his time under the big dog bed trying to avoid the people.   When I picked him up he came to me and was quite happy to walk out with me.  We went to the park and I put him on the 80’ leash to give him some freedom to roam.   He started to run around me, not with full zoomies but bouncing, wagging his tail and then letting me play with him.  Usually with the shy dogs if you raise your arms to your side and stomp in their direction they get scared and don’t know you’re trying to play with them but Cubby was more than happy to run back from me and then come back for more.  I have never seen a dog drop his shyness so quickly.   He was so fun to watch.  He continued to bounce alongside me as I walked and kept raising his head up wanting me to put my hand down to nudge his chin.   He was so in the moment and having fun it was great!   When he eventually wandered to the end of the leash I whistled and that stocky little body came running right back to me.   For shorty little legs he can move pretty fast.  He sure reminded me of a Corgi when he was running.  

using the full 80'

surveying the field

love the 'show stance'

'oh...are you looking at me?'

Once we got back to the truck I opened both doors and he surprised me by just hopping in.  My reward for a fun field trip I suppose.

After that brief amount of time in the field he has been way more open with me.  Coming right up to me and giving me kisses.  Nudging my hand for attention and he sure enjoyed being brushed later that night.  He was standing up while I brushed him and his eyes were closing and he was swaying a bit trying to stay standing. 

I asked dog daycare to allow him to drag a leash on him today and that seemed to help.   Without the leash he seems to feel hesitation about whether to approach or not, but the leash takes that decision away from him and he is quite comfortable with that.   He roamed more openly around the daycare and the staff were able to pet him better today.   So, all in all quite the fast transformation is taking place.  I will spend more time this week finding people to introduce him to and I suspect within a week or two his whole world will be opened up and he will have very little fears left.     

He is currently learning not to dart out of the truck when the door is opened and he already has good manners at the house door.  He is a great walker and really doesn’t pull much on the leash. 

I have yet to give Cubby a bath and think tomorrow night will be the night.  Some things are just more important than a bath.   I wanted to build a bit more trust with him first and I’m sure we’re at the point where he will be okay with it.  I suspect he won’t like it but he’ll still talk to me after.
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** DOG RUN PICS taken by my good friend Kathy M. who attended her first dog run.   It was so nice to have pictures from the day.  I always take my camera but rarely have the time to pick it up.  Thank you to Kathy for the great shots.