The dog is having fear issues. I would worry that there’s something specific with our puppy only I keep hearing the same thing, again and again from dog owners—around five to eight months their dog suddenly became fearful for a period of time. I talked to a lot of dog owners today because I spent a lot of time with our dog in pet stores and out in public today.
I had some errands to run today and decided to take Matisse with me and to go to some stops specifically for her. She looked out the window, watched me pick up prescriptions, place drive through orders and get food. Then I went to a pet store. It was raining but I stood there and waited for her to jump down from the seat and then out of the car. I stood still while she looked at the surroundings, watched the cars, smelled things and finally was ready to move in the direction of the pet store.
I waited patiently when she was spooked by the two sets of automatic doors at the entrance of the pet store and when she was ready, we walked in. I walked through aisles and told store employees I was fine, thanks for asking if I needed any help, we were mostly here to work through some recent fear developments with the dog.
I let people ask if they could pet her, explained what the breed was and watched as some people she took to very quickly while others she hid behind my legs. (I rather agreed with her judgement call on more than one occasion when she hid behind me). On the whole she wasn’t afraid of people and appreciated the attention, although she was very subdued and calm.
When I thought she was ready, I got a shopping cart, effectively upping the game. She got over the racket and size of the things pretty quickly. I checked out and we went back to the car, which she was happy to return to. She curled up on the seat and may have even gone to sleep almost immediately. Throughout all this time she didn’t seem overly fearful, but she wouldn’t eat a treat so I know she under some stress.
We went to Lowes next and went all over while I looked for something I could have found quickly by actually trying or by asking an associate, but since the goal was time and experience moving through the store, having large things clang about and people bustle around you, I meandered until I found the
bumpers I was looking.
An associate came over and said they had dog treats at the far register if she wanted one. I told her I wasn’t sure if she was going to eat it because we were working through some fear issues. She said, “wait here, I’ll be right back” and rushed off.
I was stuck waiting for a treat my dog was likely to rebuff but I didn’t have much else to do so we looked at the people passing by. Around the corner came an older gentleman with a very tall, mature boxer. He came over and Matisse and his dog Scout got to know each other. Matisse went through this interesting transformation at that point: here was a dog—a friendly dog—that she wanted to play with. She was excited, happy, back to being a puppy with no worries again.
Scout and she bounced back and forth within the tight radius of the aisle and our leashes. About that time the associate came back with that dog treat I suspected my dog would have no interest in—only I was wrong. Matisse was all about the treat. Scout wasn’t sure he wanted any so Matisse at it all. I checked and now she wanted my treats too. Scout had snapped her out of her anxiety.
We parted ways and I had a contented dog all the way to the car and then home. Her anxiety/fear was much better for the remainder of the day. I took her to several more places with me, including another pet store while my son was in session with Liz. I’m taking Matisse back to Day School tomorrow. Hopefully the day’s excursions around town today will help tomorrow at Day School.
The Big Boy Update: My son went to see Liz today for the first time in months. Both she and he were happy to see each other. I had Matisse with me and my goodness it is clear that dogs don’t forget the people they’ve met before. Matisse nearly bowled Liz over with excitement.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My husband has decided that since I’m not a big fan of Disney that maybe he’ll take the children there individually, without me. Tonight he asked my daughter, “sometime next year would you like to go to Disney, just me and you?” She said, “sure, but why not tomorrow?"
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