Help! How to manage weekend guests.

[rudy]

Whew. That went well.

Lou was on the box and attached to something while we were inside. I spent all weekend in dog-management. My inlaws are NOT dog people so there wasn't much interaction.

FIL is dog-neutral. He fed both dog a slice of pizza and after that Lou kind of liked him, or just ignored him. But MIL is afraid of dogs and Lou can get charged up when she walks by.

Last night we all were getting tired and Lou got a little whiney/growly on his box - but no more than what he does to me if I've got him on the box and I'm eating in front of him. Not much intensity. MIL was also saying a few snide dog/training comments and I'm not sure if Lou was geting a charge from her energy or from my annoyance at her comments - or both. I gave him a chewy and put him in his crate and put myself to bed.

This morning, even after pushing and tug, he would sometimes get panic barky around her inside and outside. I have to learn to let go of whatever negative feelings I have regarding MIL and my dogs. Not just MIL but anyone who has negative feelings toward my dogs.

Now that I have a clearer picture on where Lou is I will feel more comfortable asking people to interact more with him. Dog-people anyway.

[Sang]

Great job. It can always be challenging negotiating those relationships, and it sounds like you did awesome.

[rudy]

After the weekend Lou and I took it easy yesterday. Just walking, no training. And by this morning he was in true fighting form. LOL

Holy moly did we have riprousing games of tug! He meant BUSINESS. I had him posted up and let him get barky (that took about 7 seconds) and then stalked him and he lunged for the tug toy and tugged like crazy - the furry little dude had some bite and rage to work out. I eventually dropped the tug toy and let him win and he dropped his end and grabbed my pants leg and tugged. He used to do that a year ago after he first arrived. And so we started all over again with the tug.

After about 20 minutes I let him win and asked him to down and after a few minutes of a mesage he rolled over so I could rub his belly. That lasted for a few seconds and he started up with the "rahwrahwrahw" type growling and jumped up. And so we played some more tug... I need tougher tug toys.

Then we pushed and did some Speak and some fetch and then he walked Rudy with me.

And he's still not "done". He is wide open. LOL

[Sang]

That's great that Lou's opening up like that. It shows that the emotional valve is starting to flow more freely, which will give you access to the deeper and deeper layers of fear that he's been holding back for so long.

Now that you've established a connection with him where you can attract his energy in those energized situations, it will be really good to put him in more of those kinds of situations to break the rest of the emotional "plaque" free. Don't overdo it of course, but the higher and higher levels of energy he can experience and then channel into you, the more and more you'll be able to resolve his deep fear.

So keep up the great work

[rudy]

Thanks for all the help!

I'm starting to be able to enjoy the fun part of NDT now that I KNOW I can get/keep Lou's attention and energy on me around triggers.