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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/14/2020 in Posts

  1. Hi Adrienne, Thanks for the response. Harmonie is definitely leery towards strangers, whether they come to the house, in the yard, or out on walks. When people come to the house, she pretty much keeps her distance. She will come up to them and sniff them and whether they ignore her, talk to her, or try to pet her, her reaction is just about the same. She just backs off. She doesn't seem overly nervous, she lies down and rests. When we encounter people on walks, she just keeps her distance. If someone asks to pet her and they put their hand out for her to sniff, she sniffs it and then backs off. I have a friend that comes over and doesn't make eye contact or talk to her and Harmonie just ignores her the entire time. I have another friend that talks to her and Harmonie will approach her when she's sitting down and she lets her pet her. Harmonie has access to our fenced backyard, we live on a farm, she spends a lot of time outside barking and keeping a watch on things. She comes in the house to check in and maybe take a nap, then back out. I have noticed her being startled in the house. One time she didn't know I was behind her and she jumped up and ran, then came right back when she realized it was me. She gets startled outside with a loud noise that surprises her but she doesn't seem to be scared in an ongoing way... more just a startle until she quickly figures out what it is. I tried to take her to get groomed last week and she was having no part of going into the building. She was pulling and I couldn't/didn't want to drag her in because I figured if she wouldn't walk in, she wasn't going to have a good experience once inside. I have made some mistakes with her grooming at home. She is known for getting really muddy outside and I have used the hose to spray her feet off - she has started really resisting this and now it's almost impossible. I have to go back to square one and take it super slow. Okay...on to the older dogs. All 5 dogs are spayed/neutered. I wouldn't say that the 12 year olds are showing much as far as aging. I do think Taffie's (female) eyesight might be a little worse than it was. Tigger (male) doesn't seem to be showing signs. Poppie is definitely showing more signs of aging but I don't see any issues between him and Harmonie. Taffie sometimes cowers a bit or hangs back until Harmonie goes away. Tigger doesn't seem to be affected at all. Tigger pretty much holds his ground. I would say after the initial encounter, they go back to normal. Most of the time they all just do their own thing. I don't think it has a lasting emotional impact. One thing I do notice is that Harmonie seems to intentionally sit (sometimes) in front of the dog door so that the others can't go in the house. About 2 times a day I hear someone bark to come in and when I go out, she is sitting right in front of the dog door. I think I have a lot of work to do... she has been a really good dog as far as being perfectly house broken, not destroying things, she doesn't jump up or anything like that...but, I haven't asked her to do much, she pretty much does what she wants. I don't take her too many places for a few reasons, the craziness of the world right now, I don't go anywhere and, having 5 dogs makes taking 1 or 2 more difficult. While I wait for your reply, I'm going to take a read through the exercises and make a plan to start slowly working with her more. If you have suggestions on any particular behaviors to start with, I'd appreciate the advice. She's not overly food driven or toy driven. The other day when I took her for a visit to the vet, I brought some cheese to reward her for going in and she had no interest in the cheese. As always, I so appreciate your expertise and friendly advice. Thanks, Susan
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