With Jess as a teacher you'd think that this fact would be obvious right? Weeelllll not so much. Although teaching has helped with consistency, we've learned that Stewart needs a lot more boundaries than some of our friends' dogs. Boo Hoo right? It's harder than you think.
One of the things that we've decided to work on to set more boundaries is not letting Stewart on the couch (he's such a cuddle bug though!) which will eventually lead to not sleeping in the bed with us (is this possible?!). We are proud to say that we've been very diligent in not inviting him up as well as telling him to get off the couch this week and have noticed him responding well to this change. It's a work in progress, but we are determined to help this little guy out with his nervous/anxiety issues he has new people and dogs. Channeling the Dog Whisperer as we speak! ; )
This post is to update those who love our son about his progress, but more importantly to show everyone what our son does when we leave the house (see below). Those of you who have dogs and love them as much as we love our son know the face you'd see on the opposite side of the glass....priceless
Just a little something that makes us smile during the day. You've gotta find those small moments in life that truly make it worth living...this is definitely one of them- issues and all. What makes you smile?
3 comments:
Even little changes where you assert yourself over him make a huge difference. I remember when we first started no couch and only inviting them on the bed and they listened to everything better after that. Next time you go to that dog park, let him off the leash! He'll be fine!!
Is this working well for you? Eleanor isn't great with new people, but I've been putting off training (because of this). And the keeping the dogs off the couch/bed is so hard when they're snuggly! I'm guessing that most of her issues are my fault....
i totally know how you're feeling but I do have to say that it is working SO well! Stew still needs a lot of work BUT he's made leaps and bounds since we've started this. It is hard not having him snuggle all of the time but we usually let him hang with us right before we fall asleep while reading. try it and let me know!
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