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This dog is not scared

09 January 2022 by
Development Development
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We have participated in a lot of programs with Foxy since the day of his adoption, of which one of the most exciting turned out to be the dog trick course for beginners.

 

Age was not a problem, so last January, after making my dog sit on the back seat, I drove to the location 30 km far from us. I thought that the course consisting of six lessons would help him to further increase his courage and that spending time together would be fun for both of us. Although he had improved a lot from his initial shyness by that time, I knew that there was still room for improvement. It wasn't until the other three owners and their dogs arrived that I realised that we were actually doing quite well in terms of confidence building.

 

The training was in a medium-sized indoor room, where the walls were covered with mirrors everywhere. We sat down in a small circle on the green carpet and introduced ourselves. Obviously Foxy wasn’t the most insecure dog there, but I did mention his anxiety as the reason for us going there. Then the trainer told us the essence of the technique based on giving treats, and practising the simpliest slalom exercises started.

 

My dog dived into the fun happily, and he didn’t pay attention to anything else until one of the pooches disrupted us. As all the other owners were just having a chat after a while, their dogs were scattered all over the place, and a greyhound about a year old was always under our feet. I remember thinking that he must want something, when suddenly Foxy attacked him and then knocked him down. I had never seen him starting a fight before, and I couldn’t even move because of the shock. I yelled at him, to which he reacted immediately, but after that he jumped at the spaniel running towards him. There was a total chaos there. Only the Chihuahua didn’t take part in the raw, he was just trembling silently at his owner’s feet, while I was trying to lead my dog as far away from the others as possible. The spaniel tried to get to us again. When he was only two meters away from us, I intervened.

 

”Go to your place.” I shouted at him firmly, ponting to the other side of the room where his owner was standing.

 

He obediently turned around and he didn’t come closer any more that day. I was surprised at this, because the spaniel had not even listened to his own owner before, as allegedly his hearing wasn’t good. Luckily none of the dogs were hurt by the fight, no blood was spilled , but I was still puzzled by the phenomenon for quite some time and I kept apologising to everyone.

 

”Relax, Foxy just told them how to behave. He is the oldest and the most disciplined as well.” Said the leader of the course. ”By the way, it was only a power struggle, it’s totally normal and next time there won’t be any problems.”

 

And indeed, there wasn’t any. The hierarchy was set and all of them did their tasks. Foxy was in complete ecstasy because of the game and the treats, and he also enjoyed the homework very much. I forgot the conflict soon, but one of the sentences I heard after the incident is still ringing in my ears and I have to admit, it makes me proud:

”This dog is not scared.” Said the trainer, smiling.

 

dog trick

 

 

 

(The Hungarian translation is available on www.onbizalomfejlesztes.hu.)

 

More in this category: « The story of Happy and Foxy
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