Axl is very fearful. He is incredibly insecure and as a result appears aggressive to dogs and bikes and things like that. We hired a trainer a while back and she helped us a lot and gave us some guidance on how to handle him. So for a couple of months now we've been working with him to try and help him overcome his fear of the world. Since Lola's been down with some injury I've been walking Axl by himself. Sunday I took him out for a long walk and had some thoughts that I think may help him.
On Sunday's walk it struck me that he acts like a puppy. Everything is interesting and he's curious about it all but it's also scary. As a puppy well raised dogs learn that while the world may seem scary to them it really isn't. By taking them lots of places and exposing them to different things they learn that world is a fun, interesting place and nothing to be scared of. So I've decided to treat him like a puppy. To take him to different places and expose him to different things. Tonight I went to the polo fields and Axl saw horses for the first time. I think I might be on to something and I hope it works out for Axl's sake. After all, I'm just asking him to not be afraid. It's not like I'm asking him to install a rackmount lcd or anything like that.
1 comment:
Sounds like a great plan, treating him like a puppy. He probably missed out on all that when he was young. It's so so weird for me to have my puppy Jet, who trusts me so completely. I'm too used to rescues who's trust I have to earn a tiny bit at a time.
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