Julia goes to a dog show
I wanted to take a moment to share abour Julia’s first trip with us, joining as I brought Leo to a dog show. I wasn’t sure how she would do, especially given she just learned how to move on a leash. When she arrived she was so frightened of a leash that she would flatten on the ground like a pancake when you put one on her. She was also terrified of new people. So going to a dog show packed with people and staying in a hotel seemed like a big jump. I decided in the end that it would have been more stressful for her to stay home than facing all these new things. I knew she was comfortable following Leo most anywhere, and I knew she was comfortable and felt safe in a crate and figured between those two things we could navigate the weekend.
What I did NOT expect was that she would basically turn into a new dog! Something happened inside her little self when she realized she was coming on a trip with us. When we got out of the car at the park next to the hotel she ran around on her long leash next to Leo with her ears up, her head high and her tail wagging. She was curious, happy and confident. The show grounds and hotel is right next to an air field, airplanes taking off and landing, she glanced over, looked at Leo ignoring the sound she dismissed it. We took a nice long walk, she saw ducks, bicycles, joggers, skateboard, kids, dogs, cars and she trotting alongside Leo like she does this everyday.
I left her and Leo in their crates in the car while I checked into the hotel and set up the room with her familiar things: I brought a folding soft crate with the bed from the crate she sleeps in at home, their favorite toys. Then I left them in their car crates while I set up our grooming spot at the show. I let Leo and Taylor say hi where Julia could watch but had her stay in the crate while they said their hellos so Leo could say hi to Rose and Taylor on his own. Rose had about an hour or so of grooming to do on Leo’s feet and ears so while he was on the grooming table I brought Julia in. There was only about 10% of the people and dogs that would be there once the show started and I didn’t want her feeling worried being alone in the car. But again, she was totally ok. She sat in my arms or on a grooming table for about 15 minutes as she took everything in. Leo being the most chill dog again she looked at him, he was relaxed and so she was too. We had taken a long walk so she was tired, so I put her in a crate next to Taylor and she curled up and went to sleep.
After that we headed back to the hotel, which required her riding in an elevator. Literally a week ago I couldn’t get her to walk in my front door at home, yet she trotted right in the front door of the hotel into the busy lobby and then right into the elevator like she’s done this all her life. She was a little unsure when it started moving but again Leo was unphased so she decided she was too. She met Taylor in the room and they instantly hit it off. She is basically a female version of Leo and she was in heaven having a new bestie. Julia is a little beastie when she plays and Taylor did give her one “correction” (just a quick bark) when Julia grabbed at her cheek like she does Leo. It was great seeing how she took that, and then adjusted her play with Taylor after that, watching that she was be gentle with her teeth and keeping an eye on Taylor to make sure she wasn’t over stepping.
Julia handled hotel life with ease. She went to the door when she needed to go out, rode in the elevator with lots of dogs and people she didn’t know, didn’t have any accidents. She slept quietly in her crate next to my bed each night. Each day during the time I needed to show Leo she slept in the car crate (it was very cool out so I could safely leave her in the car). After Leo was done I then took her into the show for some socializing and she was a champ even without Leo! I knew I couldn’t properly handle both of them in all of that chaos and see to both their needs at once. She IS a snarky little b!tch if someone shoves into her personal space. She snarked at a Flatcoat who surprised her when she was sitting on my lap. She made little ugly faces (subtle quick snarls) anytime she saw another dog eating bait after Rose gave her a taste of what they were getting 😂. She was sure that all treats should be hers. Another person let their PWD stand over her completely ignoring her body language asking for space. So I scooper her up and out of there as I saw her little requests being ignored. I have no doubt she would have snarked at that dog had I not as I saw her eyes going hard. But she was completely comfortable around all the chaos, being among all those dogs and she was happy to meet all sorts of new people. I kept the times in the show buildings short so she didn’t have time to get too over excited or worried. She loved watching the agility dogs and was like a whole new dog watching them run. I have NO doubt after seeing who she was inside the arena that she can handle a trial environment when and if we decide to do that together.
We took long walks in the park every day with Leo. That was her favorite time. She was sparkly and so happy to experience all these new things. At one point a group of small children ran over and asked if they could pet the dogs. I said they could pet Leo but not Julia since I could see she was unsure and they all surrounded him at once, he was in heaven with all those tiny hands petting him. He sat there smiling with his tail wagging, so then Julia decided she was missing out on something so she joined the party. She loved watching the ducks and has decided they are weird looking cats that probably need to be chased.
Things I did during this trip.
I mostly managed everything and I very much modeled Leo’s behavior. What do I mean by that, well I mostly just left her to take things in without putting any expectations or pressure on her. I just showed her that everything is no big deal.
When people wanted to say hi I didn’t have a big production about it. I just let Julia decide whether to put herself close enough or not and if she did they could pet her.
I managed everything rather than training, by that I mean, if I saw other dogs were getting in the elevator with us I would just pick her up and move us over to the side and set her down behind me, where she could watch and feel safe. I walked her on a harness and 10ft lead so she always had room to move away from anything that concerned her.
At the hotel instead of expecting her to focus and go potty where there were dozens of dogs being walked, we walked away from the hotel to a nice quiet spot where she wasn’t distracted.
So I went out of my way to just put her in successful situations but didn’t try to adjust any of her behaviors.
I set up the car, the room and the grooming area to provide her with safe spots to rest.
I walked her away from the show in the nice big open park where she felt confident and happy.
I never once made her sit, or walk on a loose leash, or stay, or look at me. I just guided her like Leo does and let her make her own choices.
I didn’t feed her a single treat all weekend (she got night night cookies obviously) but I didn’t use food to have her meet people or feel comfortable around dogs.
I didn’t worry about things, if I saw big dogs I thought she might be worried about I picked her up and moved us past. I never said “it’s ok” or modeled any kind of I might be worried behaviors. I just channeled the Leo, it’s cool, we are cool attitude.
I wasn’t upset with her when she was snarky or made ugly faces, I accepted this is who she is right now so I just was sure to help protect her personal space and moved her away when I saw she was tense.
Things I learned about Julia on this trip
She is snarky and needs to learn it’s ok if other dogs also get treats
She is super smart and learns a lot through observation
While she is slow to meet people she doesn’t have stranger danger, she is just inexperienced. She very much enjoys being pet and likes people
She can take a correction from a dog and learn without getting upset
She is possessive and we will be working on resource guarding (I knew this, but seeing how cranky she was seeing dogs getting treats she wasn’t that far away showed me the level of her ideas of possession)
She is ready for more socializing