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<\/a>Pappi and Mommi running wild at Kidd Springs Park<\/p><\/div>\n
During Pappi’s\u00a0two year stint running feral at the local park, Pappi learned that if he lunged and growled at people they would go away and he would be safe. Pappi and Mommi taught Betty\u00a0to be fearful of humans and to run away from them.\u00a0Both dogs are fine with their foster human. They love, trust, and snuggle their foster, but other people are still scary to them. Pet-Fest is designed\u00a0to safely help our two dogs over the socialization \u201chump\u201d. We are going to teach them that it is OK for people to touch them.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Betty loves to snuggle Pepe Le Pew style with her friend Bryan<\/p><\/div>\n
We don\u2019t just want Pet-Fest to be safe for the dogs, we want this to be a safe and positive interaction for the dogs and the people. If while\u00a0forcing the dogs to do something they don\u2019t want to do, they bite someone, it will reinforce the bad behaviors we are trying to break. In addition to preventing the potentially\u00a0painful bite to the human,\u00a0we want to prevent the dogs spending time\u00a0in quarantine as that would definitely set them back.<\/p>\n
When Betty first arrived, her fear based\u00a0flight\u00a0response was so bad she would \u201cpanic poop\u201d (the kind you can\u2019t clean up) anytime she was flooded with fear. Even though she trusted her human, other humans were just too much for her. We have worked with her and now her panic response is to rely on her human,\u00a0to stay put with her human, and to look to her human for leadership. Now that her trust in in place, she is ready to get \u201cflooded\u201d with more positive human contact.<\/p>\n
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In order to be\u00a0safe about conditioning Betty\u00a0to being touched by friends and strangers alike, we are using\u00a0a basket muzzle on her.\u00a0\u00a0This is how we will decondition and desensitize our girl and get her over the hump – \u00a0Pet-Fest 2016! The little stinker\u00a0actually loves to be pet and to snuggle, \u00a0we just need her to expand her circle of trust past her two trusted\u00a0humans.<\/p>\n
Pappi also\u00a0trusts his human and loves to be pet and to snuggle, but like Betty, only with a few\u00a0specific humans. Pappi\u2019s bad habits from the park can be safely overcome with a basket muzzle. He is a big teddy bear who loves praise and attention, so we think he will move through this process pretty quickly. Pappi gets treats while wearing his muzzle<\/p><\/div>\n When most people see the basket muzzle, they assume the dog is aggressive or the need for the muzzle is extreme, for us, it\u2019s just about being extra safe. Again, the objective is to make a safe and positive environment for the dogs\u00a0to experience\u00a0 positive interactions\u00a0with humans. We want the dog and the humans to be safe while we stress out and stretch the dogs.<\/p>\n We first had to take\u00a0baby steps with the dogs and get them used to the muzzles before starting\u00a0\u201cPet-Fest”. The dogs have now worn the muzzles around the house, are comfortable in the muzzles, and are used to getting treats while wearing the muzzles. We\u2019re ready!<\/p>\n Betty and Garry having some Pet-Fest time. She is staying in his space and doing great!<\/p><\/div>\n Betty started \u201cPet-Fest\u201d this last weekend. Our little stinker looked a lot like Pepe Le Pew\u2019s girlfriend when she was being pet, but she accepted pets from our first\u00a0few official Pet-Fest participants.<\/p>\n Want to help us with Pet-Fest? Keep an eye on our Facebook page and look for posts when we take the dogs out and about on\u00a0neighborhood walks, to local restaurants, and dog friendly businesses. Come on and join us!<\/p>\n Want to learn more about doggie body language and doggie behavior? Check out some of our favorite links:<\/p>\n Betty and Charlie having a Pet-Fest<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/p>\n We\u2019ll try to update the gallery regularly – here are the first sets of Pet-Fest images<\/p>\n
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