Dog Stories: Taking walks

The scaredy dog does quite well on a leash. If you don't know that his behavior is a result of insecurity, it looks as though I have a very well behaved shepherd heeling beautifully on a loose leash. Unless he sees a person (including children) or he's surprised by a loud noise. Then the jig is up as he flies to the end of the leash in an attempt to escape the killer human.

Initially if he was not at my side during walks, he would go forward, end up perpendicular to me, realize that he was creating a collision with me and circle around back of me. I think part of his problem is not realizing how big he is and having generally poor body awareness. He may be intentionally blocking me at times out of a desire to make me turn around and go home. However, a lot of the time, when he moves forward, it's more like he suddenly realizes he's put himself outside of his comfort zone, wants to come back toward me but is only able to do so (in his mind) by coming over into my path of movement and then realizes that creates a problem and in his momentary mental quandary doesn't know what to do with his body to get out of the way. Thankfully this is improving.

On a more positive note, when he does confuse himself and ends up more on my right side than my left (the heeling side), he circles back around to my left with such consistency and certainty once he starts that course that I suspect he had some obedience training somewhere during his puppyhood. I see no reason why he would do that otherwise.

His size has garnered a couple of interesting reactions. One couple seemed to decide to take their toddler off the porch and inside when they saw me coming. A woman seemed to have told her daughter to go to the storm door to see the big dog. Upon catching sight of him, one boy of about 9 years said, "Whoooa!" Another woman picked up her barking chihuahua and now, like the couple with the toddler, puts him in and goes in herself, when she sees us coming down the street.

Nelson (or Rufus Dufus--I still haven't decided) has been fine with other dogs approaching him thus far. He's not particularly afraid of them or interested in them. However, since he's pack oriented, a lot of barking by dogs in the yards we pass makes him edgy. I avoid the worst part of the neighborhood for that sort of ruckus.

I'm pleased that he seems to enjoy the walks even if he isn't completely relaxed on them. He needs them for exercise as well as exposure to the world. He was frightened of the squeaky door of my mailbox only once. Some day I hope he will be able to let the 9 year old boy above pet him. The boy saw us another time and asked if my dog bites. Once he spoke, Rufus Dufus (you see how this name sometimes fits) was sprawling wildly toward the opposite side of the road. With scaredy shepherd straining away, I told the boy that he doesn't bite but is afraid and to give us a couple of months and then maybe he will be able to pet him. He seemed to be a dog-wise kid and nodded.

I'm also grateful to the kids at the house opposite of mine. One afternoon, I took him out. It was clear indoors that he wanted to go for a walk. But once on the porch, he saw the children of the house opposite rounding the corner of the house at a run. From the porch it only spooked him a little, but it really unsettled him as we were going down the driveway toward them as they came around once again. I allowed him to go back up on the porch to absorb the activity but saw that the kids had stopped. They seemed to have realized that their behavior was freaking out my dog. So I was able to get him off the porch and on the road with only minimal additional drama on his part.

Knowing that spring break was coming up made me anxious to introduce him to my pet-sitter because I wanted to visit my parents in Tennessee for a couple of days and wasn't sure whether it would be possible. I'll describe our attempts to get him acclimated to another person in the next episode.