Dog Stories: Brave Old Ladies

On the same day that I managed to tempt Rufus into the hatchback with bologna, we had another, bigger breakthrough. He showed interest in an old lady I stopped to talk to on our walk through the neighborhood. I've talked to her before but she clearly didn't remember. She's 89 years old and happened to be out in her driveway while I was walking by. She asked if I came by every day and so I stopped to chat. Rufus wasn't violently opposed to going toward her initially but I stopped a respectable talking distance away and he stayed back. But as we continued talking, he came into my peripheral vision and seemed to want to move forward. So with the woman's permission I moved closer to her and she reached out without him shrinking back and gave him a gentle pat on the head. He then came around the other side of me and she once again gave him a pat.

That was the first person he didn't react toward with persistent fear and actually approached though obtusely (he was getting within proximity but not going up directly). With Leah, we had to work at it. When I went to meet him, someone he'd known since puppyhood presented him to me. He allowed me to touch him but he certainly wouldn't have approached me without that intervention as was proven during the hours I spent over the following weekend unsuccessfully trying to get him to relax and come up to me.

This past Wednesday, I happened to intercept another old lady in the neighborhood who I'd chatted with in years past. Again, I don't think she remembered. She was going slowly across the road to check her mail box. Rufus was alarmed so I stopped to let him observe. I also saw that she had her chihuahua with her, who always charges her fenceline when she's out and we walk by. I didn't want to give anyone any challenges that could end unfortunately. But this old lady wasn't afraid either. I called out to tell her that my dog was just afraid of her and she seemed to find it amusing. She invited me to come forward. She said her chi has bad back legs, which certainly surprised me. She said I could come and pet her that she wouldn't hurt a flea. So I approached with Rufus within close proximity to give the chi, who was reserved but not hostile, a few strokes. The woman held her pretty snuggly and thus had both arms occupied. Rufus stayed behind me but didn't react negatively to any of this, which I consider another success.

At this point, I would love to encounter that boy who was curious about him and see if we could at least get Rufus to relax with him. He thinks children are pretty weird, though, and I know his ability to relax around elderly women doesn't transfer to others because immediately after the chat with the 89 year old, an ordinary man minding his own business was walking up the road that we were walking down and Rufus had to rush to the end of his lead in alarm, sure that the guy was a demon of some sort out to get him. He is, however, getting more nonchalant about seeing men at two houses we regularly pass on our walks. So there's some hope that his scarediness will subside to a point where people we're passing by won't be so startling. But it would probably take an army of people with bologna to make him look at people as likely benefactors.

I'm hoping to get him to a vet soon for the rest of his shots and a general check up. I called a nearby vet to see if they have a strategy for such cases and they say they have a back door that goes directly into an exam room. So as soon as I can drive with him safely, that's where we're headed. I'm cautiously optimistic.