Posts
Honey and Becca
Have you ever seen a sweeter pair of sisters? Though they look similar they couldn't be more different. Honey is a very confident and outgoing girl and Becca is more timid and unsure. When Becca is with Honey she is very comfortable and functions quite well. If you remove her from her sister she struggles a bit.
Becca will be 8 years old in March and came to live with Kerry when she was only 5 months old. Adopted from a local shelter her exact background isn't certain but it is believed that she ran free as a feral dog with her momma those first 5 months.
Kerry has worked very hard with Becca. There was a time she was so frightened she had to be carried outside to go potty. She is afraid to be in the car and to this day will lay on the floor board with her head under the seat as far as it will go.
This is how frightened Becca used to be in the car,
she is stuck under the break.
Becca is so bonded with Honey that Kerry has concerns what will happen to her if the time comes that they no longer have Honey in their lives.
Yesterday I had my first session with Becca. We meet once before at a TTouch one-day workshop I hosted. Kerry and Becca met me outside the house and we reacquainted. Inside, we visited with both Becca and Honey.
In order to progress with Becca we put Honey in another room. Because Becca was unsure of the wrap I progressed slowly. First draping the wrap across her body and then a loop here or there until she actually wore the wrap. I did some slow touches on her and then invited her to go outside on a walk.
Using a Balance Leash Plus I led her outside and we took her normal and comfortable path through the neighborhood. Becca was stretching, she was stretching her comfort zone. Not only was she away from Honey but I was walking her rather than Kerry. I asked her to stop and go along our walk and she did fantastic. During the stops we did touches and had a treat or two.
Kerry decided to stretch Becca a tad more and dropped behind on the walk to see what would happen. Becca did really well. We walked on quite a bit, stopping and starting, before she discovered Kerry was pretty far behind. When she did notice she was not visibly upset. Becca kept turning and looking to make sure Kerry was there but was not overly concerned and still willing to walk with me.
Many times when a dog is overly stressed they will have an "Anxiety Poo" but that never happened with Becca. We finished up our walk and headed back in the house for lovin' TTouches and reunited Becca and Honey! That was enough for one day.
Our next step is to find somewhere we can set up the Confidence Course and let it work its magic with Becca.
Becca will be 8 years old in March and came to live with Kerry when she was only 5 months old. Adopted from a local shelter her exact background isn't certain but it is believed that she ran free as a feral dog with her momma those first 5 months.
Kerry has worked very hard with Becca. There was a time she was so frightened she had to be carried outside to go potty. She is afraid to be in the car and to this day will lay on the floor board with her head under the seat as far as it will go.
This is how frightened Becca used to be in the car,
she is stuck under the break.
Becca is so bonded with Honey that Kerry has concerns what will happen to her if the time comes that they no longer have Honey in their lives.
Yesterday I had my first session with Becca. We meet once before at a TTouch one-day workshop I hosted. Kerry and Becca met me outside the house and we reacquainted. Inside, we visited with both Becca and Honey.
In order to progress with Becca we put Honey in another room. Because Becca was unsure of the wrap I progressed slowly. First draping the wrap across her body and then a loop here or there until she actually wore the wrap. I did some slow touches on her and then invited her to go outside on a walk.
Using a Balance Leash Plus I led her outside and we took her normal and comfortable path through the neighborhood. Becca was stretching, she was stretching her comfort zone. Not only was she away from Honey but I was walking her rather than Kerry. I asked her to stop and go along our walk and she did fantastic. During the stops we did touches and had a treat or two.
Kerry decided to stretch Becca a tad more and dropped behind on the walk to see what would happen. Becca did really well. We walked on quite a bit, stopping and starting, before she discovered Kerry was pretty far behind. When she did notice she was not visibly upset. Becca kept turning and looking to make sure Kerry was there but was not overly concerned and still willing to walk with me.
Many times when a dog is overly stressed they will have an "Anxiety Poo" but that never happened with Becca. We finished up our walk and headed back in the house for lovin' TTouches and reunited Becca and Honey! That was enough for one day.
Our next step is to find somewhere we can set up the Confidence Course and let it work its magic with Becca.
No comments:
Post a Comment