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I've mentioned in several other threads that Pongu, my Very Special Dog, is a severely fearful little guy. I adopted him from a city shelter at 16 weeks, having absolutely no idea what I was getting into as a first-time owner. He is now 3 years old, and much better than he was, but there's no cure for a fearful dog. There's improvement, but you never finish the journey. You never get a "normal" dog.
Just this past weekend, I left him outside a bakery while I stopped in to grab a loaf of bread. Pongu was not there for more than two or three minutes, which I figured was within what he is currently able to tolerate, but in that time a car pulled into the parking spot beside him and the awning on the next storefront flapped in the wind, so when I got back outside, he was completely terrified and cowering and had pooped himself. After three solid years of rehab and confidence-building, after thousands of hours and dollars with the best trainers and behaviorists in our region, I can't leave him tied outside a store for two minutes.
That's my Pongu. He's a scaredybutt.
He's also my competition dog.* Because of his mental (and some physical) issues, the only sport he can really do is Rally. (Well, to be fair, he can also do canine musical freestyle, and that's actually where we first began. He's pretty darn good at it. But I can't dance, let alone choreograph a half-decent routine, so we never made it to competition in freestyle.)
Pongu can't tolerate a stranger approaching him; he'll never do the Stand For Exam in obedience. He can't tolerate loud noises or unstable footing; he'll never do the teeter in agility. Flyball, dock diving, and of course all the protection sports are completely off the table for this dog.
But he can do Rally. On his good days, he can completely kick butt in Rally.
On his bad days, he melts down at the start line and we never get off the ground.
And there are a lot of bad days. Competing with a fearful dog is not much fun sometimes. Even more than with a normal dog, you have to be willing to put your ego aside and do what is best for your dog to avoid damaging his confidence, because he doesn't have any to start with. You have to accept that the brilliant, snappy, precise dog you see in practice will very often not show up at trial, because the trial venue is a NEW SCARY PLACE!! and little tiny things that other dogs don't even notice will cause your fearful dog to implode.
That's hard for me. By nature I'm an overachiever. I like to win. I don't like seeing my dog collapse like an overcooked souffle because there's an overhead fan blowing on the course and he can't deal with that. I really, really want to tell him to suck it up and tough it out and yell FOR GOD'S SAKE YOU CAN DO THIS WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.
But I can't do that, because that doesn't work with a fearful dog. What does work is patience and practice and patience and practice and gritting your teeth and telling him that why yes he is wonderful for taking that ($*&(#*&$ stupid jump on the third try after you've already NQ'ed in front of everybody for the fourth straight run and wasted 12 hours of your life and $150 in entry fees.
It can be incredibly frustrating.
But there are moments of glory too, and those are what keep me going. There are those perfect golden runs where everything is in harmony and Pongu is smiling and happy and I don't have to say a word or give a single formal cue and we finish the course in total communion. Moments like that are beautiful with any dog, but you never expect to have them with a fearful dog. To me it's worth everything else to have those moments where Pongu is confident and happy and winning.
In this thread I hope to chronicle our long, slow journey to the ARCHMX -- the highest title offered in World Cynosport Rally. In so doing, I hope to provide some insight to other owners of fearful dogs about what it's like to compete with such a dog. It is possible, if you're patient and willing to listen to your dog. I was told many times never to expect Pongu to set foot in the ring at all, but we do compete and sometimes we do well, and it boosts his confidence more than anything else in the world.
(* -- you might reasonably ask: what about Crookytail? It's true, I have two dogs, and Crooky is not fearful in the slightest. He is a perfectly friendly confident normal dog. He's spectacular with the fosters and endlessly funny and a source of constant joy in our lives.
He's also dumb as a box of rocks and incredibly boring to train. I'll take the brilliant crazy dog over the genial dopey one every time, thanks. Crookytail has been retired from every sport I've ever tried with him after getting his novice titles, because that is as far as my patience goes.)
Just this past weekend, I left him outside a bakery while I stopped in to grab a loaf of bread. Pongu was not there for more than two or three minutes, which I figured was within what he is currently able to tolerate, but in that time a car pulled into the parking spot beside him and the awning on the next storefront flapped in the wind, so when I got back outside, he was completely terrified and cowering and had pooped himself. After three solid years of rehab and confidence-building, after thousands of hours and dollars with the best trainers and behaviorists in our region, I can't leave him tied outside a store for two minutes.
That's my Pongu. He's a scaredybutt.
He's also my competition dog.* Because of his mental (and some physical) issues, the only sport he can really do is Rally. (Well, to be fair, he can also do canine musical freestyle, and that's actually where we first began. He's pretty darn good at it. But I can't dance, let alone choreograph a half-decent routine, so we never made it to competition in freestyle.)
Pongu can't tolerate a stranger approaching him; he'll never do the Stand For Exam in obedience. He can't tolerate loud noises or unstable footing; he'll never do the teeter in agility. Flyball, dock diving, and of course all the protection sports are completely off the table for this dog.
But he can do Rally. On his good days, he can completely kick butt in Rally.
On his bad days, he melts down at the start line and we never get off the ground.
And there are a lot of bad days. Competing with a fearful dog is not much fun sometimes. Even more than with a normal dog, you have to be willing to put your ego aside and do what is best for your dog to avoid damaging his confidence, because he doesn't have any to start with. You have to accept that the brilliant, snappy, precise dog you see in practice will very often not show up at trial, because the trial venue is a NEW SCARY PLACE!! and little tiny things that other dogs don't even notice will cause your fearful dog to implode.
That's hard for me. By nature I'm an overachiever. I like to win. I don't like seeing my dog collapse like an overcooked souffle because there's an overhead fan blowing on the course and he can't deal with that. I really, really want to tell him to suck it up and tough it out and yell FOR GOD'S SAKE YOU CAN DO THIS WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.
But I can't do that, because that doesn't work with a fearful dog. What does work is patience and practice and patience and practice and gritting your teeth and telling him that why yes he is wonderful for taking that ($*&(#*&$ stupid jump on the third try after you've already NQ'ed in front of everybody for the fourth straight run and wasted 12 hours of your life and $150 in entry fees.
It can be incredibly frustrating.
But there are moments of glory too, and those are what keep me going. There are those perfect golden runs where everything is in harmony and Pongu is smiling and happy and I don't have to say a word or give a single formal cue and we finish the course in total communion. Moments like that are beautiful with any dog, but you never expect to have them with a fearful dog. To me it's worth everything else to have those moments where Pongu is confident and happy and winning.
In this thread I hope to chronicle our long, slow journey to the ARCHMX -- the highest title offered in World Cynosport Rally. In so doing, I hope to provide some insight to other owners of fearful dogs about what it's like to compete with such a dog. It is possible, if you're patient and willing to listen to your dog. I was told many times never to expect Pongu to set foot in the ring at all, but we do compete and sometimes we do well, and it boosts his confidence more than anything else in the world.
(* -- you might reasonably ask: what about Crookytail? It's true, I have two dogs, and Crooky is not fearful in the slightest. He is a perfectly friendly confident normal dog. He's spectacular with the fosters and endlessly funny and a source of constant joy in our lives.
He's also dumb as a box of rocks and incredibly boring to train. I'll take the brilliant crazy dog over the genial dopey one every time, thanks. Crookytail has been retired from every sport I've ever tried with him after getting his novice titles, because that is as far as my patience goes.)