Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Doggie Therapist

Not only am I a canine good citizen and a service dog extraordinaire, but I'm also a miracle working doggie therapist. That's right, you give me an emotionally withdrawn and timorous pup and I'll work to bring out his/her playful nature.

A few months ago I met Savannah while taking my human for a walk. She's a rescue dog and a mutt. She's apparently known several humans and spent a fair bit of time wandering in the desert. Now she has a permanent home with a very nice human lady and her husband.

With her tumultuous upbringing Savannah lacked many social skills; both with humans and dogs. At our first encounter she hid behind her human and wouldn't even let me sniff her butt. Can you believe it! The humans chatted and I tried everything to get Savannah to come greet me. I bowed, I laid down, I offered her my butt for sniffing, I even let her human pet me so she could see that I was a nice dog. Still nothing more than a quick glance behind returning to the safety of the back her human's legs.

On another visit Savannah and her human came down to my humans home so we could play. Again she did little more than hide from me. She'd venture out to sniff around the house but as soon as I got up to initiate play, she'd jump and run back to her human. I tried enticing her with my favorite rope toy and was snubbed rather quickly. Thankfully I am very stubborn and don't give up easily.

On another occasion my human and I went to Savannahs home. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. I love exploring new places and once that leash was off so was I. I even helped myself to Savannahs food before anyone could stop me. Watching me dart around the house was more than Savannah could handle and it wasn't long before she was giving chase. The chasing quickly lead in to wrestling and finally in to playing. I had done it. I had finally drawn out her inner dog and I loved it. I think she was pretty happy to but more importantly I had made another friend!

Since then we've played a few times, mostly at my humans house which is far more dog proof than most houses. Granted we do tend to get carried away and ok so maybe the kitchen table isn't always where the human left it when we are finished but it's worth it.

© Working-K9 2007     permalink