Post by megan on May 30, 2013 13:17:02 GMT -5
Okay so Roxy can be on the special side... shy, fearful, anxious, nervous, whatever you want to call it.
Sometimes on walks or in the yard, if something has changed, she will approach it cautiously. Like, if I put a trash can in the yard where it wasn't before, she might bark at it from afar and approach slowly, weight on her back legs, etc., until she realizes it's not a threat. But she recovers incredibly easily, the second she's done her sniffing or she's recognized the object, she moves on.
Well, we took two hikes in the same area the last few weeks. The first time, there was a stick in the water sticking up a little, and she went right in to check it out. Once she got super close, she slowed down to sniff and make sure it was safe. Nothing super unusual. Once she realized it was a stick, she tried to get it out of the water but then gave up when the task required her to put her face under water. Princess Roxy doesn't put her face under water....
But then a week later we went back and there was this glass bottle in the water that wasn't there the week before and she was being a total spaz about it. I always encourage her to explore things that are "scary" when I know nothing actually scary is going to happen, and I always keep high value treats on hand also, just in case.
Now, what's most interesting to me about this video is that Roxy is purposely avoiding the mouth of the bottle. Now, we call it the "mouth," but to a dog, it's just one end vs. the other end. If I'm holding a bottle at home, she could care less which end of it she gets to sniff and likely lick. And I know she is definitely nervous about sniffing the bottle, but she's also very curious and wants to check it out. But why was it necessary for her to dance around the bottle and specifically avoid the mouth of the bottle as it moves back and forth in the water....why was she so intent on only sniffing the bottom of it...? Any ideas? Or is she just special?
Sometimes on walks or in the yard, if something has changed, she will approach it cautiously. Like, if I put a trash can in the yard where it wasn't before, she might bark at it from afar and approach slowly, weight on her back legs, etc., until she realizes it's not a threat. But she recovers incredibly easily, the second she's done her sniffing or she's recognized the object, she moves on.
Well, we took two hikes in the same area the last few weeks. The first time, there was a stick in the water sticking up a little, and she went right in to check it out. Once she got super close, she slowed down to sniff and make sure it was safe. Nothing super unusual. Once she realized it was a stick, she tried to get it out of the water but then gave up when the task required her to put her face under water. Princess Roxy doesn't put her face under water....
But then a week later we went back and there was this glass bottle in the water that wasn't there the week before and she was being a total spaz about it. I always encourage her to explore things that are "scary" when I know nothing actually scary is going to happen, and I always keep high value treats on hand also, just in case.
Now, what's most interesting to me about this video is that Roxy is purposely avoiding the mouth of the bottle. Now, we call it the "mouth," but to a dog, it's just one end vs. the other end. If I'm holding a bottle at home, she could care less which end of it she gets to sniff and likely lick. And I know she is definitely nervous about sniffing the bottle, but she's also very curious and wants to check it out. But why was it necessary for her to dance around the bottle and specifically avoid the mouth of the bottle as it moves back and forth in the water....why was she so intent on only sniffing the bottom of it...? Any ideas? Or is she just special?
I look forward to learning much here