Zeke attended his second session of Puppy Kindergarten at Woofs! tonight. He still had some trouble with the socialization/play time. I discussed the situation with one of the trainers, and we agree that he has guarding issues. This is probably a result from a few things: first, he has spent the bulk of his life at WARL with his litter mates and probably didn’t receive enough one-on-one socialization with both people and other dogs outside his siblings; second, Daisy has been bossing him around a bit and snatching toys from him.
To conquer the guarding/reactive problem, we will be working on exchanges–when I allow Zeke to play with something low stakes like a chew toy, and then offer him something better like liver treats. I will also need my roommates and friends to help with this. He needs to learn “give” and “take,” and “leave it” and “stay.” He also needs more supervised socialization time with non-aggressive dogs. Finally, he and Daisy will be receiving more separate training, play time and walks to improve Zeke’s confidence and reduce the opportunities for guarding.
Basically, Zeke needs a job. Right now he’s trying to establish his place in our pack by taking on the guardian role. Since Daisy and some of the other puppies are a bit confrontational, he may assume that everyone is. He is trying to protect Mom first, other people second and objects third. We’ll have to find new, exciting and challenging tasks to keep Zeke busy. He needs to feel valued, productive and accepted in his role in the pack. Daisy is also adjusting her her new role in the pack.
Zeke will also be taking his first road trip with big sister Daisy when we go to Indiana next week. This short break will allow Mom to spend more time training both dogs away from the distractions of home in a concentrated period of time. We will work on crate training, potty training and calm behavior. Indiana will be the 7th state that Zeke will visit, including the states that we pass through on the drive.
