Working Through Anxiety -- October 1, 2010

I fully recognize that Bing has serious anxiety issues. Most dog owners wouldn’t have the time or inclination to work with a dog like him. I often wonder if Bing knew what he was doing as he followed me to the car (no leash) on the day I picked him up from the breeder and brought him home. It wasn’t him I was going to take home—it was ‘green boy’ I wanted, not ‘red boy’. It was as if he knew I’d be able to help him in the future.

I make Bing look good. The quantity and breadth of training we’ve done has allowed him to function well at home and marginally elsewhere. It doesn’t take much for him to come unglued. Not long ago, I was away and needed to have Kim, one of my instructors, let the dogs out. Kim came into the house, greeted the dogs, took them into the yard, played a bit, and then went to take them to the pole barn to play, and when Bing got in there, he panicked. He ran from gate to gate, looking to get out. When Kim opened a gate, he shot like a bullet back to the garage, and plastered himself against the door to the yard. Once back in the yard, he calmed down. Kim was stunned at his behavior; she’d seem him a thousand times and never expected this.

Knowing this, the events of this past Sunday are truly remarkable. It’s a testament to his trust in me and to the training we’ve done together that he was able to accomplish the scores he did at a rally trial I held here. We had two trials in one day, and he ran all 3 levels twice in a day. His scores, out of a possible 210, were 210, 209, 208, 207, 205 and 205. He got two QQQs toward the highest title a dog can earn, the ARCHMX. (His sister, Acacia, didn’t do so badly, either, with two 210s in the veterans class.)


We are still searching for a better solution to his anxiety issues. His car behavior is still closer to appalling than civil, and he still does not like people touching him. It’s as if he’s insulted by the idea that someone might want to pet him. We are researching getting sheep to give him meaningful work to do; check back in spring for more news on that!


Ali

Comments about this blog, email pete@e-production.net, (your comments may be posted).

Return to the Main Blog Page.

Send email to Ali Brown

Bing Blog #50