Happy Tails Part 2

We’re back with our second installment of our Happy Tails series! If you haven’t read about our first happy tail, you can read about it here!

Meet Einstein

Today, we’re introducing you to Einstein (AKA - Einy). Einy’s mom called us in need of an extended retreat stay for her “special” needs pup. It was an emergency situation as she had flights booked to leave town for her son’s wedding, but her fur baby had really never been left alone without her before. “They are two pea’s in a pod”, she claimed. She also expressed concern that her pooch was aggressive/anxious due to a very traumatic past. She believed that he was uncertain about new people and would be fear aggressive towards other dogs, based on his past experiences. It is our belief that every dog deserves a chance here at 4 Pawz, so we decided to have Einy and his mom come in one afternoon for a meet and greet and to assess his behavior with his mom by his side.

On the first morning that Einy came to us, he came with a muzzle, a harness and a lot of high energy and heavy breathing. SO much so that he pulled his mom over on the lead! We decided to have her let us take the leash, so that the “energy lines” would change hands from her cautious and anticipatory energy to our more calm and welcoming energy. We walked Einy first through the retreat suites and down the line to see how he reacted to the kennel and to the other dogs. He seemed to walk okay and didn’t react at the barking or new smells. We then took him into the retreat grounds on a leash and muzzled. Some of our other guests were hanging outside on their respective outdoor patio’s and were very vocal about his entrance into the yard. Einy didn’t seem to overreact. He did lunge at a few of the outdoor runs, but with his muzzle and lead on, it was hard to tell if he was being aggressive or if he was just being a very bold greeter. We decided to bring out Ginger - our retreat mascot and new guest “tester.” Ginger is a very social dog with a past of her own, who has been through behavioral training. She knows the ropes and usually gives us a good indication of how adjusted a dog is, and where their potential lies. Their meeting started with a lot of tail wagging from Einy, he was very bold and went straight to nose to nose sniffing. He seemed keen to meet Ginger and get some activity going. We didn’t see any tell-tale signs of aggression (no hackles were raised, tail was up not down or straight out, and he was bowing in play stance). Ginger seemed to be more cautious of him than normal, but we decided that she was thrown off by the muzzle and the labored breathing it was causing Einy. We observed them for a while and decided that he should come back the following day and this time without the muzzle.

The next day, Einy arrived with the same high-energy, but no barking. We asked his mom to take off his muzzle right away. He did lunge at us, but with a closed mouth and wagging tail. We put our hands out for him to smell and he licked right away. We offered him treats and he took them. Trevor took the leash again from his mom and we walked back into the yard and let him off the leash right away. Einy ran around full speed and would come back to us to sniff and smell and lick. At this point we brought Ginger out again. He went straight up to her to sniff again and put his paw on her shoulder to instigate play. They ran around a lot and when he got too close to her back side she would jump around at him and nip at his neck. Einy would jump back and move away, seemingly getting the point. Zero signs of agitation or aggression. He would go up to the outside runs where there were dogs out and sniff curiously. No barking, or growling. He seemed genuinely curious. He played for a long time with Ginger and we asked again that he come back for one more trial run. We would do things the exact same way, in a controlled, positive, and supervised setting. When Einy returned the following day, we had Ginger out and we decided to bring one of our VERY social, very good-natured, long-time retreat guests out as well. What ensued was a very high energy, boisterous game of tag. Einy greeted her politely this time, and she was very quick to accept him and decide that his energy was okay and he was level enough to join the pack. They ran around chasing and wrestling each other all over the yard. Einy’s mom was in shock! She genuinely had never seen him play like this before with dogs. Based on his behaviour when they went for walks on the leash (with the muzzle for precaution) she always thought that he was afraid and aggressive towards other dogs. She actually cried tears of joy, because she felt relief that she could leave him here, but also such happiness that he was finally able to be a real dog and enjoy himself in the company of other dogs. He was finally free from his traumatic past and enjoying his life.

Einy came back to us the following week for his overnight boarding stay for about 1.5 weeks. We eased him into things by having him out free playing with Ginger and our other Retreater that he had met, until he seemed confident enough to slowly introduce another and then another. Einy showed no signs of aggression. He was definitely cautious, but listened well to our commands. He seemed to revert back to a puppy. He just wanted to play! By 5 days in to his stay, Einy was out with probably 10+ other dogs. He was accepted into the pack. While he did play a little rough at times, if another dog told him off, he was quick to change direction and back down. If you can believe it, Einy got along best and became fast friends with our other Happy Tail, Buddy! They seemed to take to each other and would wrestle and tumble all over the yard!

Sometimes it is our assumptions, hesitations and lack of confidence in ourselves as owners that trickles down into our furry companions. They can read us, and when we are saying “something is wrong” or “I am afraid” they too will feel these this. That is not to say that taking precautionary measures with a dog that you aren’t sure of is not the best decision, it is! But, it also takes us humans time to work on being confident as their leaders for them to feel confident by our side.

We could not be happier with the progress that Einy and his mom have made and he has come back a few times for daycare so that he can keep up the good work!

Einy and Buddy playing