my darling worm has had some aggression issues with her roommates (the other dogs) lately and it's come to a point where something has to be done to curb this behavior. she's very sweet, but has a lot of pent-up energy i don't know how to deal with as a first time primary dog owner (of an athletic-build dog at that), so i'm consulting with a professional trainer.
in addition to the training course, i'm going to take her on 30-minute walks twice a day and spend more 1:1 time with her, slowly working up to being able to do a lot more things with her as she gains confidence and control. i thought i'd log our sessions somewhere i'm excited to update, so i put it here. want everyone to love my wormy girl as much as i do!
25/07/08 (M)
it's been even longer now! i was planning to write an entry at the end of worm's training course but the time got away from me. here is an update:
worm graduated! she completed ten sessions of socialization and is a certified good gorl ^__^ i think having lots of mental and physical exercise did her well. the last few sessions were all agility-type ones, and she seemed to have a lot of fun! i asked the trainer if he could connect me with the person who made his obstacles.
worm had one (1) fighting incident with her brother big head, but because he's bigger than her, there were no tears or wounds, thank god. she has been nice to the smaller boys, which is good.
we still go on walks! she still gets provoked by cats (doesn't bark but wants to chase them) but can be redirected easily. she's still not too fond of other dogs but i think that's just part of her personality. she and whiskey don't really care about each other anymore. it was a passing crush...!
in the afternoons, i bring worm up to my room and she takes a nap for a few hours on the bed while i work. she's quicker to settle in at night when she has more than one walk in a day, but i can't always do that...
i've started getting up earlier in the morning, and she leaps on me excitedly the moment i so much as stir, licking my hand and asking for pets. she's very cuddly and cute when she wakes up, and a lot happier i think now that it's me who brings her out first thing (and not anyone else in the house, which was the case when i would sleep until noon).
all in all, she is just as cute and lovable as before, with more manageable behavior. i would like to try and challenge her by bringing her to new places, so she can gain new experiences and feel even more confident, but all in good time.
this page will go in my archives, bc i don't plan to update it anymore, but rest assured worm and i will continue building on our relationship and doing fun stuff together! i'm glad we did this training thing!
24/05/10 (F)
whoa, it's been a while! i thought i would update this after a few months.
worm and i recently had our seventh session with the trainer. these days we're doing more jumps and just helping her be more confident by having her try different obstacles – mostly because she's been doing well on the social front!
worm is able to hang out with chubbo with no bitey incidents now, yay. they don't really interact, and we still keep an eye on them, but that's fine. she's mostly still separated from the prince, but that's worked out okay too.
she lunges after cats much less often and is nonchalant when we pass other dogs as long as i'm calm and between them, even if the other dog is reactive.
i mentioned a friendly dog on my 2/23 entry... turns out he's the dog of someone in the neighborhood my dad is friends with! the dog, who i'm choosing to call whiskey, seems really interested in worm on some days, but shy on others. he barks when he's excited, but worm gets freaked out by that.
they've only met in person once, but i try and pass whiskey's house whenever we go on our walks so they can get used to each other... i hope they can gradually adjust to each other and find a middle ground of friendly behavior.
24/03/08 (F)
i had a really hectic past few days, so not many updates over the last week... BUT yesterday worm and i did our second session with the trainer and i'm happy to report she did very well!
he brought his dog who is a very calm, stoic black dog. we tried walking back and forth, side by side, at a distance with the dogs on the outer ends, and slowly closed the distance as he observed worm being less on guard around his dog. then he let worm sniff his dog from behind, and we let them separate again. lots of baby steps! i'm just really happy she warmed up enough to his dog such that she was able to walk ALONGSIDE her by the end of the session!
worm's been really cute and sweet lately, and i'm very proud of how she's been behaving. i think she feels more loved these days, which makes me a little sad for how she must have felt before when she was lashing out a lot, but very happy now that she is happy. it's very easy to love her and i'm glad i didn't let it go on for too long before i changed how we live our day to day. it's been good for us to bond on walks, and i think we both feel that. i hope to keep spending lots of time with her and finding new things for us to do.
24/02/27 (T)
today was the first day of worm's socialization training! we met up with the trainer at a private park in the middle of the city. he'd helped my sister train her dog as well and the first thing he said to me was "my god you look like your sister" LOL. worm was nervous on the ride over, but pretty quickly took to exploring the park!
this first session was just to get her used to the park and have the trainer assess her socialization needs. i'm happy to say worm was comfortable in the park and - with the aid of treats - was able to get fairly close to the trainer. he explained to me a lot of the deliberate things he was doing to help her get used to him. slow movements, not really facing her, letting her make the decisions to come get the treat or not... it sounds very simple, but it's easy to forget when you really want to make a dog comfortable in a new situation, so i appreciated him pointing those things out.
he also brought his dog and had them meet through the fence. worm seemed curious about the trainer's dog and then backed off after a few moments of sniffing. i probably would have been dismayed by this if it had happened in the village, taking it as a sign that she really doesn't like other dogs, but this was good according to the trainer! it was less about how she responded and more about giving her space to interact with something she's curious about on her own time. i was glad to hear it. something for me to remember!
worm was happy and more energized on the way back, and i felt good about our session too! but she still gets nauseous in the car so she threw up all the chicken treats the trainer gave her :(... but she was ok after that. next week we're going to work on leash training, and she'll meet the trainer's dog without the fence between them. in the meantime, more walks!
24/02/24 (S)
another late night, so it was hot out again today. thankfully i prepared in advanced and had someone else walk her for 15 minutes this morning so i could just take the next 15 as soon as i got up. pretty okay walk, and i think she's getting used to it!
but of course there were some surprises. we went to a nearby field and both got shocked when a snake or lizard thing rustled in the leaves... also we went and saw that dog behind the gate from thursday again, but worm growled at her :( i hope she'll be okay around the trainer's dog next week. my fear is that they will refuse to train her if she's too aggro or if she hurts their dog, which is understandable, but i'm not sure what to do otherwise. i need the help of someone else!
24/02/23 (F)
i slept late last night, so i was very tired this morning and couldn't bring worm out before the sun was too high in the sky... by the time we went out it was WAY too hot. we ended up walking only 10 minutes because i didn't want her to burn her feet!
our second walk was after dark already, so it was obv much cooler. i notice worm is just fine with most people and vehicles, but it's dogs and cats that freak her out. no cat encounters today, but there was a friendly dog behind the gate of one house. i tentatively let her get close – wasn't afraid she'd bite it through the gate, but was looking out for her comfort – and she was close to approaching UNTIL another dog barreled out of the house barking and changed the vibes RIP... we ended up walking away.
i'd like her to meet more calm, friendly dogs around the neighborhood so i know how she'll react to them. the trainer is going to bring their very calm dog to our first session next week, and i want to know she won't suddenly attack just because they're not the ones being aggressive!
sidenote: we are both not used to the frequency of these walks LOL... i know she has the energy for it but she's just not used to it yet—she keeps looking at me like "ANOTHER WALK???" babygirl i know. most of our time on the walk is just plain vanilla walking but every now and then we'll run a bit which sure is something for me (girl who does not like to run) but i'm sure it will get easier.
24/02/22 (T)
got up at eight to bring worm on her morning walk. i avoid walking around the neighborhood for a multitude of reasons but after being out and about with worm this morning i realized it wasn't so bad! it was hot out but not need-a-shower hot. worm and i went to the park, which was empty, so i went and sat on the swings for a bit.
i want her to be friendlier with other dogs so when we saw this dog behind a fence i let her approach. worm was just quiet and sniffing, but might have been emitting bad vibes even through the gate because the other dog skedaddled lmao... it's ok worm we'll work up to being more social!
on our afternoon walk, we ran into the other dogs of the house also being walked. i will call them chubbo, big head, and the prince. i tried getting her close to them but she lunged at the prince, who she bit just last week ;_; i don't know what her problem is with him... she also has to be held back from chasing cats, but at least that i know will be handled in the training course we're going to. i hope she gets along with the prince soon. i'm not sure how to make that happen...
24/02/21 (W)
our flight arrived after the dogs' morning walk, so they'd already been walked by the time i got home. i brought worm up to my room to take a nap with her. sometimes she gets bored in my room, whines, and wants to go back downstairs, but today there were no problems. i didn't end up napping myself but it was just nice to lie there with her :) i also got a massage in the afternoon and she stayed with me in the room and napped some more LOL. i'm happy she seems to like just being in the same room.
we went on her afternoon walk around the neighborhood, which the trainer suggested should be about 30 minutes with some running and jumping involved. i have no idea how to get her to jump but did my best to run with her sometimes... i am Extremely not a runner but we had a good time! she spotted the house about 25 minutes in so the walk ended early, but tbf she usually only walks for 15.
worm gets nervous around unfamiliar dogs so i put myself between her and them whenever we'd encounter one. some other dogs barked at her immediately which made her growl, but i think she normally will avoid rather than aggress. she has no problems with people, but is still a little shy.
while walking worm, i thought about some things i want to be able to do with her comfortably, so here's a short list of training goals:
have worm hang out with me in the same room as friends/guests
become sociable with people... i think she can do it!
go with me somewhere outdoors with lots of people
go with me somewhere indoors with lots of people
be able to get off leash without scaring me
make friends with another dog that she doesn't live with
no biting incidents with the dogs she DOES live with
