Bosco update and Mother's Day question

[Patti and Bosco]

Bosco has been doing much better since we found a good trainer to come to our house. We have a long way to go but he now will lay down and take treats from us rather than bark and lunge when people are near during our walks. Of course we don't let Bosco get too close.

The second time the trainer came over to the house Bosco was doing very well and let him and an intern trainer into the house after meeting them outside. Unfortunately, the trainer made the big mistake of swinging his backpack from behind him and plopped it on the floor. This scared Bosco and he started barking at them. They spent the rest of the time on the barstools at the far side of the living room while we did our training. Bosco did relax with them there but they never tried to get closer. The trainer felt terrible about his mistake. Of course not terrible enough to give us a credit :).

So my question is what should I do for Mother's Day? I would have liked to have my daughter, her boyfriend and their two dogs over for Mother's Day but I don't know how Bosco will react. He met them a couple of months ago at their house and the dogs ran around in their backyard but we haven't seen them since. I don't know whether to make other plans outside the house or not.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'm so happy to hear that Bosco is making progress.  I know at this stage of Murphy's training I would not have been comfortable having two people and dogs in our home and have him "loose".  I would have gated him in another room at that point.  But if you think that you want to give it a try I would suggest that when they first arrive (before they come into the house) I would take a little walk together...all the humans and dogs together.  I really think that's the most natural way for a dog to get comfortable and accept new dogs and people.  One recommendation I would make is not to leash him with the other dogs having freedom in his home.  I believe a fear reactive dog feels very trapped in this situation and it just makes the behaviors worse.  Good luck and Happy Mothers Day.  Please let us know how it goes.

[Patti and Bosco]

Thanks Jane. I think I'm going to try to make other plans. I hate doing that since I really love just having my family at my house for the day but I don't want a setback for Bosco. I am a little down about not getting what I want but I guess I should at least try to be a grown-up about it LOL.

I do have our son flying in on Wednesday night on his way to Vietnam. He won't arrive at our house until 9pm and then leave first thing in the morning. He has never met Bosco. He does have an extremely calm energy about him. Perhaps I should try the going for a walk idea with him. Since he is arriving around our bedtime we won't have too much time to worry about.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am so glad that he is making progress and can't wait to hear how he does with your son.

[Patti and Bosco]

Well the first meeting with our son didn't go well. Richard didn't want to have Bosco outside since we couldn't use our front door due to it being refinished. David came in the house and Richard let Bosco out of the bedroom. When Bosco saw David he just ran and I couldn't catch him and he bit David on the leg. It wasn't bad enough to break the skin fortunately. Bosco did calm down enough to eat cheese cubes that David tossed and then we lured him into the bedroom. Bosco is resting in the bedroom now. I feel horrible that we put both of them in a bad situation. I could just cry. David leaves first thing in the morning for a two week trip and will be back in a couple of weeks.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I am so sorry to hear this.

[Patti and Bosco]

I was talking with my husband and son and they said Bosco actually calmed down before he bit David which is why I wasn't ready for it and couldn't catch him.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Patti, I am just reading this now and I'm so sorry it did not go well with your son. Our Vern is very protective of our home, like Bosco, and I am sure a strange man walking into the home would scare him, too. I think your trainer should be able to tell you how to handle this next time so the results are better and hindsight is always 20/20. You have a couple of weeks to come up with a game plan, and I bet next time, things go better.

[Patti and Bosco]

I sure hope so.  I just feel crappy and hopeless about it right now. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Oh Patti, I'm so sorry and I really do understand how you must be feeling.  I've been away, and I'm just now seeing this.  I really think Bosco just wasn't ready for this type of introduction to what he would consider a "strange man" in his home.  If you could have had them meet outside first and then walk for a little bit with your son reentering the house first I think it would have sent a completely different message.  You really shouldn't feel bad...each of these experiences teaches us something.  I can't begin to tell you how often we did things with Murph that I know just made his anxiety worse....but each time we learned and got better at understanding what he needed.  While you're working on his rehabilitation there is absolutely nothing wrong with using a soft muzzle.  That will give you the added confidence to manage and teach Bosco without fearing that he will bite.  Please continue to keep us posted.  I'm wondering what your Behaviorist had to say about this incident. 

[Patti and Bosco]

Even meeting outside would have been hard since no one can get too close to Bosco outside.  Also, the trainer came over a couple of weeks ago and actually made it into the house after meeting outside and tossing food.  He made it to the end of the hallway and Bosco started barking and lunging. 

 

The trainer feels really bad that we went through this and is having us slow down.  He has been on a trip for a couple of weeks so we haven't had much time with him.

 

I will look into the soft muzzle.  We are still feeling very badly about what happened and not very encouraged about the future.  I hope it all works out for us.