The Fourth Time was the Charm

As I wrote about in my last post, the process of trying to figure out how to help Kino lately has been painful at best.  Three evaluations, three different opinions - none of which felt good to me.  I was starting to lose hope but fortunately, Melissa (from the rescue group) wasn't ready to give up.  She set us up with yet another evaluation (our fourth) and it was by far the best experience we've had.

Marthina, who runs Our Pack (www.ourpack.org) was able to read him quickly and she knew that his frustration stemmed from his intense desire to play with other dogs and the fact that he couldn't.  Mr. Puppy, as I call him, has some issues that have prevented him from interacting with other dogs;  a) he is reactive on leash and b) he never developed doggie social skills so he's got some pretty bad manners when it comes to other dogs.

With Marthina's guidance, we are now attending her Reactive Dog training course.  Kino is learning how to be in close proximity to other dogs without going berserk (His favorite thing about class are the hundreds of treats he gets for being good).  The wonderful thing about this class for me is that every dog there has the same issue, so no one looks at you like you are the problem when your dog has an outburst.

Marthina also found a dog for Kino to play with, which was no small feat.  The right playmate for Kino has to be a dog that is extremely balanced, strong enough to put him in his place and correct his bad manners and yet also easy going enough that his social awkwardness won't cause a big tiff.  Lacy, who is a pit bull, is that perfect playmate for Kino.

His greetings are so bad, I can't help but cringe just a bit each time he enters the yard, but Lacy lets him know how inappropriate some of his behaviors are and then she encourages him to play.  Eventually, they do a little bit of playing and then Kino usually needs to be corrected some more but he doesn't seem to mind.  Since Lacy keeps going back over to him to encourage him to play, his social ineptitude doesn't seem to be a problem for her.  Marthina says dogs can be the best teachers for other dogs, so right now, Lacy is Kino's mentor and coach.

We've had three play-dates a week with Lacy for the last two weeks and have attended two reactive dog classes so far, and the change in Kino has been amazing.  His frustration level is WAY down from where it was.  He is a calmer, happier dog in so many ways.  The escalations of late are becoming a distant memory, as he is no longer growling at me or redirecting on me when we are out for a walk.  All of his sweet, lovable traits are coming out more often.

I am so grateful that we finally found someone who could "see" Kino and understand what he needed. He still has a ways to go to learn appropriate dog behavior, but with Lacy's guidance, he is sure to continue making progress.  And each time I express my gratitude to Lacy for how she is helping Kino, I am reminded that it was very likely divinely orchestrated that the dog who is helping Kino is a pit bull.