Note: This is a guest post by John, the man behind the scenes. He took Lucas on this group walk because we both agreed that he’d be much calmer than I would be. 🙂 And, I must admit, I cried when John told me this whole story and showed me the accompanying pictures. My dogs never, ever cease to amaze, impress, and inspire me!
A little background for those of you aren’t familiar with Lucas, our fearful dog. We’ve had him for four years now, and he’s never been great with new dogs. Double that for big dogs (he’s 80 lbs, himself). Triple that for when he’s on his leash. It’s all fear-based. It’s something we’ve, unfortunately, come to expect from him time to time. As such, we’ve learned to manage it. We avoid situations where we know he’s just not going to enjoy himself.
Right before we moved from DC toIndiana, Lucas made some remarkable strides. He was a social butterfly on our daily walks, and he loved going to doggy day care. Sadly, when we moved, we began to see fewer and fewer dogs, and Lucas reverted to his old ways of preventing dogs from getting close to him. We were fortunate enough to take Cooper to a wonderful trainer, Leslie, here in town who also has a weekend dog-walking club. They meet on the edge of the Indiana University campus and walk around downtown Bloomington. She recently invited Maggie and me along and told us we should bring Cooper. After discussing it, we decided this would be a perfect, controlled opportunity to get Lucas around other dogs where he wouldn’t feel threatened, and he would at least know one other person and dog. The trainer and her wonderful dog Mercury, as it turns out, were the stranger and neutral dog when Lucas took (and passed!) his Canine Good Citizen test. So we figured she would be understanding if we wanted to bring Lucas. She was all for it.
Lucas and I got there early with lots and lots of meat. We walked around without other dogs in sight and just enjoyed ourselves. We got to the meeting place and settled on the grass where I just kept feeding Lucas treats when he noticed anything: people walking by, strollers, dogs at a distance.
Slowly, dogs started trickling in one by one, until there were nine other dogs there. Lucas was fully aware of them, but he wasn’t crying, staring, or even ignoring me. When we saw Leslie, she walked up to us with Mercury and asked if he could say hello to Lucas. I told her maybe later, that he was doing great and I didn’t want to rush him. Ever the trainer, she told us where we were going and Lucas and I ended up in front. (I think she did that on purpose.)
Right away, I saw one dog that I knew Lucas would be perfectly fine with. She was a pit-mix puppy named Freelove, and Lucas has always gotten along with puppies.
Naturally, I didn’t get the guy’s name, but we chatted and walked together with everyone behind us. Almost immediately, I forgot about all of the other dogs around us and Lucas seemed to as well. We strolled along downtown, making our way to the Farmers’ Market with hundreds of people, including small children and senior citizens in motorized wheelchairs. I readied myself with more treats thinking this would be where Lucas would have an incident. As if on cue, Lucas walked right up to the woman in the wheelchair and licked her arm. This, mind you, is the dog that at one time was terrified of umbrellas, plastic shopping bags, the television, and more. I soon realized that I was the only one worrying.
When we reached an area with a bit more room, I asked Leslie if I could have Lucas sidle up next to Mercury while we walked. She said of course, and Lucas moved right on up to Mercury without breaking stride. ELATION. After that, Lucas and I got a lot braver. I moved Lucas right into the middle of the pack and not once did he seem scared, tense, or anything other than a big yellow dog enjoying himself.
By the end of the day, he walked next to Mercury, sniffed a little dog named Link, made friends with Freelove, walked next to a Shar-pei-Rottie mix, and pranced right by the world’s best Pomeranian.
We walked for almost two hours, and when we got home, Lucas could barely keep his eyes open.
Maggie, of course, was beyond words when she saw the pictures. Lucas proved just how amazing he is, and how amazing all dogs are. None of the dogs knew about Lucas’ troubled past, and within minutes, I don’t think Lucas had much memory of his fears either. This is exactly what Lucas needed, and what I needed, too. Needless to say, we cannot thank Leslie enough and will be back whenever we can.
Finally, as proof, here’s the video of Lucas and his new friend Mercury.
oh how awesome! yay for lucas and yay for his people believing in him!
Fabulous! So glad for Lucas and very well done by John. Letting all the dogs pass by on a distance first, not rushing into meeting Mercury and walking alongside instead of meeting head on with the leash: you set up Lucas to succeed. Kudos!
I’m so proud of him, I can hardly stand it! I’m excited for this Saturday’s walk. All these positive experiences will certainly add up to more confidence all around!
What an amazing story! Go Lucas! I have a fearful dog too. Prior to him getting rescued, his first owners tied him to a tree in someone’s yard. For weeks, no one removed him from the tree. Who knows what approached him. Ever since I have had him, he gets nervous when we see other dogs on leash. These kinds of group meet ups and positive training are so helpful for helping those issues! Thanks for believing in your dog. 🙂
Lucas actually did all of the work. He was confident the entire time, that he actually got me to relax. I couldn’t have been more proud of the big guy!
Way to go Lucas!!
Back when I lived near a dog meetup group, Bella also enjoyed group walks. They were much less stressful than having to meet a lot of dogs and people and try to socially interact with the right away.
I’m so happy for all of you and so PROUD of Lukey. Lots of treats and hugs coming your way this week, big guy. I can’t wait to see you and give you all the kisses you deserve. I’m overjoyed!
This is so great! I have been following Hike-a-Bulls which has a great dog-walking club in SF where they use the walks as socialization, and many of the dogs in the group are working on issues. I was thinking of starting a group here in Chicago…I guess I just have to get my act together.
That is so fantastic, what a great feeling! Well done!
Congratulations on your breakthrough! I know how awesome it is to see those fears conquered and witness your dog just being a normal dog. Great job on all the work you’ve done to get Lucas to this point – he’s one lucky dog!
Thanks for all the kind words, everyone! Sarah, you nailed it with “just being a normal dog.” That totally sums up what I want for him because it’s so difficult going through life afraid of everything. It’s no way to live! These moments of normalcy are incredible! Thanks for putting it so perfectly!
This is such great news. Congrats for finding a venue for Lucas to work on things. Our Lilly, who has many of the same issues, often does really well in group situations … *if* the other dogs don’t pay attention to her. Though, no a recent hike with blogger friends and pups, she had a total meltdown, threw herself to the ground in fear, and refused to budge. So … we just never know.
Thank you, Roxanne! I’ve been following your work with Lilly closely! This is the first time we’ve gotten brave enough to even attempt something like this, and I think your story is an excellent reminder to stay patient and keep working.
This is amazing! Both Buster and Ty are reactive on leash and reading about Lucas’ success is inspirational.
Great job Lucas!!
Great story. It’s amazing how dogs can ‘take’ whatever emotion we human owners exhibit, if we are anxious and nervous we transfer that energy to the dog. I’m really glad Lucas is learning to love other dogs!
Sorry I took so long to get over here to read this. It was so inspiring.
When we have reactive dogs, we spend so much time managing things for our dogs that we forget the toll it takes on us. Having a positive experience like this is so healing for the person as well as the dog. It gives you hope for the future.
Thank you for sharing this story. I hope Lucas continues to have many more calm walks!
@Amy, Thank you! 🙂 I love reading all the work you’re doing with Buster and Ty. It helps give me lots of ideas to try!
Thank you @Heather and @Rawhide! I’m proud of my guy!
@Pamela, You are so, so right, and I’m so glad you put it that way – it IS healing for us to see him do well, and it does give us hope. It’s so important to keep that in perspective on the days that don’t go as well.
Enjoying and now re-enjoying the older posts on Lucas. He will live on in our hears in infamy! what a sweetie pie. I have a reactive rescue dog too and that’s how I first found you guys. I’m still in DC and bummed I didn’t know of you when you were here!