Progress

I've written a bit about Cooper and his somewhat rocky relationship with others of his species, but I haven't mentioned the progress he has made in that area and the training that went in to helping him be more accepting.


(Cooper being snarky with our first foster, Daisy)


Cooper is not a terror with other dogs, I would describe him as being more innapropriate and over reactive in his interactions with other dogs. He is social but when he feels threatened he will lash out. He has come leaps and bounds from the days when he would bark fearfully at every dog we encountered on a walk. He used to snap and make a lot of noise when a strange dog showed him too much attention. Today our hikes are non-eventful. He doesn't feel the need to get proactive when he sees another dog and in fact has learned that when another dog starts encroaching on his space he should turn and come to me for reinforcement and to allow me to deal with the dog. This has given him a lot of confidence and I can see how much more secure he is when we come accross strange dogs on our walks.
Also, having a virtual revolving door of dogs coming into the house and living with us for periods of time have helped Cooper to understand more about body language, and how to communicate more effectively without resorting to turning himself into a toothy whirlwind.
Puppies have always been a sore spot for Cooper. I believe he finds them to be quite scary as they regularly push blindly past his comfort zone due to their ignorance of his cues to "back off!" This has caused him to get on the offensive when he is faced with a puppy which is not a pretty sight. So when I made the decision to add a puppy to our household it was with the understanding that I would probably have to keep everyone pretty seperate for the first year to limit Cooper's stress and possible outbursts. Then, I got a surprise! While Cooper made it clear he was not happy interacting closely with the new red bundle of joy, 7 showed himself to be quite adept at reading the signs Cooper was giving off and simply decided it was best to have nothing to do with him. This suited Cooper wonderfully. He didn't feel threatened by 7 because 7 understood that Cooper should be avoided at all costs. Everone coexisted beautifully. Cooper was able to slowly get more and more comfortable with having 7 around and slowly began to interact more with the pup. Then, one day...it happened. Cooper made his first playful advances toward 7. Being the proud dog-mom I am, I quickly grabbed the camera to document this momentous occasion. Now, in these videos you'll see that 7 is not entirely comfortable with the situation. This is because days earlier Cooper lost his patience with him and gave him quite the fright. 7 and Cooper had been underneath a chair when all of a sudden Cooper lost it. He began his routine of snarling, snapping and screaming while body slamming poor 7. This sent 7 into a terrified frenzied sprint into my arms "prey screaming" all the way. He was scared so badly by this interaction that he emptied his anal glands all over himself. Now, this is more of a reflection of 7's colossal wimpyness than Cooper's savageness as upon later inspection it was revealed that 7 didn't have a single mark on him...not even spit which is sometimes left behind when a dog restrains his bite. In other words, during this ordeal, not once did Cooper put his teeth on 7. But, it made the normally cautious 7 even more wary of his big brother so when Cooper started to playfully interact with him as shown in the videos, 7 wasn't entirely sure what to think...



Now, since this day when Cooper let his guard down enough to at least hump his new little brother the two have become fast friends. Today, they participate in lengthy sessions of doggy smackdown and bitey face games without incident and Cooper seems to truly enjoy the company of his young brother.
Here is a video of one of their bed wrestling sessions...



This puts a wide smile on my face as I know it shows that Cooper is much more comfortable and happy. When a new foster or boarder comes to the houes, Cooper is secure enough to coexist and only has real reactions now over resources like treats, or toys. He still puts on a "smile" if he feels the dog is invading his space but he very rarely backs it up with a snap and I can break his attention easily. While, he will never be a "dog park" dog I don't care as that is not why I have dogs. He is a fantastic companion and no other dog out there could ever beat Cooper in a snuggling competition!