Rudi’s #3 post
Catch up on Rudi with his first post and #2 post.
Just a reminder, Rudi is up for adoption. He’s looking for an active, fun-loving human or family. Message me if you are interested.
Day 11, April 20
Rudi has been progressing nicely. Lots of good, a little bad. He’s very comfortable in the car now and “loads up” on his own. I had been picking him up and putting him previously. He loves riding in the car with his head out. One bad thing is that he jumped out of the window while parked. My bad of course, the window was just a little too low. I was in a business park and he came right to the door where I was. He’s showing some signs of separation distress, getting a bit too attached to me.
He still shows his belly to me which is a submission posture. He gets all nervous when I am putting on harnesses on the dogs. He acts all squirrelly and wiggly. I ignore this behavior and do not give him attention when he is being submissive. I want him to be more confident. Interesting enough, he is confident around dogs. He has met at least 50 dogs this week at the huge dog park/walking area in Napa. He does very well with all dogs. He also somehow got untied from his tie out. I looked up from inside the motorhome and he was walking back to the rig. Yikes, this has been my biggest fear, losing him. Well it’s not anymore! He is very dialed in to me and my dogs’ schedule. I’m amazed at how this dog adapts very quickly.
I took him to a friend’s house last night, kept him on leash, watched his every move. He still wants to pee on things. I caught him a couple of times and he stopped. Same thing today at a restaurant patio, he started to lift his leg and I said “no” and he stopped. It’s really a “I’m not sure what is going on here, so I’m just going to pee”, aka insecurity. I’m doing all I can to give him the “good dog” when he chooses correctly.
Also he tried to get someone’s food at my friend’s house. Its kind of funny that he will just try to grab food right in front of a human, he doesn’t know that this is a wrong move. He also will do the same with trash. So each day he learns the ways of the human world.
Poor guy is still itchy. It started with his ears covered in tiny ticks, then he got fire ant bites, now he has a sore under one of his front legs. The guy can’t get a break with bugs. Sometimes he just itches and I can’t figure it out.
Rudi on a squirrel hunt
He’s been walking off leash at the dog park. Today we walked with my friend and her dog for about 3 miles, meeting many dogs along the way. He stays right with us now and every jumps right into the car afterwards. He also comes when called, I’ve been practicing this every day and he’s at about 80% right now. I reward heavily. He also follows Mick, which is really helpful.
Day 14, April 23
It’s been 2 weeks since Rudi joined us, wow time has flown. Rudi is really dialed in to the life with me and Mick & Romeo, it’s really remarkable how adaptable this little dog is. He walks off leash in 2 different areas, walks much better on the leash, is comfortable in the car, even seems to like it. He likes people, dogs, kids, ignored a cat walking by today. He is warm and loving with me and other humans. His confidence is growing. He has wanted to sleep next to me and I put the kibosh on this. This is a way dogs can develop separation distress and guarding, when they become so fixated on the human that they can’t be without them. I started seeing this behavior from him, just little inklings of it, so now he sleeps in his own bed. When I leave him in the RV or car, I ignore him for a minute when I return and act like it’s no big deal that I have left or returned. He seems better with my absence.
I saw him move towards a bone that all dogs had been chewing on, Mick was about to get it and I gave Rudi a big “eh eh”, and he stopped. I watch him like a hawk regarding his guarding. I haven’t seen this guarding behavior in the last few days.
Gave Rudi and Romeo flea baths yesterday and washed all bedding. I don’t use chemicals on my dogs, so I use things like Wondercide which is a cedar oil based products. For some reason, Mick never gets fleas.
I am very pleased with the good habits Rudi is forming, his confidence is growing and I see him relaxing into his world now.
Me and my husband are really enjoying reading about your adventures with Rudy. We were at the Orange Grove RV Park the same night as you and saw Rudy leashed out front. I also saw you walking Rudy and your dogs in the off leash area of the park while I walked our two chi mixes. One of our Chis is also a fairly new rescue. He was picked up on the streets of Yuma and had absolutely no manners and much fear of people and other dogs. Many of the issues you are working on with Rudy we have been through with Chico. I spent the first 3 months doing clicker training with him, but needed more help dealing with people and other animals. We spent 12 weeks working with a dog trainer on this and reinforcing and improving his basic manners. He has made great improvement but still has a ways to go. At least now when he sees or hears another dog he looks to us instead of just reacting right away. I would also love to hear about any issues, tips and tricks you have on dealing with a multi-dog household. Thanks
Hey Karen, Wow you are really working hard with Chico, good for you and good for you for finding a dog trainer. So impressive. It’s really good that he looks at you know, you need to keep that focus a bit longer and possibly head in another direction when walking so he feels safe. Good idea on the multi-dog household, it’s a bit of work for sure. Thanks so much for stopping by the blog, I hope to meet up with you guys on the road again.
Rudy seems to be turning into a little charmer! All your hard work is paying off for the lucky family that will eventually adopt him.
Thanks Shelley! Sure appreciate you stopping by the blog and meeting Rudi!
Great work, Juliet! Your “diamond in the ruff” sounds like he is turning into quite the little gem. Really enjoyed your account of how you made it all happen. Hope there is a wonderful home for him with someone that will appreciate all that he has learned and how far he has come.
Thanks Carolyn, sure appreciate the kind words. He is truly a fine dog.
Wow, what a great site! I met you the other day as I was shopping with my daughter. I absolutely loved meeting all 3 of your fur babies! I especially fell in love with Rudy. I will be contacting you in the next couple days to schedule a visit/ play date to see how he we do, I’m thinking Friday.
Learn to listen to your dog. If your dog appears to be uncomfortable meeting another dog, animal or person, don’t insist that he say hello. He’s telling you that he isn’t comfortable for a reason, and you should respect that. Forcing the issue can often result in bigger problems down the line.
hey Andrew, thanks for stopping my. yes, I am always a proponent of letting the dog tell you how it should go. There is no reason that dogs need to meet other dogs on leash or even off leash. Many dogs just don’t like meeting new dogs, and I totally respect that.