Friday, I did an evaluation of a 14 week old Malipoo named Linus. He was just a darling little puppy, and when I walked in the front door, initally, all I saw peeking out of his owners arms were two little black eyes and a little black nose, through a little white mop of fur. His owner set him down to investigate me, and all he did was back up between her legs and offer a little puppy growl at me. If first impressions matter, I really failed at my initial attempt with this little guy! I crouched down to make him feel a little more comfortable with me, but he still growled and backed up even further. His owner started to pet him and soothe him telling him that I was okay and he was safe. Because I didn't want her to reinforce the wrong thing, I asked her to just leave him alone, and I turned my back to him. He stopped growling, and in a matter of seconds, he looked relaxed and curious. Once he reached that point, I extended my hand behind my back just a bit, and he immediately came right over to sniff my outstretched hand, and then moved in closer to sniff my shoes and legs. I was able to scratch him under his chin and moved around to the top of his head, all with my back to him. His owner was amazed at how quickly he came over to investigate once my back was turned. My approach to this little guy meant everything to him. It enabled him to either feel backed into a corner or allow him to be curious, to think that new humans are scary...or safe.
It's so easy to get in a hurry through life...expecting others to adjust to us, or rushing a first meeting so that we can just get on with other things. Dogs like Linus make me intentionally slow down, adjust my approach, and put the focus on the comfort of others, rather than my own. I guess that's not such a bad thing for me to experience now and again...
No comments:
Post a Comment