So Chingu amazes me and he really just rocks my socks off. Sometimes being unemployed is no good and some might say I have an unhealthy obsession with my dog and its true I do often prefer to be with Chingu than people. I will also admit that if I'm gone somewhere for more than a few hours I actually start to miss the little guy. But my time with him is paying off and I think its been a blessing to not have to work right now. Of course I couldn't have done this without my parents' help and I do have to give a big thanks to Chris and mom. Chris has of course been super about being willing to work with Chingu despite the bite and mom has been awesome for coming to training because each week is tougher and I just really need to hold someone's hand.
So tonight Chingu encountered not one, not two, not three, but 4 dogs! Of course they weren't all at once but rather one by one and he did amazing. He did try briefly to eat the weenie dog but two he didn't even snap/bite at and the other two he was corrected and then sat nicely by them. Those poor other dogs of course didn't really want to sit my Chingu but it was cool.
In addition not only did he encounter other dogs but he was handled by a completely new person tonight and he didn't try to bite her once! She walked him, petted him, and even touched his tail and he accepted it all. Was it his most favorite thing ever? No but he did it and he didn't give me his, "mom get me out of here eyes." So yay for Chingu!!!
So I was like this training session is great and the trainer was like OK thats all the dogs I have and I'm thinking sweet we're finally getting off easy tonight but alas that was not the case. The last training session Chingu was fried just dealing with one dog but he dealt with those 4 dogs and he still had some spunk in him so Trainer Gina decided we could do some more with him. This is when the scary stuff really started to happen. What did she do? She PICKED HIM UP. That is huge for Chingu. She manhandled him a lot before that and he accepted it but then she started by just picking up his back legs and he of course tried to bite. He threw a tantrum and she just held firm, had his leash so he was corrected, and kept with it. At first I could tell he was so scared and it just killed me but he accepted and did ok. Then she tried picking up his front legs which he just did not like at all but the same thing as the back legs. Then the moment of truth came and she picked him up! He did try to bite and he wasn't a fan but he did it. She then sat on a chair with him in her lap. That was so weird to see.
I know that was really scary for him and Gina explained about when putting him down its like being up on a roof and you can't see the ladder so someone is guiding your leg onto that step and you're trusting in them to correctly place your food on that ladder. Well Chingu of course has trust issues and its just terrifying for him but he did it and he was picked up a couple of times and each time he got a little better. Thats the thing about Chingu. He has to try something new, he pitches a fit, learns he wont die from it, and then he's better about it.
Gina said he really is trying and he is. He has come so far and he amazes me everyday. His resilience and ability to learn and start to trust in people again just impresses me so much and I'm just the proudest dog mom.
Now for the hard part. I have to start getting in there and pushing Chingu's buttons and I know the time is coming where he's going to try and bite me. Chingu has nipped me in the past but no bites, but I'm going to have to work on picking him up. I can tell Chingu is starting to have pain in his hips and I know the day is coming when a situation will arise and he'll need to be carried. Working with him on this is probably going to mean one day we'll pass his comfort zone and he'll attempt a bite (I would never attempt this kind of training with him without a muzzle). I've always been worried this will happen and it will change our relationship and how I feel about him. I guess its hard to not take personally even though I know if he bites its not really personal. So this week the hard work really begins but it needs to be done. I might not be picking him up this week but I need to be working towards thats.
Anyways tomorrow night is our first group class. We wont be participating, he'll just be watching for awhile but its a start and its just great we've made it this far. When we started this journey and Gina talked about group classes and picking him up one day I thought it would never happen. I honestly thought Chingu would never be allowed or able to handle a group class and here we are ready to be in the same room with all these other dogs in training. He is super dog.
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