Not me, of course, but the dog! I found this at Whole Foods, and after being lured in by the picture of Arctic on the front, I was sold by the ingredient list and that it’s made in America. He’s a fan of treats, some more than others, and this most of all. I’ll be cutting the strips into pieces for use when we’re out walking, and see if the desire for the turkey bacon is stronger than his apprehension. The poor guy practically panics when he sees other people. Unless they have a dog. Then they’re okay, or maybe irrelevant is more accurate. The medication is helping to some extent. He seems more at peace, is the best way to describe it. He’s not going into Red Alert mode with every little change in his environment. Desensitization and behavior modification may make the difference now, especially since a lot of people are starting back to work, and are off the streets.
My brother’s family just added a nine-week-old German Shepherd pup to their home. He’s incredibly cute, and looks nothing like Arctic did when we got him. That’s due to size and development more than coat color, despite Toby having traditional coloring and Arctic being white. I looked through the many photos of Arctic I took, starting with when we brought him home at what we thought (because we were told) was eight-weeks-old. I’m even more convinced now that he was instead four. Subtracting four weeks from his alleged birthday puts his nine-week development exactly equal to Toby’s.
When it comes to the girl upstairs, meaning Em, information trickles down very slowly. Sometimes it takes years. I know exactly how Justin felt in “Failure to Engage” each time he was enlightened on a matter Laney failed to tell him about. Em’s answer would likely be the same; she forgot, or didn’t think it was important. Amazing how little importance is assigned to so much of what I consider to be of vital importance! Take fifteen minutes ago, for instance. In the midst of this post, I learned that the woman who rescued Arctic told Em he was severely malnourished at the time, as well as being the runt. She said she was bottle feeding him, and was about to switch him to puppy food. But then we took him home, and it makes me sick that I didn’t know! His next four weeks would have been very different had I known that. Rather than going straight to dry kibble, we would have transitioned. No wonder he acted like he didn’t know what to do with food! No wonder he treated his heart worm pill as if it was gum, then spit it out! I’m amazed he lived through everything he did, although maybe it was best at his young age to wait on the heartgard. Expecting more of him than he was developmentally ready for, along with Pandy’s constant stalking which I was reminded of when looking at photos and videos, then no wonder the poor guy has anxiety issues! Ug!
Arctic will ultimately be the poster boy for overcoming a hard start. Although he’ll have to usurp Indy’s place to do so. A lot of trainers will gasp in horror, or else look grim and shake their heads dismissively at any hopes of redeeming a poor start in a dog. I’ve heard it before, over and over, that by a certain number of weeks if a pup hasn’t met X number of people and X number of dogs then he’s failed at being socialized. The end. I don’t recall the actual numbers, because I blew it off every time I heard it. Indy spent much of his first seven months in a dog run, and he didn’t allow that to ruin him utterly. He became my service dog, instead. He was amazing. How sad if I failed to put in the work because he wasn’t “properly socialized” in the beginning. He had the right temperament for the job. That plus training, equals success. Arctic does not have the temperament for it, but as I no longer require a service dog, it’s irrelevant. Instead, I’m his emotional support person. He’s becoming braver though, and that’s beautiful to see. With effort on both our parts, I’m confident he will overcome and live up to his potential.