I was really worried about this weekend but so far little man is knocking it out of the park.
The scenario: three days of hockey while staying with my grandparents and their eight month old Maltipoo
1) Pip has been having some human reactivity struggles in very odd ways. He has picked three people out of the hundred or so in his weekly rotation that he consistently barks at and frequently takes a full minute or more to settle if they "surprise" him(enter the room he's in). One of those ppl is my grandmother. I can't find a single thing in common between these three ppl but am working on him being neutral with them.
2) my grandparents little dog is unsocialized pretty much entirely so he is a complete unknown for handling a larger stranger in his house, tho Pippin is really good with little dogs typically.
3) three hockey games a day is a lot of laying down and being quiet time for this young man.
4) our "no jumping on ppl" journey is currently at the "no paw on ppl" stage but definitely still includes sticking his tongue up ppl's noses. It is game over if he actually jumps on my grandma as she is made of tin foil and toothpicks and has had more surgeries than I can count
1) Pip got over Grandma pretty much entirely with no work? He barked a few times when she entered the stands yesterday but was a very clear excited bark instead of fear. Idk what any of this is about but I will be glad if it's getting better.
2) puppies are having a blast together, zero problems there
3) Pip is not up to my standards of being down and calm without management but he is well within acceptable limits. He's calm and down but very much looking to earn his next treat constantly. Same stuff I've been working on his whole life, chilling at the rink when there's popcorn to be had is really hard
4) he has sure shoved his tongue up a lot of noses but he hasn't put a paw on anyone so that's a win for me
1) cowered and opened his mouth at a child. In his defense the child was leaping at him from above while he was already surrounded by children. He loves kids but that's a lot.
2) got too stoked with another kid and scared her (for some kids he puts his ears back and does crazy on leash zoomies before settling in for pets). They are best friends now tho
I'm increasingly worried that he's in more pain than we expect/than he lets on. We know from all his surgeries etc that he is fairly stoic for his age but generally honest about pain (doesn't try to hide it when stressed, not anticipatory either). The tightness around his eyes and molars in that picture are pretty constant, tho improved from when he was younger. He is also very guarded about his back/hind end when in bed or on the couch -- will grumble all the way to lip curling. Toe touching is fine, other touching is fine. His low back occasionally feels warm but otherwise palpates normally and is massaged weekly. He will occasionally have skin twitches over his low back in other contexts but accepts rowdy petting any time. Idk. We need to start him on a joint supplement but I'm nervous bc he's so young and there's not a lot of good options for him.
