Bennie may be leaving puppyhood. Maybe.

New happy place

I have a bunch of Bennie photos and I haven't updated for a couple months and Bennie has changed quite a bit OR we've settled into a routine we can live with. I have to admit, I wondered if it would ever happen.

The most concerning was his biting as part of resource guarding. I think my scars will be permanent reminders. Once we established the same "safe" rules we had for all our other dogs, things really settled down. The rule is if they sit on a dog bed with something, it's their's. Bennie isn't as clear on that but as the humans in the equation we're sticking to that. We resolved the tissue thing with hot sauce and he seems to be more into shredding that eating paper now so it's not as much of a concern.

I think he grabs some stuff (shoes) as an invitation to play. He doesn't chew them but runs around. We've started approaching from the side and just patting him then walking away. A lot of times he'll drop what he has and just follow. He often gets treats for that. We can usually take the item after the patting session but try not to so we don't get into a pissing contest about ownership.

gets to sleep on bed

Barking and meeting other dogs - this is a terrier thing. All we can do is manage it through confidence building and desensitization. He's doing a lot better with dogs barking in the distance and I'm doing a lot better with distracting him before proximity becomes a thing. He's met a lot more dogs; once he actually gets close he's not aggressive so that's good. He can even walk with other dogs which is all I expect.

The calming spray seems to be working - I'm just happy humans can't smell it. Bennie looks dashing in his bandanna (at least I think so) and he doesn't mind wearing it. We only give it a couple sprays not the recommended 8!! so the bottle should last us quite awhile.

I've been training "home" for ages even getting to the point of dropping the leash and he heads to the gate to the back yard. Once he goes in, I through some treats for him to snuffle up as reinforcement. Lately he's decided home is next door so it's back to work on that🙄

I tend to think of the puppy stage as being over at 1 year yet don't expect big dogs to mature until they are 2. Bennie was certainly house trained well before 1 year but he's really coming along.