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Tillie's new friend...

710 views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  davetgabby 
#1 ·
I have been working for MONTHS to make Tillie 'dog tolerant' and it has been going very well!!
One of my good friends got a sweet little pit bull puppy about a month ago and is working really hard on socializing her, so, now that most of Alice's (the pb) shots are done we decided to try getting the girls together!
We 'met' at Pet Smart where we kind of walked the girls up and down different aisles so they got glimpses of each other, then I put Tillie in a sit/stay and my friend walked Alice by, then Tillie and I followed them down a few aisles and only THEN did we try coming close to each other... and they did fantastic!! So we walked around the store a bit more and then decided to go to the bridge for a short walk!

The dogs did fantastic and at one breif point Tillie attempted to invite play by doing the play bow with a growly play bark!!! They were on leash the whole time, even walking side by side for some of the time! They even pooped at the same time! lol :whoo:

Needless to say I am VERY proud of Tillie and looking forward to more walks with our friends!! Thier previous dog was a Rottwieler who was NOT socialized at ALL, so she is working really hard to do everything 'right' with Alice and is off to a pretty good start!
I'm not expecting them to be bff's or anything, but just tolerate each other, which they did fantastically last night! our goal is to get together at least once a week for a walk! :peace:

Just wanted to share. :D
 

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#4 ·
good stuff Tammy. It's all about distance ,slowly getting closer while watching your dogs signs of stress. I would tell your friend though ,that petsmart is not the safest place germ wise for a dog without all its' shots.
 
#5 ·
Tammy, Kodi's BFF is a GSD who, in general, doesn't like small breed dogs. Buddy has been "snarked at" by too many unsocialized small breed dogs, so he prefers to ignore them. But he and Kodi were introduced when Kodi was a small puppy, and that made all the difference. Buddy sort of "raised" Kodi, and their friendship now that they are both adults is rock solid, despite the size difference. So it's not impossible that Tillie and Alice could become fast friends.

The only sad thing for us now is that Buddy, at 10, is really showing his age. He has a lot of arthritis in his back and one elbow. He wants SO much to really play with Kodi, but if he does, he's in so much pain later that day that his owner has to give him pain meds. So we have to limit them to slow walks or just hanging out in the house together. Even that has to be at her house, because he can't keep his balance on the shiny floors at my house. My friend has had to put runners all over her house for him.
 
#7 ·
Walking together is a great way to socialize. I belong to a dog walking group and it's amazing to see the dogs walk together as a big pack. The dogs that don't like other dogs will tolerate walking together and slowly become "friendly" with each other as time passes. We had 12 dogs walking today (always a better turn out on the weekends).
 
#8 ·
yes, what a great idea, a walking group!! Definitly not as intimidating for shy dogs as nose to nose greetings for SURE!!
I was very proud of my sweet girl! and LOVED that the other pup, Alice seemed to love Tillie! My friends mother in law has 2 pomeranians that apparently corner the poor puppy barking at her so she was nervous to introduced what COULD have been ANOTHER 'yappy little dog' to her puppy... but I assured her that as long as I have control of the WAY they met they would be fine! and I was right! yay! :)

Dave ~ yes, I did tell her that Pet Smart could be a dangerous ground for a young puppy, BUT she said she talked with her vet and that her pup has had 2 rounds of shots and that she is erring on the side of socialization over fear of picking something up... hopefully she is okay!!
 
#9 ·
Wow , that's good the vet isn't paranoid, but I wonder if he knows she going to Petsmart. ?
 
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