- Thread starter
- #51
Ah man, we haven't even tried cats yet....
A really nice update today... This morning we went on a walk and Hermes only spooked on 3 trashcans on the whole walk! He's improved quite a bit since trash night last week! We'll see how he holds up tomorrow when there's twice as many cans out.
We did find a New Very Scary - the caution tape strung 1' off the ground at the end of a freshly redone driveway. The caution tape near the front loader is, of course, Not Scary, but the caution tape on this driveway is Very Scary. And it's not the redone driveway part - he's happy to walk by the caution tape on either side of it. But approaching it is spooky.
His triggers continue to baffle me of course. He's now so totally used to the front loader and back hoe that he'll climb on their treads and into the buckets. But a parked pickup truck is The Worst Thing Ever To Ever Exist Ever(tm). He'll walk past trashcans for the most part now but a cardboard box on the tree lawn is Way More Scary Than Those Giant Rolling Green Boxes Please Help.
Yesterday G came home from his business trip as well and Hermes was very scared of him again. Hermes reacts very strongly to him despite having been fed meals by and gone on walks with him. We may have figured out a better way of managing it though. We think he might be triggering on being looked at too intently. So I asked G to start interacting with him without looking him in the face and it's going very well! Hermes is letting himself be pet and even walking right up to G and sniffing his face.
We also met a neighbor today, a small older lady who Hermes has also dubbed Very Scary. He took a treat from her and did tricks in front of her but not much else. Still, all around a positive interaction.
A really nice update today... This morning we went on a walk and Hermes only spooked on 3 trashcans on the whole walk! He's improved quite a bit since trash night last week! We'll see how he holds up tomorrow when there's twice as many cans out.
We did find a New Very Scary - the caution tape strung 1' off the ground at the end of a freshly redone driveway. The caution tape near the front loader is, of course, Not Scary, but the caution tape on this driveway is Very Scary. And it's not the redone driveway part - he's happy to walk by the caution tape on either side of it. But approaching it is spooky.
His triggers continue to baffle me of course. He's now so totally used to the front loader and back hoe that he'll climb on their treads and into the buckets. But a parked pickup truck is The Worst Thing Ever To Ever Exist Ever(tm). He'll walk past trashcans for the most part now but a cardboard box on the tree lawn is Way More Scary Than Those Giant Rolling Green Boxes Please Help.
Yesterday G came home from his business trip as well and Hermes was very scared of him again. Hermes reacts very strongly to him despite having been fed meals by and gone on walks with him. We may have figured out a better way of managing it though. We think he might be triggering on being looked at too intently. So I asked G to start interacting with him without looking him in the face and it's going very well! Hermes is letting himself be pet and even walking right up to G and sniffing his face.
We also met a neighbor today, a small older lady who Hermes has also dubbed Very Scary. He took a treat from her and did tricks in front of her but not much else. Still, all around a positive interaction.