We went back to class this week. He has made a small amount of progress. We brought my other Yorkie, Sadie with us since the class has gotten so small. Her being there did seem to help. It is very obvious to everyone involved that he was very traumatized by the original experience. I asked the teachers in the class if they thought that somehow I was transmitting fear to him. They said "no way" and that I'm behaving normally with him.
He is slightly cautious about the room but very fearful if there are other dogs in the room. Tuesday he did more and I was able to loose lead walk him around the room as long as he didn't go near any other dog. He did some behaviors (sit, down, and touch) as well. I was very concious of my feelings and I can honestly say that I am not feeling stress or acting differently in class.
We have a break now until the end of January before the next session begins. I don't want to wait that long to get him back there and continue. Our teacher wants me to bring him in a few times over the break. She's going to bring her (very well trained) dog and let them meet in the front part where the offices are. After they are used to each other we will move them into the main room. After that we may try more dogs and work towards desensitizing him about other dogs.
I hope that eventually he can get back to where he was before this happened. We'll keep trying and see what happens.
Elle - yes my stepson has a lab mix and the two of them are living with us right now. Beemer does trust her and actually adores her. She hasn't had any formal training and I'm not sure what would happen if we threw her in a class setting. I'm encouraging my stepson to take her to class - she's a great dog. We did take Beemer, Sadie, and the lab (Marley) to the school just to let them hang out and have some playtime in the classroom. That went fine. It's one day at a time. I really wish you could see what is happening. It's so difficult to put in a post like this. I am confident now that I'm doing the right things to get past this. |