Bax update!

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Shalista
Posts: 1363
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:04 pm

Bax update!

Post by Shalista »

Hey guys, I've been mia for a bit with all of schools craziness but I'm procrastinating on finals now and decided to give the board a quick hello!

Bax is doing super, super well. I posted last in desperation as he was becoming progressively more aggressive. Turns out, he's fine! I gave him some space and nothing really happened. He hasn't shown any aggression towards anyone at all lately even under difficult circumstances.

That leads me to the party we had on mothers day. Bax was an angel. I was hesitant to let him out with the small children around (5 and 2) but I did eventually let him mingle. He was perfect, no jumping up, no shyness, no backing away, tail and ears at neutral. Even when the children (despite what i told them not to) hugged him he just stood there wagging his stub and followed them when they let go and wandered off. His door was wide open for him to go chill but he never went in there preferring to mingle with people. (Probably in hopes of a stray chip).

The best thing that happened was when that puppy came over that he was unhappy with before. In the safety of his own home he was a gracious host! She was very very shy preferring to hide behind her owner but Bax had excellent manners and didn't chase or push her out. As she came out of her shell more and started sniffing him back they both handled it really well so i recommended that we take them both outside for a run around our goat corral.

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You can't tell very well from the picture but his entire lower half was dyed yellow from dandelion pollen! They had a blast! He'd chase her one way, then she'd turn and chase him back the other way. They'd roll all over in the dandelions and then get back up to go running again. They got along so well! Once they came back inside they were perfectly happy with each other and Zuri, the puppy, was much more relaxed as well. Before she went out her tail was glued so tightly to her butt her spine was curved. After the run she had relaxed easy lope and set off to explore the house without her owner.

Bax wasn't totally peaches and cream after the run. He still seemed a little TOO interested if I pet Zuri while he was around and i respected his insecurity and didn't pet her again.

Bax also celebrated the end of his diet. He started raw food when he was about 14 pounds and he's now down to 10 which is what his vet recommends. we celebrated in the most unhealthy and non raw of ways.

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While we were out eating ice cream we wandered around town and got to greet lots of strangers. Bax was a perfect gentleman. He was a bit shy for starters but I let people know that he might be and they didn't push him. Eventually he went up to every person and got some neck scratchies.

We've also been working on going on new surfaces. We enjoyed some rock climbing that he was a bit cautious about but very curious.

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And it's our new tradition to have a snuggle session every time i come home from school on our favorite green chair. (As always, camera's are met with the deepest of suspicioun)

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Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Bax update!

Post by Erica »

Aww, it's great to hear things are going well for y'all! :D He looks great, even if he doesn't like the camera much.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Shalista
Posts: 1363
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:04 pm

Re: Bax update!

Post by Shalista »

Haha yeah, i don't think all the love in the world would ever lower bax's suspicion levels to "normal". He's just naturally a little shy about just about everything. My poor shrinking violet :lol:

Yeah i forgot to mention to that he's... sort of.. totally potty trained. He was completely accident free for over a month with zero crating. (I only closed the door to his room when we went to bed). Which means he had the roam of the house for 9 hours a day with no pottying!

That's the good news.

the bad news is that the moment my mom took a breath and risked putting down an area rug, he ran to it and peed. I fear I may have inadvertently trained bax to use puppy pads :lol: In all seriousness though its something I'm going to have to work on given that i doubt my first apartment will have all hardwood floors. :wink: I'm thinking of taking him all the way back to the basics now that summer break is upon me and leave out old dog towels to see if a more rigorous outdoor pottying schedule helps.
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
Contact:

Re: Bax update!

Post by JudyN »

Brilliant news :D Do you think there was anything in particular that made him turn the corner?
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Shalista
Posts: 1363
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 10:04 pm

Re: Bax update!

Post by Shalista »

Do you think there was anything in particular that made him turn the corner?
Haha, no clue. Old age? He's 2.5 now so he had to mellow some time. things just don't bother him like they used to. He used to pace like crazy whining. He'd go ballistic at the door when people came in. Now, sometimes he doesn't even notice we have guests. the people that come over that used to frighten him just don't anymore. Even the scary ones that used to grab him around the waist and lift him up because "he doesn't mind" :evil: He totally loves her now. (Especially now that she doesn't try to hoist him in the air)

I kind of wonder if part of it is the reverse of what I'd always been told. I've stopped training him. We don't do 'training' sessions anymore where he gets super excited and super focused and i stuff him full of peanut butter and liverwurst. I got busy with school and in some weird kind of inverse law it seems that the less i pay attention to him the more mellow he becomes. I feel really guilty that i haven't been spending more time with him but he almost seems to prefer loafing around to doing big training sessions. I'm tempted to just let sleeping dogs lie. He's moderately well behaved, do i really need to teach him to roll over? We cuddle and go on big long walks so, idk, we'll reevaluate after finals.

I've also learned that bax's inside behavior is very different from his outside behavior. Places he knows that he's content in he's just perfect. he definitely still has his guard up in 'outside' places. Home, the vets, the feed store, and the training center he is a huge social butterfly. he'll cheerfully run up to everyone he meets for pets and snuggles. everywhere else hes very reserved and need some time.

I guess what I'm saying is I'm still learning? figuring out what works for BAX not just "some dog" or even "some rat terrier". I'm much more willing to give him that space, to say "nah, he's just a little shy." and walk away then try to 'wait and see' if he changes his mind. I'm also better at putting my foot down when he's amped to 100 but still wants to hang out. I just scoot him back to his room for a time out until he chills a bit.

As I've always said with bax, he's not a perfect dog, he's not the perfect dog for me, i won't even say he's a good fit for me, but i'll do right by him. We'll figure it out :D
Baxter (AKA Bax, Chuckles, Chuckster) Rat Terrier, born 01/16/13
AliceGrimm
Posts: 105
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2016 10:38 am
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Bax update!

Post by AliceGrimm »

I am so glad everything is going much better! He does seem camera shy! But such a cutie!
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