The chicken or the egg???

Which came first?


Landry had a tough morning at FD class.  There were many unexpected challenges.  The dogs outside in the play yard were confrontational with each other and their verbalizations with each other were upsetting to many of our older dogs as well.


Then we had more dogs and crates in our training room than usual - 10 altogether.


First, I put him in the tent and zipped up the door.  Now he had been in and out of the tent many times, but never expected to stay in it for more than a minute with the screen zipped.  And in a room of many other tents and crates containing other dogs.  Although his tent contained his "blankie" - his brown bumper - and a bully stick and a chew toy and food, he wanted none of it.


From the very beginning he wanted OUT.  So we put him in Logan's wire crate but that didn't do.  We covered the crate and I even hit the crate, but to no avail.


Then we let him roam the room freely.  That was better, but disturbing to some of the other dogs.  So I got down on the floor with him.  He refused food.  He showed a bevy of stress signals.  And then he began to tremble.


As I began heading outside with him he deficated on the floor.  A very loose stool.  We went outside and almost immediately he deficated once again.  And then he began to sniff and relax.  For the remainder of the 2 hour class, trainers took turns coming outside to take his leash.  And by the time we left, he was our Landry of old.


On the ride home and since, I have been replaying the scenario in my mind.


This morning before we left, he had two similar stools, so the loose stool was not brought on by stress.  They are stomach related I am certain.


Was his frantic behavior because he needed to toilet?  It very possibly could have been.


Already we know that he is not relaxed in the classroom, but he is also interested in all things going on around him.


So before we attribute his behavior and his stress to any single thing or analyze it too deeply, I want to balance facts with supposition and the biggest fact was the stomach upset that preceded arriving at the classroom.


We are too often apt to jump to conclusions.  This one deserves thought.

The video shows me that he was frantically saying that he needed to toilet.  Now that I am watching the Flip I see many similarities to the way he tells me the same thing when he is in his x-pen.  I should have been more observant.  Another example of why you need to focus on your dog and not on other things.  Hard to do when you are trying to lead a class at the same time.  I'm sorry, little man.  I should have taken you out sooner!


This reminds me of a story Sue tells about Stitch running out of a seminar to toilet.......and then returning after the mission was accomplished.




Here is the same puppy two hours later at home.