BLAKE: 1-week Gotcha Day

Well, it's already a week since Blake arrived here, doesn't time fly. He has settled in really well, and until yesterday, all the dogs were doing pretty good. Skye in fact suddenly relaxed with Blake on Friday and has been no problem since. I am totally surprised as I thought she'd be the most difficult. I still need to supervise, but she hasn't shown any signs of worry for the last couple of days.

Flash was really good with him too, where as Jesse was more grumbly, but doing really well too. It certainly wasn't a problem to have them all together, though I would never leave them unsupervised.

But yesterday, that changed... Karen and Jim, Blake's foster parents, came to visit Blake here. I tried to usher everyone into the garden, but didn't get any further than the conservatory. I wanted the dogs to have more space, hence the garden, but as that didn't happen it was all a bit cramped and Jesse went for Blake when he got too close. I stopped him and no damaged was done, but it wasn't helpful.

Blake was very happy to see Karen and Jim, and he wasn't upset when they left (other than wondering for a couple of minutes where they went). So that was fine.

I then let all the dogs out, and Blake invited Flash to play, so they started running about. For the first couple of circuits, it was ok, but then Flash nipped Blake into his side. No damage was done, so he just pinched his skin, but Blake screamed blue murder and ran back to the back door, where Jesse was and went for him (he always reacts when a dog yells) big time. I stopped him again, so again no physical harm was done, but it was a complete relationship breakdown both between Flash and Blake and most certainly between Jesse and Blake. Blake was terrified, and I left them to rest.

A bit later in the afternoon, I managed to coax Blake out and he got more confident again after a game with me in the garden. Then unexpectedly Blake invited Skye to play (which is fine, she plays nicely), but I quickly grabbed Flash to stop him from joining in, and in addition to his collar, I accidently grabbed some of his skin and this time, Flash screamed... (blooming sighthounds...). Jesse went after Flash, but didn't do anything, but Blake freaked out again, ran into the house, onto the sofa and then didn't budge!

I felt absolutely devastated, all the progress I made with them throughout he week was gone... in fact, Jesse was so wound up now that I had to completely separate them.

I then gave Blake some rescue remedy and if by a miracle, he got up after a few minutes and seemed fine, though a bit more wary of all the dogs.

Since yesterday, I have kept Blake and Jesse completely separate unless I am sitting right next to Blake or Jesse. I do lots of counter-conditioning with Jesse and Blake on either side of the gate. It is slow progress, but it'll work eventually. I will not try anything more with Jesse right now until the adrenalin levels have dropped a bit, then I will get them together a bit more again. Right now, Jesse is very unhappy about Blake being anywhere near him. :-(

I am gutted, it went so well until yesterday... just one incident caused a break down and I am back to square one, one even further back with Jesse.

I am also taking Blake out in the garden on his own a couple of times a day, so he can have a good run without the risk of upsetting any of the others, and I play with him with toys and do training. He really loves that, and today he went absolutely bonkers with a soft toy, lifting all four legs off the ground and running around like mad. I had to laugh so much, it is great to see. Just a shame he hasn't got a dog here he can play with at the moment.

Blake is also getting a lot more confident on walks, he rarely stops now and when he does it's just for a few seconds to have a look around. He has done a lot of trotting and some running (with me in tow) today. He is still very shy of dogs and people outside though, so I need to get some socialisation sorted for him.

So baby steps continue. I am so frustrated with Jesse's behaviour and can't wait to get this sorted, but then it's only been a week and these things take time.

Blake is fabulous though, and I am looking forward to sharing my life with him.

Here are some pictures taken through the week showing the progress we made:

On 18th, Skye allowed Blake to lay on the bed next to her sofa spot. :-)