Hey, there HIVERS! It's been a few days since I posted my last blog, now I'm back and I'm going to talk about my dog hehe. If I may, let me catch your attention for a while and take the stage, here we go!
A lot has been weighing on my mind for a while now. But mostly, I get worried about my dog. He's a small white and brown fluffy dog (he's almost a cloud). His name is Blu (like that bluebird in Rio the movie). I had him as a gift for Christmas back in 2018, I was and STILL am quite happy to have him in my life. As for his breed, most people say that he's probably a mix between a shit zu and a poodle cause he's a bit too big to be just a shit zu. I don't care what his breed is, I'll always love him the same no matter what his breed is.
Many problems have been coming up about my dog, not health problems per se, but it's having trouble walking him every day. Blu and I had an ongoing tradition of going outside for a walk at around 4-5 pm every single day (except for when it rains).
I am now facing a problem that was about to catch up to me sooner or later. My dog is very cautious, maybe fearful, and likes to bark at people and other dogs around us. I've done my best for him to get used to people and other dogs when he was just a young pup by exposing him to people and taking him on walks where lots of people and dogs pass us by. He also likes to lunge at people and other dogs. Things aren't going to get any better for us anytime soon if I don't do anything to change these negative behaviors from him.
I am starting to realize that things have to change and we have to adapt to the changes around us. The changes being our usual place for taking our walk are now under construction to become a building. The problem I have with that building being built is that the place we have for walking has been narrowed down into a one-meter wide path where lots of people walk by.
I don't want Blu to do something stupid and dangerous. I don't want people to feel uncomfortable around us when we go on walks either. I don't want Blu to be "the scary dog that bites", I want him to be loved by other people as much as I love him. I mean- look at him and how adorable he is. I can't let a terrible attitude ruin his cute looks lol.
My family has been making sure that I take the right steps when it comes to walking Blu by telling me to keep the leash short and to avoid other dogs and people. Those are good suggestions and I intend to keep those in mind during our walks, however, the problems we have at hand probe much deeper than that.
As his owner, I am responsible for his actions. I should've put in more effort when it comes to training him. It is MY sloppiness that made things so terrible for him. I need to instill just a little bit more discipline, not just for Blu but also for me. I've been under the dumps after that incident of Blu lunging at a kid who passed as by. Blu didn't bite the kid (thankfully), but he almost did. I have to redeem Blu and myself.
I've decided to rewind and go back to the root of the problem. I did a little bit of research and I've learned that exposing your dog to people and other dogs isn't the only way of letting your dog get used to them, it's also rewarding good behavior. For example: when a person walks by our gate and Blu doesn't bark, I'll give him a treat (this also goes for other dogs passing by). This exercise would show him that seeing people and other dogs is associated with positive feelings; hence the treats.
For this exercise to work, I would have to sacrifice my napping time after school. I live far away from school but it will all be okay, a little sacrifice won't hurt.
It may be a little bit late for me to start being better, but it's never too late. I don't have to be hard on myself, all I have to do is learn and do better. As long as I have the will to do better, I will do whatever it takes even if it would cost me more of my time. It would all be worth it. Wish me luck!
Thank you for reading this far my dear HIVERS! You are now at the end of this blog! I sure hope that things will change for the better with me and my dog. If you guys have any more suggestions on how Blu and I could be better, feel free to comment under this post hehe. And with that, I'll see you guys in the next one!