From: Daniel
Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2010 2:22 PM
To: training@hongkongdogrescue.com>, <libby
Subject: Nina
Hi Mark,
Nina is doing well, she she’s come out of her shell quite a bit since arriving here on Robinson Road Friday afternoon and shown herself to be a very sweet and happy girl. This morning we all took a long walk up to the Peak and she did a great job. We do have one concern though: she plays quite rough with Sawyer. A few times he’s yelped while playing and he’s taken to going under our dining room table (where she won’t go) when she tries to play with him inside. My wife is particularly worried as Sawyer suffered a leg injury from rough play once before (maybe he has a little italian greyhound in him?) Thoughts/advice much appreciated.
With thanks,
Dan
________________________________
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:11:26 -0800
Subject: re: Nina
From: Training@hongkongdogrescue.com
To: Dan, Libby
CC: sally@hongkongdogrescue.com; adoption.admin@hongkongdogrescue.com; adoptions@hongkongdogrescue.com
Hi Dan & Libby,
I’m glad Nina is settling down with you all and that you’re having a chance to see her true nature come out. Regarding the play, I wouldn’t worry too much about it as they are both still just learning who each other is. It should naturally settle down with time.
Just a couple of things to keep in mind:
1) you should watch that if Sawyer indicates he doesn’t want to play, Nina should respect that and leave him alone. So, in this case, if Sawyer goes under the table, Nina should stop and leave him alone there.
2) If you feel the play is simply too rough, give Nina a sharp “uh-uh” and separate them for about 60 seconds and then re-introduce them again. Repeat as many times as you need to so Nina can learn what is acceptable and what isn’t. Please keep the separations short, otherwise a dog cannot connect the behaviour to the time-out “punishment”.
3) Please remember that you need to treat them fairly. If Sawyer is doing something wrong, you need to give him the same timeout as you would Nina. This is usually very hard as he is “your” dog and Nina is the new dog, but fairness is very important so that they can learn to live together happily.
Please let us know how it’s going through this week and if you have any questions or concerns.
We all have our fingers, legs and just about everything else, crossed for Nina!
Thanks for giving her a chance to prove what a great dog she can be.
Regards,
Mark
Behaviour & Training Manager
So we followed HKDR’s advice to “give it more time” and this is what happened next…
A Word About HKDR 