This week Harley the Wonder Dog encountered an unexpected challenge in his therapy dog work, well actually a therapy dog play day. We had a "bring your own lunch" dog picnic at the little park on the south side of the road, just east of the Serpent River bridge. There is a sign with the symbol of a picnic table at the almost hidden entrance, which is less than about 50 feet from the bridge. Nestled in there is a quiet park that follows a natural bend in the river and that includes a great swimming spot for sliding on the smooth rocks through gentle rapids. Harley popped in for a swim but immediately came back to the group, getting together with so many doggy friends seemed to have him "wired" to the point of bouncing and vibrating. I was puzzled but thought it was related to having so many dogs around, albeit on lease. This was just as well because Harley was so wound up that he got quite snarly with two dogs, one little Papillon and a Sheltie. I pulled him off, scolded him and remained very puzzled as it is not at all like Harley to behave this way. After a few more minutes and a brisk "get on heel" walk, he seemed to settle down and sat quietly at my feet while we ate lunch with the other people and dogs. The first photo shows Harley with the group, we are on the right hand side. The next day we put our heads together and sorted out that the problem was the Papillon he first snarled at was in season, something Harley (although neutered himself) has likely never encountered..... apparently he still has some hormones to handle. The second dog that he snarled at was lying in the place that the Papillon had just been, so had the same scent. All in all, I now know that if he behaves that way again that he needs a strong correction and I need to ask the other person if their dog is in season, too bad for Harley that he just has to learn to cope with this situation. The next day we did a therapy work session at the Golden Birches nursing home in Blind River, with the same woman who had the Papillon in season. This time Harley was well behaved, the dog the other lady brought was not in season and he was back to his regular self. Always something to learn.
