I had my family over to the house last night. We get together a lot (yay!) but the boys are not always around all of them at once, except holidays or when everyone comes here. In situations where it is all adults, no issue, the boys do great. But when the entire family gathers, there is a Princess. This particular love of mine comes dressed to party, a la tutu’s (her sense of style is one of the 10 billion things I adore about her).
Jake is not around little people very often. I mean kids in the hood, sure, but he is usually on leash around them. Previous encounters with Princess Tutu have included him jumping at the tutu as it bounces around with it’s wearer. The type of jumping up and mouth grabbing that he’d do with a toy. But when a child is attached to the tutu, that is not OK behavior. So previously he has had to be removed from the situation so that everyone was safe.
There are several issue at play. Jake is mesmerized by Princess Tutu. Her energy is his perfect match, the way she zips back and forth, up and down, well hello she’s human Jake! Add to that, her clothes are so fun and Jake tends to takes himself up a few notches around her.
But last night, although he tried a few times to catch the tutu, he was respectful of the Princess. We let him hang out in a different room for a while to acclimate to the noise and then we let him join the group. At first we put Princess Tutu up on a royal pedestal but when we put her lower, he was, dare I say enamored. He. Did. Great!
Melvin man, he is good at staying when he wants to stay and moving when little people are tugging or squealing too much. Jake will probably never be that dog, who removes himself, so I’m happy to see him able to adjust to to a change in the level of chaos. And should a moment come when I see he needs a break, I will always remove him and give him moments away from the royal madness.
After everyone left, I was cleaning up and realized Jake was not downstairs (WHICH NEVER HAPPENS, he is always near me). I finally found him upstairs, in his own bed, covered with his blanket, zonked out! He literally put himself to bed! You can’t even see him in the photos below, that is how tucked in he got himself, but if you could make him out, he’s to the right of the heap.
Yeahhhhhh, Jake! Way to go! PS – I love that he covers himself with his blanket!
I know! My little introvert needs his space sometimes!
Woohoo, Jake! Edison has a hard time around little people, too, for the same reasons as Jake (although we do not generally get graced by the presence of princesses!). I cannot believe he put himself to bed – yet another reason I love Jake!
It’s so important that we are able to recognize things they are not super successful with. I see so many people allow their dogs to suffer through moments that are clearly causing them stress when simply giving the dog an out could fix it.
Yes! We’ve recently read a few posts about this. I think Peaceabull Assembly recently did one about Ray and the baby – and recognizing and praising them when they give us warnings, or when they simply just go away from the situation. Edi is reactive (especially on leash) so we’ve been working on giving him treats when he decides he wants to look at us instead on the guy walking towards us, or the dogs on the other side of the street.
I just love your Jake! I’ve got a “little” Jake Jack Russell and he has not done as well with the kids. He just gets so excited around them that he nips at their clothes because he just wants to play with them. The good news is, we have little ones very seldom. He has been known to put himself in bed, too. He has a kennel but rarely goes in it and isn’t required to, however, when kids are around, I think he goes there because it’s his safe place.
Awwwww,our Jakes are soul brothers! I think the nipping/mouthing is something with smaller dogs. I have never seen a larger dog do it but I have seen smaller dogs use it as a form of initiating play.
haha, awww Jake. So hilarious that he puts himself to bed 🙂
I know! Next up I hope to teach him to load the dishwasher!
Poor Jake. Partying with a princess can leave you pretty pooped. 🙂
I know about partying with Princesses. We have a couple of TuTu Princesses that are GREAT reading buddies, but they can sure get crazy sometimes. I’ve been known to put myself to bed as well. That Jake is a smart boy.
Way to go, Jake! Also that looks like one comfy time-out, haha.