(www.meowbarkblog.com) — Murphy may look like a tough cookie at almost 140 lbs and about 30 inches tall at his shoulders. But he’s really a big wuss. (Unless he thinks you’re going to hurt me, in which case he will take you OUT, believe me.) He’s scared of loud noises, cars, any animal bigger than him, strangers, rakes, and umbrellas. Strangely, he loves the leaf blower and tries to wrap his mouth around it every time we use it. But everything else frightens him.
When I had to rush him to the vet last week with his serious tummy rash, we took the car to get inspected afterward. Of course I couldn’t leave him in the car to eat the garage people, so we went for a walk in downtown Fredericksburg to visit our favorite store, Dog Krazy, where Murphy gorged himself on grain-free treats courtesy of Nancy Guinn, the owner.
Murphy was mostly fine once he was in the store (mostly as in, aside from being terrified by the series of small dogs that came in while we were there). On the way there, though, he cowered against me every time a car passed us, and I thought he was going to poop all over himself when a fire truck went by with sirens wailing.
But everything changed when we put on his super-secret magical cape of wonder. We are trying to build Murphy’s confidence so he’s not so fearful, and we thought a backpack might be a good way to do that. Give him a job to do, make him feel important. The moment I put the Outward Hound Dog Excursion Backpack on him in the store, he was a different dog. He stopped leaning on me. He tried to play with Judy, the bulldog puppy that came in, who he’d been scared of and hiding from before I put the pack on him. He wagged his tail at strangers. It was a flipping miracle.
Will this be the key to working through his nervousness? It’s too early to tell for sure, but all signs point to “promising.”
Contents Copyright © 2008 Kristen King