Thursday, October 14, 2010

Letting Your Dog Lick Your Face

Wyatt tends to wants to jump up on me and lick my face when waiting for an agility (or obedience/rally run.)

I have, for a while, not let him do this.  Usually, I stay standing up.  I have felt that he can sense my "nerves" by changes in my scent that occurs due to ring nerves.  Now, I am not particularly nervous before a run but there is some adrenalin, especially before runs I really want to qualify in.  I also chew an Altoid before a run to disguise any scent changes. 

I don't know if there are any studies on this but I have observed some changes anecdotaly.  During last weekend's trial, I felt relaxed and had Wyatt out a little early and was sitting down.  I let him lick my face.  I still felt fairly relaxed for our NADAC Regular run.  Sure enough, he was super anxious in the run, having weave entry troubles and barking at me there.  Also, he did his classic leap off the dogwalk, which I rarely see these days. 

It makes me wonder how many problems could have been avoided in the past by simply not letting him lick my face. 

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