Oakley Pics...July 6 - Page 3

Deb

Now that I have identified cats as something she's afraid of, I'll start working with her on desensitzing her to it.  This is the first she's ever shown of fear towards anything, and I don't like to see it, either...Plowing into something because she's running scared isn't what I want to see...

Actually the cat that she came in contact with, is fine around dogs...It was just the smell of him that sent her off...He would be a fine one to use for the desensitizing...He doesn't scratch, or snarl, or any of that stuff...Just need to put him on a leash so I can control his movements, and work with Oakley.  I'd say her first interaction with a cat must have involved blundering into it because she'd never been around them before, and she got beat up for her trouble.

But Freak (the cat) would be a good one to help her overcome her fears.

Having never dealt with this level of fear toward a cat (or anything else, for that matter), I'll have to feel my way through it.  Oakley has the disadvantage of not being able to see what the thing is she's afraid of, so as far as she knows, it's the biggest thing in the world. 

Does anyone have suggestions?  The way I will likely approach this is to have both cat and dog contained, the cat perhaps in a crate or something.  Oakley will be on leash.  I'll have one of her toys with me, and gradually work toward getting her nearer the cat, distracting her with the toy if she starts to tense up, but before she goes into flight mode.  When she's calm, I'll reward her.

Or should I correct her if she reacts negatively, and reward her when she reacts positively?  Being that she's blind, I don't know if a leash correction for negative reaction would the correct thing, or if it would only make things worse.  It should be noted that while she does pay attention to my voice, she's not what I would call soft, meaning she's not skittish and clingy, terrified of making a mistake or hearing a loud voice.  The only thing where I have ever encountered even the slightest bit of fear with her is when she caught the smell of the cat, from about five feet away.

Also, is a neutral spot a good one for the desensitizing, or does it matter?  The bad experience with the cat didn't happen while I had her, and I'm sure it didn't happen with Steph, either, so it must have happened while she was with her first owners, or the breeder.

I'm just curious as to opinions on the best way to handle this.

Crys

I want to help her overcome this fear.  Although it's not likely that we need to worry about it, the fact remains that fear can be hard to deal with, and it'll be easier for her, and me, if we deal with this while she's small and not overly big.