Duncan has always been super sensitive about people touching his legs or feet. It's not surprising, really; the poor little guy broke his leg when he was 10 weeks old - right in the middle of the infamous "puppy fear period". Who wouldn't worry about his legs when an innocent bout of tail-chasing can break them?
At first, you took your life (or at least your arm) in your hands if you even reached toward his leg. But with lots of practice and tons of treats, we gradually got to the point where normal things like untangling leashes and grooming were no problem. But twigs or burrs caught on his leg? He freezes. And stresses. He does let us help, but it's clearly difficult for him to let us touch the problem leg, and it requires a very good treat, paid in advance.
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| Duncan's wire, on the right, with a paperclip |
This morning, we were cutting through the schoolyard on our walk, as usual, when Duncan froze. And panted. And looked worried. I couldn't see anything wrong, so I asked him what the problem was. He looked up at me, then looked down at his front leg. I ran my hand over it, and found a little piece of very fine wire caught in his coat - it must have been pricking him. I pulled it off, praised him and we moved on to watch the man lugging old cabinets out of the school. But what a huge step for him; for the first time he actually asked for help, rather than just allowing it!
There's a bumper crop of burrs near the park bridge this year, so it will be interesting to see if he'll start asking for help with them too.
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