-
I contacted my neighbor and asked if I could meet up with her two-year-old Poodle named Maggie. Maggie is a happy and excited dog. We met on the sidewalk between our homes. Maggie was in an offensive stance when I approached. Her facial expression seemed curious of me. Maggie was interested to see me and lunged towards me excitedly. The neighbor had Maggie on a leash, so Maggie did not make contact with me. As I walked up and greeted my neighbor and Maggie, I avoided direct eye contact with Maggie. Knowing that Maggie is an excited dog, I engaged with my neighbor for a few minutes while Maggie got acquainted with me on her own. Maggie did acknowledge me by rubbing/pushing her snout against my body. When I turned my attention to Maggie, she became excited and attempted to jump on me. I had an assertive leadership mindset and told Maggie with a firm “no” that jumping was not needed. I directed Maggie towards a blanket I had setup by my front door. Maggie followed me to the blanket but was not interested in sitting on the blanket. I then got a grip on the leash and escorted Maggie to the blanket. As I got down at Maggie’s level, she seemed to calm down quite a bit. While down at Maggie’s level she seemed to want affection. When I was on the ground, Maggie got closer to me while I petted her. When I stopped for a moment, Maggie pawed at me and seemed to indicate she wanted more petting. I obliged and Maggie seemed to become more relaxed and at ease. During the initial approach, Maggie was wide eyed and excited. Maggie calmed down after I engaged with her owner a bit and she was able to sniff me. When I was petting Maggie she seemed to be in a relaxed state due to semi squinting her eyes and her breathing was more calm and steady. Maggie remained calm and relaxed with me until the petting session was over and I got up. The moment I got up Maggie became her usual excited two-year-old self.