Dogs question

[C Eyler <eyler@mindspring.com>]

A wannabie question:

My gelding Jack doesn't seem to notice the dogs at the farm.  The dogs roam
the fields occasionally, and there's always at least one dog close by in
the paddock, sometimes four, when he's being groomed.  He doesn't react to
a strange dog on the farm either (another boarder has started bringing her
new dog with her).  They're right there in the middle of everything,
staying VERY close by, hoping for bits of chestnuts to eat.  One of those
dogs, a sweet beagle named Elvis, sometimes follows us out for the first
couple of miles.

But when we come across a strange dog on the trail, Jack gets quite
nervous.  He doesn't do a real spook anymore, but he tenses and sticks his
head up in the air.  If the dog is on a leash, I can talk him through it
without much difficulty, but if they're loose it's dicier.  Clearly dogs
out in the world are different from dogs on his home turf (except of course
that beagle we saw one day who must have looked like Elvis).

I'm wondering if we're going to have a problem with this at ride camps.  Or
will the fact that he's surrounded by his own distracting stuff (hay,
water, me) and busy eating (he always wants to eat) make it feel like home?

Cindy
Baltimore
eyler@mindspring.com


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