We had a full day out with Lexi yesterday. First going to visit a friend’s house, and then visiting family at the hospital. Lexi was terrific. She just loves to sit quietly on my lap. Nothing like at home. People are amazed at how wonderfully she just stays on my lap.
Well, there was a little girl at a table close by and she wanted to pet Lexi, so I brought her over. She fed Lexi some kibble, made sure she used an open flat hand, since Lexi can be a bit grabby when she takes food from fingers.
After I went back to sit down with our family, the little girl (she must have been about 4 or so) came over, and she fed her a little more, and petted her. Well, she was nicely petting her back leg, and Lexi quickly turned and nipped her.
I was mortified. I didn’t know if it was a puppy nip, or a protective/possessive (of me) nip. Either way, I felt terrible. The little girl just stood there holding her hand, and I apologized and tried to explain that she was just learning…the mom was very understanding, but I just felt terrible about the poor little girl. Hoping that she won’t become afraid of dogs now. God, I hope not.
Anyway, it really made me realize that Lexi has a long way to go with socialization. Mindy is the friendliest dog, she has no problem with people petting her, in fact she adores it.
Thankfully Lexi is only 6 months, so her habits haven’t been set in stone yet, but I am still worried that she will always be skiddish around other people and dogs. I hope we can address this in training class!
