One of Alfred's more endearing qualities is also one of his best tools for dealing with the exciting moments in everyday life. Ever since the day we found him, Alfred has found comfort in sucking and kneading on a blanket, just like a certain animated, insecure, little boy.
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| Happiness is a warm blanket |
Although we went through a handful of blankets at the start, we've finally found one that he seems to really love and can't bring himself to tear apart. And since he spends the majority of most days with his big lips wrapped around the mound of cloth, it was pretty easy for him to learn the word 'blanket' and turn it into a command. Now, any time he gets excited about something while in the house, he can redirect himself to his blankie and begin to calm down. Here's an example of him coming out of the kitchen when I come home from running errands:
Which eventually turns into several minutes of this:
and is hopefully followed up with something like this:
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| I feel better |
Despite the stinky dog-drool smell (and frequent trips to the washing machine) Alfred's blanket has become one of my favorite home accessories. What other ways are you able to keep a calm pooch? Does your dog have any self-soothing techniques that they've picked up along the way? I'd love to hear stories!
I knew a boston terrier that did the same thing but with a ginormous octopus toy. He would just suckle on the head of it. When Maize gets excited she finds something she can do tiny nibble on, like she was eating corn off of a cob.
ReplyDeletelol - the image in my head of that Boston and the giant octopus is too good. :)
Deleteoh that alfred. he is such a charmer. that's a pretty cool technique for redirection.
ReplyDeleteThat is incredibly endearing! I don't know if my pups self soothe... our Hades does have an odd habit of "biting" blankets when we are all in bed and one of the girls is getting attention but he isn't. But when I say "bite" he isn't actually tearing holes, he just kind of nibbles at it. I don't know if my pups self-soothe much, I guess it isn't something I have noticed. What a sweet boy!
ReplyDeleteMy Lucy used to carry a stuffed soccer ball around everywhere, until my Charlie came along and decided it was HER soccer ball... But, Lucy would just hold it in her mouth for hours and be perfectly content. Of course, it was about four times the size of Lucy's head, so it was quite a sight!
ReplyDeleteThis is the cutest thing I've ever seen! It's also so great that you have taught him to positively re-direct. My cats do the same thing with blankets (especially the Fredmonster), but I've never seen Zoe do that! Or any dog! Although when we come home and Zoe gets very excited, she will pick up something to hold onto and prance around with it (preferably an article of my clothing like a hat or a glove). I'll have to video it and show you!
ReplyDeleteFunny fact - "Fredmonster" is one of our nicknames for Alfred too :)
DeleteLove it!!! That's so cute. :)
DeleteMissed this the first time, but maybe mr B's thing is carrying his stuffy. When we were fostering SuperLevi he used to be very careful and hide them all in his tepee so Levi couldn't get to them.
ReplyDelete