Maya and Journey

Maya was the first dog to take an interest in Journey. The only one really who has shown an interest in helping him come out of his thick shell. She has worked on him repeatedly, trying to engage him in play. He was interested but he clearly didn't know how to respond. Eventually he picked it up and he would reciprocate when she initiated play. Now he has really learned to play and learned that he likes it. He now initiates play whenever he sees Maya, but so far at least, it's only with Maya.

I want to take him outside to Daneland to interact with Kismet. She's closer to his age than Maya is and she needs a playmate too. I think I'll take Maya out with them as well, in the hope that Maya and Journey will play and then Kismet will want to join in. That's a six foot fence all the way around, so I think Maya will be alright in there, at least if I stay out there with them. Although the fence is tall enough, I'm not sure it's secure enough to hold Journey if he tries to push his way out. My plan is to attach a 20' line to his harness and let him drag it around, but again, I'll have to stay out there with them to look for escape attempts.

Maya tried and tried to get him to play. He liked the attention
but he didn't understand what he was supposed to do.

I think that Journey's relationship with Maya may be what it takes to get to "home" here, much like Maya's relationship with Trooper did for her so many years ago. I'm not planning to keep Journey, however, so the hope is that he'll learn to trust people and dogs around here and that knowledge will transfer to other people and other dogs in an adopter's home.

It will have to be a very patient adopter however. Journey is much better with me but still prone to spook if I make any unexpected sound or sudden movement. He takes treats very carefully and gently. If I hold my hand out to him he will approach and touch, but I still can't move my hand to the top of his head to pet him. He approaches me from behind and pushes his big muzzle up against my legs. It was unnerving at first because who does that?, and I wasn't always aware that it was him. No teeth, just lots of face, nose, and jowls. As big as he is and as strong as he is, his touch with people, and his play with other dogs, is very gentle.

His pull on the leash is very strong, however. I take him out for a walk around the yard 4-5 times a day. He has established a route and he stops to pee and the poop at certain spots along the way. If I try to vary the route because I want to see something in the yard I am met with very strong resistance and suspicion. He will go where I want to go ultimately, but he then pulls extremely hard and wants to get back inside as soon as possible. When we get to the door he pushes through and run to the dog bed and is his safe spot. I have learned to just drop the leash once he's inside.


In this first video you can see that it's Maya who is doing most of the work in getting the play going.

Here you can see that Journey is responding and even beginning to give it back a bit.

Now he's in full out play mode whenever Maya is around.