Follow up visit with Mark tonight

Well - we had our follow up visit with Mark tonight - I thought things were going OK but wanted to check with the expert to get either reassurance or tips to help out with what we were doing.

Mark came round about 4.30 - I wanted him to see Earl at feeding time. We chatted first about how things had been going and how we had handled a couple of incidents and then ..................................the big moment - I let Earl in.

I made him wait at the door and then let him inside to where Mark was sitting on the couch  -  I swear the words "Oh Sh!t - him again" went through his head when he saw Mark.

I have never seen a dog slink before - Earl almost dropped his belly to the ground - Mark called him over - in quite a friendly tone - and Earl slid over to him - as soon as he got within patting distance he folded himslef up and rolled over onto his back - tail firmly tucked between his legs - he was as submissive as he could get without actually grovelling :) - actually no - to be honest - he grovelled :)
After a short belly rub from Mark he then slunk over to me and rolled over onto his belly with a "Save me" look on his face. I patted him and he relaxed slightly as Mark and I had a laugh at Earl's behaviour - there is no way this dog is a dominant dog - he could not be any more submissive :)

Earl lay at my feet and within a few short minutes there were gentle snores coming from his vicinity - I mean - how relaxed was this dog????

I had to wake him to go through the feeding routine and when he approached the laundry as I was putting the dry food in the bowls and I told him 'away' he curled up next to the window with a studiously disinterested look on his face - all his body language saying "I'm good - see - I'm lying here quietly - not interested in the food at all' :)

I mixed up his food and put it down in the laundry with not the slightest attempt to approach it from Earl - which Mark agreed was a good thing. Earl lay there until I invited him to eat and then came in to eat.

When he'd finished he went cautiously over to Mark again and this time his belly was a good 10 cm off the ground and he even attempted a sniff - so he was relaxing in Marks' presence which was good.

I put him outside and Mark came to the conclusion that all was going OK and we could reserve our follow up visits until we needed them for anything - which hopefully won't be in the near future.

So - good progress but we need to keep it up and keep standing firm if Earl tries to bluff us with a growl - confidence, confidence, confidence :)

Off to the beach on Saturday - hopefully the big drooly dog doesn't freeze his poor little paws in the icy water :)