Small Breakthrough

So the past two weeks have been frustrating because Missy has been reacting pretty bad at Every dog we walked past and it is just embarrassing that the other persons dog calmly walks past my crazy dog. Well today Missy did NOT barley reacted to the dog we walked past today, plus the dog was only about an arm span away!! She didn't bark or lunge toward the dog, but I could tell she was one level below that. Hopefully this will be a more common occurrence, of course she could just go back up a level. I'm crossing my fingers that she does not go back up a level.

2 blog post in 1

Ignorant Owner But so Proud of Missy

            So last week when I was walking I saw another dog coming toward us so lucky me there was a empty area for me to pull over to with Missy so she would be under threshold. Well it turned out I was not so lucky the freakin dog was Not on a leash. How did I figure this out? Missy was facing toward the creek and to my horror a dog a little bigger than Missy walks up behind her. Surprisingly both me and Missy keep our cool. At first Missy stayed facing the opposite way while calmly looking a the dog who was directly behind her. When I say directly behind her I mean if Missy had of taken a step back they would have been touching. When the unleashed dog took a step Missy flipped around. She wanted the say hi and so they did. The problem... Missy and the other dog wanted to play. Why you ask is this a problem? Think about it Missy is leash reactive because she is frustrated she can't say hi and play with other dogs. The leash restricted her playing because the dog would get out of her reach antagonizing her to play. Poor Missy was trying to do so, but couldn't because of the leash. This is where the problem started, Missy got frustrated and this started a chain reaction... Missy began to bark, so the unleashed dog began to bark, and the other dog barking got her worked up to where she was desperateness trying to get to the unleashed dog. After 3-5 minuets a child who I can only assume was one of the dogs owners told the dog to come, thankfully the dog listened. When we were clear of the dog I walked back onto the trail than jogged for a short bit to put a distance between us and the dog.

Embarrassed, Yes, Yes I am.

 So today was Not a good day for Missy at all. While we were walking we ran into someone who had 2 dogs, yes 2. So one dog was on one side of the owner and the other on her opposite side. This meant that one of the dogs was way to close to Missy. Missy totally flipped, and slipped out of her gentle leader, reminding me of another reason why she also wears a halter. Just my luck a few minuets later we run into 2 dog owners that are together that had 5 dogs all together. I was thinking please someone save me. The other owners stopped and pulled there dogs to the side as much as they could, which wasn't much after they saw Missy was starting to act up. When we got pretty close to them once again Missy totally flipped out and slipped out of her gentle leader? Missy has not reacted this badly(not including Koda) for about 1 month maybe two. I was disappointed but understand that it was because there was multiple dogs.

Pretty Good Walk

I went to walk past a gate that allows a neighborhood access to the trail and I heard a dog bark. I took a closer look and there was an owner standing there with his dog, they were blocked by trees and bushes. Missy became alert so I turned around and walked the other way because I wasn't sure how much leash the dog had and how close it was to the trial. After walking in the other direction for three minuets I turned back around trying to come up with a plan on getting by. Than a women ran by "that's it" I thought. Me and Missy would run pass. I got Missy at a close hill on my Left side(the dog was to my right) and ran past. Missy knew the dog was there, but she didn't even glance it's way. Happy dance. Of course my girl got lots of praise. We also ran into a Labrador jogging with his owner, same procedure close heal and keep her from fixating on the dog. Her reaction was way below than normally All she did was lunge Once that's All! I was so happy. We ran into the same dog on our way back her reaction was just a notch worse she lunged and I guess you would call it a bark, but it was really quiet. I'm so happy and proud of her for so much improvement. Go Missy!!

WoofStock

I am probably bringing Missy to Woofstock, a dog event help at Suwanee Town Center in Georgia. There will be a ton of dogs there. I'm hoping this won't be a mistake. I will stay away from the crowd if she is showing signs of being stressed, but I'm hoping she'll like it or at least not bark and flip out. I've been going since it started and this will be Missy's 2nd time coming. The first time she got a rabies shot(it was free) and left. My friend may be bringing her Boxer Lily who is Missy's friend. Crossing my fingers all goes well on Saturday.
http://www.star94.com/Woofstock.aspx