Public Dog (7)

I tried giving Gimme some Rescue Remedy before class today and it seemed to help.  She still wasn't her usual brilliant self, but she was able to focus better and at times did very well.  We lucked out that the co-instructor was gone this week and only 4 of the 5 dogs scheduled for class showed up.  Plus we had a huge park to work in, so it was much easier to adjust distance between Gimme and the other dogs. 

We did a lot of check-ins, pretty much any time she seemed unable to do more.  Also we practiced our loose leash walking... not getting very many steps at a time, but at least no hard pulling.  She was distracted with lots of sniffing, so I focused on making sure that I clicked when her nose was off the ground and the leash was loose.  

She seems uninterested in Tor - probably because he's so big (Alaskan Malamute) and always fairly calm.  Max is a big black Schnauzer-mix and is sometimes reactive, but usually good.  Gimme is fairly comfortable with him.  At one point he was laying down and his owner was standing talking with Ursula, so I eased closer and told Gimme to "chill".  We started about 12 feet away and gradually got to about 8 feet.  Then Tor came up and joined our group in the shade, about 15 feet away.  At that point Gimme got up and re-positioned herself so she could watch both of them and in doing so, moved closer to Max who continued to ignore her, so that she was then about 6 feet from him. 

The only dog she didn't like, indeed none of the dogs like him, is Bo.  He's a very stressy yellow Lab, who is always whining and fussing.  All the dogs seem to be uncomfortable with him to some degree or another.  They act like he's contagious - though in reality I think they are trying to send him calming signals and he doesn't seem to get it.  Gimme always knows exactly where he is.  I told Ursula about a stress-support supplement that I just learned about and she's very interested in it.

I came upon this quote by Walt Disney:

“I can’t believe that there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true.  This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence.”

That to me sums up the attitude we most want in our dogs -  curious, confident, courageous, and constant (faithful, dependable and steadfast), and the greatest of all is confidence.  You really only get that kind of attitude with consistent positive reward training.