The Dalmatian Diaries Blog

It's been so hectic I didn't get a chance to update after Widget's first Paw Trek class. I thought she did great! She was a bit wary of the other dogs in class as she'd never met them before. She was SO much better with humans than I expected her to be though! I was so impressed! She didn't didn't walk all that nicely on leash for me (pulled a lot) but I think it was mostly because we were WAY at the back of the pack and she wanted to be up where the other dogs where. On the way back from our trek (we went to a park) she was at the front of the pack and at first was great but then she realized all the dogs were BEHIND her so she kept turning around to look at them!

Today I went to daycare to be there while Widget had a massage. Christina from Skillful Paws is awesome! The reason I went was because we wanted to see how Widget would be with a massage while I was around - would she be protective? would she relax? The answers are no and yes! She didn't really seem bothered or concerned by my presence. She kept her eye on me and if I moved she looked to see if I was going to take her home But she did indeed relax. A couple of big sighs and definitely fought off falling asleep (if I hadn't been there I'm sure she would have been napping during the massage!). There were even two active GSDs there which I thought would be more distracting but she didn't really seem bothered by them. At least not like she would have been previously!

I think everything we're doing for her is really working. It's not an overnight fix of course, but she's slowly learning to accept that life isn't so scary. People are nice and if you let them they'll pet you and give you tasty treats. She still needs some work on her dog-dog interactions. She loves some dogs and others she's not happy about. But I think she'll get there!

Another Gameskills (CGC) class tonight then on Saturday the Paw Trek class is going to the Arboretum (it's a shopping area for those of you not in Austin). She'll get to check out Amy's Ice Cream and Barnes and Noble. It should be interesting to say the least.