last nite i took wombat to the "big park" for her walk. its where all the dogs go with their people on their evening walks (most of them off lead too). we haven't been there for a couple weeks or so cuz sometimes it can be pretty stressful for wombat (and us) with all the other dogs around plus there's 4 other parks closer to us. wombat did extremely well with all the other dogs around. we sat on the edge of the oval and i just talked to her softly when other dogs came near and gave her lots of treats. as we were leaving a tiny puppy (on lead) was bouncing towards us from the centre of the oval. i figured we'd have time to get out of the way before it got to close. then an older man stopped me to ask if wombat has the muzzle cuz she bites people. while i was trying to re-assure him that wombat is a very friendly people-loving dog but she's just not sure of other animals the little puppy started getting pretty close and wombat started to pull a bit on the lead to try to get closer. the puppy's people picked him up to carry him past us. the man was looking at the tiny puppy (who was smaller than wombat's big boofy head) and then at wombat. the girl holding the puppy held him up in one hand and made a comment about him being breakfast-size for wombat. at this point wombat was sitting nicely just looking at all the people.
after we left the park i noticed some people coming out of a house on the other side of the road with some dogs (wombat couldn't see cuz the street was lined with parked cars). i saw they were kind of crossing to our side of the road (walking diagonally across the middle of the road) so i decided i'd bring wombat across to the other side so we didn't meet on the narrow footpath with parked cars blocking our escape. wombat saw them as we crossed the road (they were still in the middle of the road) but she was very good and didn't pull much on the lead. as we passed them on the opposit side of the road wombat got a look at one of the dogs between the parked cars. she just took a nice look and then listened to me when i told her to keep walking with me.
i think we're finally getting somewhere with the whole socialization thing. she's got a LONG way to go but her behaviour yesterday was a HUGE step up from the normal complete focus she gives on any dog (or cat) that comes into view. she listened to me and only turned back a couple times to make sure they weren't following her.
maybe one day we'll actually be able to pass another dog on the road without her doing anything more than just giving the dog a quick hello sniff
No comments:
Post a Comment