Baby Steps

Well, tonight Jason and I packed both Barklee and Norway in the car and decided to take our chances with them at Petsmart. Now, Norway is used to other dogs and enjoys playing with them, but Barklee doesn't have a lot of experience with other dogs, so she is a little nervous and barks at them a lot because she's a little scared of them. We want to get her socialized with other dogs because right now she doesn't get to run around and play with them like dogs should, and it's my fault because I never gave her the exposure she needed while she was young.

We decided to go on a week night because there are always less dogs there than on the weekend. We stayed outside with her mostly and just let her see other dogs coming and going, and we gave her lots of treats and praise. She still got nervous, but started barking less. After about 20 minutes outside, we decided to take her INTO the store. It seems like a small step, but it's really a giant one for her.

Luckily the only dogs that were inside we in a training class, so we had pretty much free reign of the store. She got to wander and smell all the other dogs. We want to take her back on Saturday and just stay outside with her because we know there will be more dogs there for us to praise her and treat her when she sees them. We're trying to establish a positive feeling for her when there are other dogs around.

With a little work and A LOT OF PATIENCE, I know we'll be able to get her to a place where she can at least stand to be around other dogs without feeling to anxious. She did it with Norway and she's used to being around the dogs we see when we go to Missouri to visit Jason's parents. I have a good feeling about it.