Well, I was pretty discouraged last time I updated, but today has seen a complete turn around.

 

This morning she became quite silly and playful. This was a good sign because she hasn’t shown that side to me much. I took her outside and played with her which was fun for us both. I was happy she wanted to engage me in play.

 

Our workout this morning was traffic training. This means we walk a quiet route with one instructor while someone else purposely drives toward us or in front or behind or blocks the path by pulling into a driveway. when you finish this route, you have a whole new level of trust in your dog. Petunia was absolutely brilliant. But it was more than just her traffic responses. BTW, the dogs do a variety of thngs, stop, pull forward or back, depending on what the car is doing.

 

But there was something different today, in just the regular part of the route, walking down the sidewalk, approaching curbs, crossing streets. She felt and acted confident; I felt and acted confident, and somehow, the two of us, after seeming to struggle to find our groove, well, today, we felt like a team. finally! I told both my instructors that, and I received some high praise from them about how I was handling her and how much confidence I gave her. The dogs can become very stressed on the traffic training route, but Petunia didn’t. she was happy and sure of herself, and that’s because I let her know I was happy and sure of myself and of her. It was a beautiful thing, and now I’m not freaking out about going home.

 

When we got back we had our vet checks. Petunia weighs 60 pounds and is in good health. We got to go over their medical histories with the vets.

 

I had the afternoon off with just a brief intro to handling sidewalkless areas. It’s been nice just to relax and be quiet this afternoon.