As those of you who follow me know, I’m not particularly of dogs at a distance when I’m on my leash. I have no problem saying hi to them. It’s when they are far away (or even close but far enough) that I get really upset.
Today was a great day for dogs!
When we went for a our walk this morning, there was a small grey dog coming towards us. Mom had me stop and we just waited. His owner had him cross the street while he was still a good distance away and then walked away from us. And I didn’t bark. We walked on our side of the street for a while, parallel to them. Mom kept stuffing kibbles in my mouth for watching the dog quietly. We watched until the dog disappeared behind a car on the corner. When he came back out on the other side of the cars, it was almost too much for me. Mom caught it before I got to actually barking and we briskly walked back the way we came with Mom telling me how good I did.
Our next dogs were in the waiting room at the vet’s office. The vet wanted to double check me after the chiro popping that she did on me a couple weeks ago. Good news: everything stayed in line and I’m in good shape. I’m feeling great. Because the vet had been away for a while, there was quite a wait to get in to see her. While we waited 3 dogs came and went from the waiting room. There was an old guy who really didn’t want to be there. I was good and didn’t invade his space. There was a sheltie who didn’t want to say hi but who I was very curious in. The owner kept trying to get her dog to come and say hi. When the dog got close I would sniff her but Mom kept reminding me that the dog wasn’t interested and I should keep my nose to myself. The owner of this dog was extremely rude to me. I was in a under at Mom’s chair and this lady kept reaching under Mom’s legs to pat me! When I’m in that position, I think I’m working, vest or not. It’s a very professional position. People aren’t supposed to pat me like that. The third dog that came in was a Tibetan Mastiff. Mom couldn’t get over how cool his face looked. I sat up and barked at him as soon as he arrived. Only a couple barks. Just enough to make sure everybody knew what I thought. He investigated everything else for a few minutes but eventually he came to try and say hi to me. I wasn’t interested so I looked away from him. Mom was paying attention and gently pushed him away and told his owner that I wasn’t interested. I was relieved to leave the waiting room shortly after. Once I was done with the doctor, he was just going into an exam room. We waited for him to move his bulky self so that we could go past. Instead of following his Dad he tried to come to me. Some dogs! But I handled it very maturely.
As we were leaving the apartment to go to work, we passed a pug that lives there. I normally see this guy and he normally jumps all over my nose if I stick it too close to him. So I used some of the new skill I’ve been practising and walked right past him. When we got past, Mom and I threw a little party. I think I’m finally getting the hang of some of this dog stuff.
~Paige the Wonder Dog
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