This week was focused on refinement in a lot of ways. Rosie is starting to understand in her “heel” when she pulls ahead to stop and look back and return to the heel. I would say she heels correctly about 70 percent of the time. She still likes to forge ahead and sniff the ground or she will get distracted with another dog. But overall for almost 30 days in she is doing well. She learned “place” this week as well as “touch” and “stand.” She is also growing in her confidence and is less timid around other dogs and new environments. The institutional walks have been very successful in helping with her confidence as well. There are a lot of distractions and she stays engaged with her handler constantly checking in with eye contact.
On Sunday we did a play time with Maverick who is a big dog with high energy. This was the first time she has played with a dog with this kind of energy and she did great. Had this play time occurred when she first arrived here, it would have gone very differently. A month ago, Rosie was very timid of other dogs and the first few introductions we did with her she would cower away and often yelp if the other dog approached with high energy. With Maverick the energy was very high and she responded very well. She was a bit reactive with showing her teeth and nipping at him throughout the play time but Maverick didn’t react or correct her. It was perfect for her to experience a high energy dog without aggression from either dog. She is learning that other dogs can be safe and there is no need to be fearful of every dog.
