jackienmutts
Honored Member
So ... I have to tell you what Makena and I did today. We had an appt at 11:00 at a local Starbucks to meet and be interviewed for a local magazine article. The writer does an article called "The Dog Next Door". In the November article (which is due in a few weeks), she wanted to focus on how Nosework has impacted/changed the life of a dog (just for reference, the last article was about a Search and Rescue dog). She knows the owner/director of our training facility, and asked her for some suggestions - and Teah suggested Makena and me! So - we spent 2 hrs with Jeanne (the writer) and covered just about everything. I believe a portion of the article will focus on how Nosework has helped to build her confidence, thereby helping her relax in her everyday life - and as a domino effect, it's helped with her reactivity. Dogs come with Nosework, she knows that - she still needs her space, but she trusts that I'll have her back (we're a solid team), and I think that she has so much fun, that *for her*, the good has outweighed the bad, so she'll accept the bad (other dogs) cuz she loves searching so much. It's a win/win. We sat outside and I could not have been prouder of her - for 2 hrs, she just laid there, people walked by several times with dogs, and she did great! All kinds of people came by and petted her and commented on how beautiful and well-behaved she was .. and of course, I ate that up!! 
I'll post a link to the article when the magazine comes out. Who'd have ever thought???
I'll post a link to the article when the magazine comes out. Who'd have ever thought???
Truly tho, I am very proud of her, she's come such a long long way, and I truly could not have been more proud of her today. No other word for her - she was just lovely today. She acted like such a lady, just laid there and watched the world so patiently. Two hours is an eternity for a dog! She does need her space (and most likely always will), and we did get up once and walk away when I saw someone coming straight at us with a very bouncy barky little dog - I wasn't going to sit there and ask for trouble. We just walked a few feet away and came right back after they passed and sat back down. She was aware they were coming, and saw them pass - no problem at all. When we were first arriving, she had just gotten out, we were still in the parking lot, and an SUV passed by with a GS in the back, barking and exploding all over the place (their windows were down enough for it to stick it's head out). My thought was .... that used be us!! 
About 20 min later, the driver walked by and commented on how gorgeous and well-behaved she was and asked if she could pet her - of course I said yes. She petted her for a minute, and as she walked away, she said "wow, I could only hope mine would act like this some day". To myself I was thinking ... oh, if you only knew ... but I just said "thank you". 
Bring extra treats!!!!