Today, I listened to my dog.

Concerned at the wind.

As I walked Leia tonight I found my  mind preoccupied with how she always seems to get fearful when another dog sniffs her. most recently, she whirled around growling (like she was prepared to fight, but didn't want to) and then, when corrected, went as far away as possible and sat down. I was so concerned she might become dog aggressive that for two days I had been plotting and planning all sorts of ways to socialize and get her used to dogs and increase her responsiveness to commands outside the apartment. As I walked alongside the lake, the wind blew, briefly distracting me from my thoughts as Leia trailed along beside me. The she stopped suddenly and gazed up at the tree tops. The palms moved in the breeze and she stared, panting, at the trees. The next thing she did struck me so profoundly I decided to write this post about it... Leia flinched.

Sniffing everything.

It was so profound to me, in that moment, that I don't think a truck driving out of the lake could have created such a change in my thinking. Leia was scared. She was SCARED. Anxious, unsure, whatever you want to call it, she wasn't confident.

Inside the house she plays, bounces, spins, wags, can sit/give paw/lie down/etc on command, and loves just about everything, but outside the wind (The WIND!) stopped her in her tracks. I stood there, looking at my dog with new eyes and then walked her to the bench beside the lake, and sat down. We sat for about 15 minutes and she walked around on her 5' leash, sniffing and sniffing, looking at the trees, the wind, the lake, me, people, the pool, everything. The we walked alongside the lake, in the grass, and let her look into the lake. I showed her the fish and tossed them flower blossoms to make them kiss the surface. Leia was stunned, and a bit nervous. It was one of her first times meeting the fish. She almost fell in the lake for all the exploring. Then we continued our walk. Occasionally we would pause and practice sitting, giving a paw, "pound it," etc to work on concentration and it took a lot of patience on my part as this brand new world she was in was very distracting.

Looking at the water and fish.

At one point a palm branch smacked the side of a building causing her to jump and spin toward the sound as if she had been shot. It wasn't a quiet sound but a car door shutting is louder. Yet again the understanding sunk in, if the sound of a tree scares her, no wonder she growled at the dog! Was it ok? Well, maybe, after all she was essentially saying "You scare me! Get away!"   What was worse was that I, unknowingly set her up. She wants to meet other dogs, but then gets anxious. I need to slow down the meet. Maybe start by walking them past each other at a distance, then closing the distance until they walk alongside each other and then eventually do the introduction, but just walking up isn't working yet.

A Hopeful Looking Sunset

As we returned from the walk the new plan solidified: Build Confidence.  She likes people, meet people. Be outside more. Get comfortable out there. We don't have a yard but maybe on cooler days I can let her chill on the tennis court and watch the world, or make a long leash and sit by the lake and just let her adventure. We can take big walks to new parts of the neighborhood and maybe walk through the mall until she isn't so scared. We'll work on basic training both inside AND outside so she knows she needs to listen to me in both places, and have to security to be able to focus. We're going to work on recall and waiting to build patience and responsiveness. I am still expanding the plan, and it wont be easy, but she is so worth it, and I only want the best for her... We'll go slow, so as not to overwhelm her, but at the same time we'll keep moving forward so we don't stall. Hopefully Leia will come to love this new order.