Excited Teddy!!

Teddy did something amazing! She's been getting really excited about our daily walks to the park, but usually we put the leash on Breeze, Breeze gets excited, and her excitement gets Teddy excited. A few days ago all I had to do was rustle around with the leashes and Teddy bolted out of the bedroom into the living room by me and started jumping up and down in excitement!! Just like a puppy!! She made it very difficult to put the leash on, but when I did she bolted to the door and waited there anxiously for the rest of us, lol. It makes me so happy to see her happy <3

Since she loves her walks so much, I decided to try to use that to get to know strange people better. So the day after Arron came with us on our walk. He fed her cheese in my room, like usual, and she ate it, like usual, but then we all went for a walk. Arron was kinda trailing behind us, which made Teddy nervous as she couldn't see what he was doing, but after a while she stopped looking behind us to check on the 'threat'. When we got to the park he sat down at our usual picnic table and me and Teddy walked in front of him, back and forth, a little closer each time. And by the time we left the park she still didn't trust him, but she was alright with his presence. So on the way back home, without her seeing me, I handed the leash to Arron. She looked back, saw who had the leash, was definitely nervous, but kept walking with our pack! She kept me in between her and Arron (which made walking a little tricky, the leash was in my way!) but she knew he was the one with the leash and she kept walking anyway. When we passed a few people it proved to be too much for her and she went into a mild panic, but as soon as I took the leash back she calmed down again.

And today, since she loves other dogs so much, I thought I'd use that to get to know strange people. So we all went to the dog park today. Of course I didn't take her off the leash (I don't think she even knows Come Here yet), but we went around meeting other dogs and people. The car terrified her, I finally had to pick her up and put her in, but she didn't defecate out of fear like the last time she was in a car. So that's a minor improvement. But once we got to the park she was fine. We just walked around smelling interesting smells :) She met a lot of dogs, most of the friendly, a couple that freaked her out. There was one incident in particular. She was meeting with a new friend when a different dog barked loud and suddenly and scared the shit out of her! She jerked away so hard that when she got to the end of her leash she broke the ring on her harness! Luckily the jerk was enough to stop her so she didn't keep running and she stayed still long enough for me to attach the leash back on.

We went by the pond in the dog park. I figured being mostly lab she'd like water, but she hardly went in. She got her toes wet long enough to have a good drink and then went away. Hmm :/ But she did have her awesome moments (they seem to happen several times a day now!) There was a woman I sat by chatting with for a while and Teddy actually approached her curiously. She got within a foot of her! Willingly! Every time the woman stuck her hand out to pet her or to let her sniff she dart away, but when the woman ignored her Teddy went up to check her out! There was also a man she kind of approached. Walking by him she was nervous, but as soon as we got behind him she inched toward him to check him out. She didn't get nearly as close as she did to the woman, but even approaching a strange man to sniff him is a HUGE improvement!! It makes me so happy :D