A work in progress

My mom asked me the other day how we were doing with Dottie's training when it comes to working on her being more calm when she sees other dogs on the street. Dottie sees every dog/person/leaf/twig/pebble as a possible new best friend and it's very hard for her to contain her excitement. When she was a puppy she would pull and whine and act like a lunatic whenever she saw a new "perspective soul mate," and we didn't let her immediately run over to say hi. After a looooooooootttttt of training and the fact that she is now a very old and very mature one year old pup we have seen some significant progress in her inner calmness. Here she is last weekend on her first trip to Lake Eola Park, which was also full of other dogs.


Can't you just feel the calmness poring for her very being? Really, you can't? Maybe if you try squinting your eyes and turning your head 270 degrees. Believe it or not, even though she couldn't quite contain herself enough to keep her butt on the floor, this is progress. She did stand up and pull a wee tad on the leash, but she didn't buck like a bronco, or whine like a dog who is being tortured with a red hot poker as she saw her chances of everlasting friendship walk past. Maybe with even more training, by the time she's one and a half we'll have mastered her ability to harness her inner zen. Well at least that's the goal. You always have to aim high, right?