I’ve been working for several months with Annie on her fear of strange places… our new, beautiful, dog-friendly, town library is one of those places where she feels ill-at-ease. For the past few months, I’ve been driving Annie over there, walking her over to the front door, pausing and treating her all the way, then turning and walking her back to the car. Happy, happy, happy. For the past two weeks, I’ve been opening the big scary front door and taking her into the vestibule… she’s continued to be happy – accepting her treats and heading back to the car. Last week, she seemed so happy that I headed her right into the main area of the library and over to the circulation desk where she met two different people. All the time, she seemed happy, wagging her tail, and accepting treats. With this brief encounter with the inside of the library, we headed back out to the car.
Yesterday, we made great headway… down the walk way, through the big doors and vestibule, into the main area of the library, and over to the DVD shelves. All the time, Annie was happy, wagging her tail, and accepting treats. Since I wasn’t able to find a movie within five minutes, I decided to return her to the car while she was still wagging her tail and accepting treats. I then returned to finish making my selection. Definite improvement. Baby steps are important to take with a shy dog… and they’re paying off. I know she’ll get there!
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