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And a day later we met up with another friend and *her* dogs and had a nice agility session (just handling with hoops) in a fenced off area. Molly was, once more, fine. Oh, she alert barked once or twice but chilled out when told. Mugged for treats, was sweet and relaxed and happy, even with kids hanging off the fence. Literal children, literally hanging off the fence and she ignored them entirely. She didn't even get agitated by one of the dog's chasing his ball directly into her face.

 

Y'all.


I know I keep acting shocked, but I keep being shocked. It's like we hit a certain point and everything started clicking into place. RAPIDLY.

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6o2WH0s97TH64vlHQGjWtU.jpg

 

 

 

7J7wJbw5StTxGOTwuhV8sQ.jpgShe's looking back at me, while I'm moving behind her - not stress staring intently away from the others.

 

53Lega8v21lVDdHtRYuNrq.jpgShe played disc. With another dog. Politely - and I mean REALLY politely. Only a little bit, but whoever got it? The other backed off. It was beautiful.

 

I also have pictures of her crawling into a person's lap and pressing her forehead in and taking treats and sitting and begging them or treats. But that's not me and I am not going to plaster her face all over, but you guys. YOU GUYS.

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I can't tell you how happy I am for you!!! I am loving the pictures and the updates and all of the amazing astonished comments from you! I love reading this thread because you got your dream come true :) anyone with a reactive dog has the same dream and we all know the work and tears that go into it. So happy for you please continue to post :)

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Thanks! I definitely intend to continue to update and kind of wish I'd started this thread sooner so more of the 'not so great' was visible. In part because I'm always so happy and amazed I want to yell from the rooftops, and in part because seeing other people having success gave me hope when I needed it.

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I *so* understand.

 

When I got my Missy at 3 y/o she was shut down, first thing she did was dive under a vehicle and plaster herself to the ground. It was a slow but sure years long process for her to blossom and be mostly comfortable in the world.

 

But it was so rewarding to go places with my normal, happy, relaxed dog and get complements on how good she was. She did training demos at a local school and eventually even became a therapy dog.

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Thanks! I definitely intend to continue to update and kind of wish I'd started this thread sooner so more of the 'not so great' was visible. In part because I'm always so happy and amazed I want to yell from the rooftops, and in part because seeing other people having success gave me hope when I needed it.

Exactly. I needed these success stories a few months ago, and others will follow.

Love the pics!

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Thank you both. I'm a bit ill at the moment which makes responding coherently challenging, but I REALLY appreciate the support, discourse, and other stories being shared here, a LOT.

 

In the interest of full disclosure, we had a bit of an 'incident' yesterday. We had an off leash beagle come tearing out of nowhere with an owner trailing behind and Molly was really, really unhappy about it. Molly was on leash, no contact was made, I don't have an issue with the response to be honest. I hate that she was uncomfortable, but she kept her head, sat and stayed put when I asked, stayed responsive, didn't lunge, just barked - a lot and with vigor.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Molly went to agility practice.


She did her first full course ever (jumpers), and okay we had an extra obstacle or two but she did pretty danged good for there being 14 of the things (plus her spare!) and never having seen more than 4 in a row before.


mostly? She was happy. She splashed around in the wading pool thing that was there, she rolled in the grass, she saw some of the dogs she's had a chance to get to know, saw some of her people friends (plus a lot of dogs and people she doesn't know at all). She was happy and focused and having a really good time out there.

 

Lots left to learn with actual agility, but I have the important part. A safe, comfortable dog who is having fun and wants to be there.

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  • 1 month later...

Bumping this because there's a relevant post on the forum right now.


Though as an update, last night she played some agility with a friend and friend dog, with a baseball game happening next door. She ran for my friend and at one point was running in TANDEM with her dog, LOL.

 

She's not exactly perfect. Rude dogs and cattle dogs are still not things she tolerates well at all, she'll spook once in a while at something weird, but keeping dogs out of her faces and her attention around ACDs is not exactly a burden. We'll see how she does this weekend.

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