Saturday, May 7, 2011

Every day is a new challenge

Me, Bella and family have returned to the countryside once more. It's an amazing feeling to return, especially as spring finally arrived. We relocated our frisbee again and Bella was even better at it this time. Maybe it's the post-pregnancy hormones but I was so touched and proud to see my terrier chasing that frisbee like a Border Collie might. With short terrier legs, she's also much better at bringing the frisbee back, either by putting it around her neck or in the air as she runs.
I am very proud of my little dog, especially seeing her give chase. I believe her 3D vision is impaired due to being one eyed but she didn't show it at all today.


Another trying thing we did so far this month was to attend a celebration of the dog school we went to. The owner was celebrating its first year of operation and owners and dogs were invited on the afternoon of 1st May.
Bella is very insecure and I haven't found enough opportunities for socialization. Thus I was uncertain if this would go too well when we entered the house and sure enough, Bella started barking and whining. We had to take a break and went outside to cool down a bit. I did at one point consider throwing in the towel and putting her back in the car but my stubborn side came through and back in we went.
The second time I made sure to keep her on the move, turning away from the other dogs as soon as she started getting upset. After two minutes we got near a few dogs and before she managed to get riled up and act silly we got close enough for her to meet them and be polite. We first met a Rottweiler pup and that was a breeze. Bella didn't make a sound after she got to meet the dogs. However, at least three dogs snarled and snapped at her so I had to handpick what dogs she could be near. The good part was that a lot more dogs were very polite so overall we left with a positive experience.


Having an insecure dog and seeing how other dogs react to her, it is obvious how smaller dogs tend to be more dog aggressive than larger ones. It's not too hard to understand, my own dog gets scared of big bouncy dogs and it is difficult to deal with but I will keep at it. With more experience I have gained a better understanding that in the world of dogs there are some that get along and others that don't.


Finally, our first of may event seems to have left some kind of an impression. We came across five dogs today and apart from the normal whiney behaviour, with the fifth dog Bella turned away from it and stopped making a sound as if it didn't matter.

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