Luuuucy -Goooosey

Lucy had a big socialization day yesterday! She went with me to a follow up lesson with Gus, the German Shepherd. We met at Collins Hill Park. Gus needed work around small, screaming kids that come close to him. So Lucy got a lesson in it as well. She did very well. She was very alert but never barked, growled or seemed too distraught about the situation. I even had Gus' owner, Abigail, take the leash with Lucy for a while, while I worked with Gus. She didn't seemed too bothered at all that Abigail had the leash. She's still a bit hesitant for other people to touch her but I've got that in the works to get fixed. We're going to do what's called a collapsing circle with Lucy. I need to get 12-15 people together to do it though. The gist of it is, I'll have to muzzle Lucy for safety purposes in the beginning. We'll do a series of tasks teaching Lucy that people aren't out to hurt her. She'll then have to meet & let each person touch her & we'll continue the process until she seems to be a bit less stressed & willing to let people touch her without giving those funny looks I don't care to see. I'll update you more on that when I get a group of volunteers together of people she doesn't know. On a side note, I'd like you to notice, since I've pulled the camera out to take these pictures, Lucy refuses to look at me...... what a stinker.

Stella & Vinnie's momma as well as Laila & her owner (a trainee from 2 years ago) joined us at the park to take advantage of the opportunity to work around the great distractions. They are doing wonderful & it's always great to keep up with past clients & their pups! Vinnie got cold & needed a bit of warming up thought ;o)