Socialization Success

Last week, I wrote that Woody moved on to advanced behavior work. Woody's biggest issue is not being able to channel his energy when guests are around, which leads to a whole series of other problems. St. Patrick's Day was a huge test for him because I had a nice sized group of people at my apartment to begin the festivities. I was nervous at first, unsure what to expect and if any of his training would even stick with this slue of new stimuli. Turns out, it did. Sure, he tried to mount more than a few times, but he jumped off as soon as I called his name. Before, it took a squirt gun to get him to hop off. This, my friends, is progress.

Pre St. Patrick's Day.

Post St. Patrick's Day.

I'm quite excited for my phone chat with Dr. Feltes tomorrow to tell her how awesome Woody was with my guests, though I must take credit for some of it. As I've said before, half the battle with helping Woody be a better dog is my ability to understand him. in the past, I feel like when people were over I would get so stressed and nervous when he wasn't behaving. Now, I'm much more calm with him and can actually prevent bad behavior before it starts. I continue to ask myself the question "who is training who here?"