A bit of a update on Shy and his progress

Well today after chores and such this morning i took Shy and Sidney out with me for my run around town. I decided to bring Sydney with us because Shy is very attached to her and I knew an older more experienced dog might help the situation. Once we got to town I got both the dogs on their leashes and went inot the feed store. Just about every little shop in town will alow you to bring your dogs in with you which is a plus lol. In the feed store there was a few people and Shy automatically froze but Sydney just went about sniffing people and enjoying the attention and praise. Shy did'nt try to flee and he did'nt growl or whine either he just kept a safe distance from every aproaching person just looking on with interest. He did pretty good in there and so after we got what we needed I decided we could just walk around town a bit and look at the christmas lights and window decorations. Alot more socialbilty for Shy he had to walk through crowded areas. We spent about an hour and a halph in town and by the end he was walking comfortably through out the crowds and even wagging his tail which was a break threw all that asked to pet Shy I asked to give him some time and just talk to him a bit and that I was just taking it slow with him before he would be able to alow strangers to touch him. But he's made progress and is doing better so im proud lol.

 

Thats great! Just keep it up!

 

That sounds great! With Bonnie, our shy dog, we never push her. But we never act concerned when she is scared, either. We just pretend everything is fine (because it is) and she usually comes around.

This fall we went to a Highland Festival and took the dogs with us. We love sitting in the music tents and listening to the performances, but the speakers can be very loud. Bonnie had already been to the Renaissance Festival with us, and there she liked to "hide" under the benches when we sat down. But at the Highland games, there were no benches - just folding chairs. When the music started, she tried to cram herself under the chair I was sitting on or stand behind it. I finally pulled her up on my lap (she just barely fits) and held her. I just petted her calmly and listened to the music. Eventually she got down off my lap. By the end of the day, she was sitting or lying down calmly on the ground in front of my chair. Mission accomplished! (I also would treat both dogs for sitting or lying quietly. And because I train both voice commands and hand signals, I could run Nala through her commands using only hand signals so she didn't get so bored.)

We've had Bonnie for about 9 months now, and she is becoming a lot more confident.

 

"We've had Bonnie for about 9 months now, and she is becoming a lot more confident."

cant believe its been that long, seems like just yesterday I was pestering you to keep her

honeybear

 

Man!! Has it been that long already! I think you had just gotten Bonnie when i first joined here...

 

Best decision I ever made, honeybears. I love her to death. She's lying on my foot as we speak.

We brought her home in the middle of March for her "weekend" with us. :roll:

 

yup...and you posted about nalas agression....

 

Hmmm....Nala was never aggressive. We did try to adopt a dog right before Bonnie who was aggressive toward Nala. Maybe that's what you are remembering?

 

Oh yeah. thats it! it was a male right???
:roll: brain fart.....

 

Yes, male Australian Shepherd. He was a sweetie but really needed to be an only dog. He had issues after two bad adoptions which both ended with him out on the streets. The most horrible part of the story is that he was first adopted out as a puppy, so had he gone to a good home he would have been an awesome dog. Instead, they slipped through the cracks and got him as a Christmas present who was thrown out on the streets after the novelty wore off. The shelter does not adopt to people who intend to give the dog as a gift, but they must have lied on their application.