Wow....Teagan and I's walk this morning.

We were doing our normal 5k route. She has been doing really good lately with ignoring other big/mid-sized dogs without any cues from me and behaving, if not ignoring, smaller dogs.

It's been 13.5 months since she attacked the dog. We were doing work before on her aggression, but we've really worked hard on the 'positive/keep mind occupied' thing and it's been paying off - slowly, but so effectively, and it's great bonding too.

So we saw a man coming with his (big/mid-sized - Husky/Shepherd mix) dog towards us so I moved off onto the grass and put Teags into a sit. She did fine until they came next to us and she broke her sit and pulled and acted like a jerk.

15 metres away he stopped (we'd said hello) and asked why she was in a muzzle. I explained she was aggressive to strange dogs, and we got to talking, I told him about the attack, he told me all about his dog who he'd adopted 2 weeks before (both Teagan and his dog, Sargeant Pepper, are Toronto Animal Services grads, so to speak), and how much he was enjoying him. The man had been in a car accident 3 years before and walking his dog was part of his daily rehab (2 hours a day) - they obviously really loved being together and it was really cool to see. He asked me about dog training and I mentioned Leerburg to him (of course).

Anyways, so he moved closer, and Teagan stared a bit but stayed sitting and eventually lay down! He moved closer, she got up in a bad way so I said that was too close, he backed off a bit, and then she sat back down and again, eventually lay down.

We ended up TWO METRES apart! You guys know, for Teagan, that's huge.

And then, the best part - Teagan was laying down at the distance, and his house was my direction, so we walked to his house together!!!!! Teagan on one side of me, his dog on the other side, I was petting his dog.

And they sniffed each other!!!! She let him sniff her butt, and then they sniffed noses!

Honestly, I can't even say how huge this was. SUCH a big deal. I thanked him so much for giving us the opportunity to do that! Go Teagan! Most people around here won't even pass us on the sidewalk when I'm out with her, even if I give them the whole sidewalk!!!

I think it's a combination of all the work we've done, and, b/c she's aggressive to strange dogs, it being a setting where we got to know each other.

Anyways, wow!!!!! I am so excited! And then afterwards we saw a smaller dog and she was well-behaved, but obviously ill-intentioned. And keeping with the 'there must be something in the water', later we passed by a man out with his baby (down a side street) and he turned his carriage so that his baby could see Teagan and said 'look at the big dog! What a pretty dog!'

Anyways, I am SO happy! YAY!

YAAAAYYYY!!!!!!

I actually got a little choked up for you!

That's great!

Goes to show how valuable the work you have put in is.

 Quote: JessicaKromer

YAAAAYYYY!!!!!!

I actually got a little choked up for you!

So did I. The work is never for nothing ... usually for both of us! WONDERFUL!

Go Teagan and Jennifer!! How exciting to have such a positive experience add into the weave of all of your hard training, and to have the chance to build upon such a great canine interaction!

Jen, you have given that dog a new lease on life.

I'm very proud of BOTH of you.

Wow, Jen!! Reading that brought a smile to my face! I'm happy for the both of you!

thanks guys!

honestly we couldn't have done without all of you and this board!

(i got a little teary too)

Yay Teagan and Jennifer! Awesome for her to lay down and "snooze" within feet of the enemy! Impossible she walked with the enemy down the street!

You have done wonders with this girl and I am proud of YOU as well as Teagan. Way to go keeping the faith!

Maybe you could arrange to meet that guy occasionally and go for a walk together?