I haven't posted in a while, although I still visit often. (I'm such a creeper!)

Training is going well with Ollie. I had taken a break from bringing him to work and instead made sure to get home early, go by on my lunch ect. (He had some anxiety at my office when strangers would come around...)

Three wonderful things happened in the last week. While on a walk, a husky ran up to us, tethered to the porch but still able to get to the sidewalk. He was barking and freaking out. Ollie had almost no reaction. He became alert, but still walked by me and did not respond to the other dog. Then,I brought him to the office the other day, and he was as cool as a cucumber...never even bothered to try and move away from my side and didn't get rigid when people came by. (He was still tethered to me of course!) And finally, I took him to a soccer game last night at a local park. It's an area where it's easy enough to steer clear of people for the most part...and an evening game so the attendance was low. He did great with the whistles, balls flying, kids running around and people talking to him. He was calm and stayed right by me, only showing signs of breaking command when some kids were playing close by. (He loves kids.)He wagged his tail and got excited, but stayed where he was supposed to. (Always leashed but never pulling against it.) I surprisingly didn't have any kids running up to us or adults trying to pet him. There was a little girl who asked if she could pet him, so politely and from a distance, that I put Ollie in a down/stay and allowed her to pet him for a minute. I think that was the highlight of his evening.

His recall still isn't reliable, and I don't know that it will ever be, but he has become a terrific hiking companion, and really trusting me. It's a good feeling. His manners outside the home were never really bad, he was just anxious in some situations. Now he's pretty much indifferent.

Thanks for all the advice, whether directly given to me or to someone else. If I'm doing anything right, it's thanks to this site.

Sounds great! Keep up the good work