It was the worst of times, it was the best of times….in that order.

Day starts out well with a volunteer orientation for Canine Assisted Therapy, Inc.
After the meeting I asked if Misha could stop by the office and meet the nice people of this organization. She did; and growled at every single one of them for about 10 minutes.
She took treats from all of them, but still growled and even eliminated a bit on their rug (sorry!).
After about 15 minutes she was doing okay, but not great. She was still uncomfortable and looking for a way out. I led her to the room where they do the evaluations and began to play a game of "chase" with her. She loved it and had fun. I hope she remembers that part the next time she comes in the facility. Still, she was uncomfortable and wasn't trusting of the people.

Training was at 7:30pm as per usual and that went PHENOMENALLY well! Immediately, she went up to the trainer, who's apparently now her best friend. The trainer was very pleased and gave her a few treats. She believes the way to Misha's heart is through food. Of course, she's right. She suggested to have Misha receive "special" treats that only come from strangers. For example, Misha will never receive house food from me. Instead, the stranger can give her a small piece of hotdog, or even cheese. The trainer said to have new people only, (first time encounters) give her these special treats. Perhaps, Misha will catch on that every new person is there to give her goodies she doesn't otherwise get.
At the end of the class, Misha was getting treats from several strangers in the class and she willingly went up to them, tail high and wagging, ears perked, begging for treats.
This showed me that feeding her before class had nothing to do with her comfort level in class. She just needed to see the same people several times to be comfortable.

This Week's Homework

1. Keep practicing Leave It command
2. Time the 'stay'
3. Practice 'stay' and going around the dog - the dog cannot move while you are circling her
4. If possible, practice having strangers come to the house
5. Practice heeling and walking at different paces
6. SIT on command as soon as you stop walking (at any pace)
7. Practice "wait"
8. Something else I can't remember =(

Until next week.