Highs and Lows

Well, we've had this little guy for over 3 weeks now.  There are some definite highs and definite lows.

High points:  he no longer cries in the car, is MUCH better about using his teeth, and is doing *really* well on potty training.

Low points:  still not eating well, still having poo issues, and is very tentative around people.  The latter is concerning me, and we have begun taking steps to hopefully fix this before it develops into a big problem.  We're going to have a few folks over the next few Sundays to be "awesome strangers"....and we took him on a few trips today to Petsmart, Petco, and wineries in Woodinville to either interact with people or watch people from afar.

Play by Play:
Encountered one really nice boy in Petsmart.  He was calm and asked if he could pet Doppler.  Sure thing....then he asked if he could pet Sagan.  Sure thing.  Sagan wagged a little and let the boy pet him calmly.  Boy talked to us about age and breed of dogs....

Encountered the same boy and his family a few aisles over (in the toy aisle...bonus).  Three people....all asked again if they could pet them (I love polite people), and this went well.  Even with 3 people surrounding him, he was wagging...perhaps a little tail tucking.  Things really broke open though when a boy pulled a tuggy toy out of the bin....Sagan went right up and started tugging with the boy.

Encountered a woman, her daughter, and a beautiful one year old cattle dog/something mix.  Everyone petted, and lots of dog sniffing.  Dog was calm, daughter was calm (the time to find calm kids is Saturday morning at Petsmart, people).  Exchange lasted about 3-4 minutes.  Sagan sat on the mom's feet.  Another woman came up (I was thinking this was a lot of people, but everything seemed to go ok).  Sagan left the woman's feet, and came up to the 3rd woman with his tail tucked.  Still sought her attention though.

Then, we went to Petco (we were looking for a SMALL easy walk harness...  ended up getting a halti harness because both stores were out of smalls!).  Petco was a lot busier, and Sagan barfed up a bit of breakfast hauling on the leash.  Whoops.  Even more reason to get the halti as we work on leash skills.  One woman wanted to pet him and kneeled down....he seemed a little overwhelmed, then a dog barked, and he went to check that out.

At the checkout, we chatted with a man with a lab.  Doppler loved the lab.  Man reached over to pet Sagan in Ross' arms.  Sagan did not clammer away like he sometimes does with me.  Man petted him from under his head and over his head.  No problem.  Same with the checkout lady.  Sagan wagged a bit when she petted him.

In Woodinville, he didn't really interact with people, though he did pull, wanted to see 2 groups of people at Columbia....  they were interested in wine, rather than dogs, though.  But a success that he wanted to go see them.

Hope things continue on this vein. :-)