A Good Week and Congratulating Myself

So, after a bit of drama with people who decide they know best (read: better) than I do about reading my dog and what he needs....we had a pretty good week.

While he wasn't a rock star at agility, he was: focused, calm, and willing to work for me.  His recall was great when he wandered a few times.  Nice.  He was calm and able to work in rally obedience.  In a 5-minute down across from his arch nemesis, Leon, the black lab....Leon kept creeping toward him while in a down.  Sagan watched, and would look at me each time for treats.  Super nice.

I decided too, since I am tired of being criticized (including by me, since I'm my own worst critic), I would make a list of all the lovely things I do for Sagan.  Yeah, this is just to make me feel better:

1) I researched agility places, and take him somewhere where we kennel dogs inbetween runs.
2) I take him to rally obedience classes, and have taken him to some obedience class since he was about 9 weeks old.
3) I take him swimming, because it is great exercise, and he doesn't have to interact with dogs there.
4) I take him running, and stop my run or alter my run to avoid other dogs or do protocols appropriately.
5) I take him on walks, and stop or alter the walk to avoid other dogs or do protocols appropriately.
6)  I have read at least 6 behavior books in an effort to persist in what is often an unsuccessful venture to get him calm around other dogs.
7) I keep a socialization log about how things are working (or not).
8) I've consulted two different behaviorists about what I can do for him, and practice those things on a regular basis.
9) I bought him an agility jump so we can practice at home.
10)  I take him to a doggie daycare that screens dogs, so I know he isn't getting bullied, and is getting good socialization off leash.
11)  I lather up Sagan's feet with paw toughener and Musher's wax so he doesn't rip up his paw pads at daycare.
12)  I bought Sagan dog toys to feed his meals to him in to exercise his brain.
13)  I took him to private agility classes as a pup to work on our relationship stuff.
14) I got him 100 free tennis balls from the local tennis club. :-)
15) I hand make bags of treats to use for socialization and classes.
16) I set up protocols with other dogs we know we can trust so he can work on his issues.

I'll add to this list as I think of more today.  I really am doing what I can, so I'll just have to wait and see if he gets a little better with some more maturity.

A fun picture for giggles.  Ross and I watched a movie last night on the Apple TV.  Sagan developed an obsession with the clicking noise coming from the remote.  Awesome.  LOL

Also, Sagan met Tonka, a 4-month old Mastiff puppy, who belongs to Donnelle and Jason.  While we didn't do any nose to nose greetings, Sagan did great with this, and OMG, is Tonka CUTE.