Lilly slunk her way onto the training field and took up her position under the shade netting, against the fence. Her body, her face, her mouth looked fairly relaxed … at least from a distance. Up close, however, a different story . Her pupils dilated. Tiny, uncontrolled tremors. Heart racing. I pretty much knew she wouldn’t run any of the exercises, but I thought she might settle in and just watch. I was wrong.
I sat with her and used accupressure points to get her breathing pattern to slow somewhat, but once the exercises turned to teeter performance, Lilly went into a full panic. Her gums looked nearly white.
I took her back to the car and watched the rest of the course alone.
Of the many strategies we discussed, one in particular seems perfect for Lilly … at least for those times when I can get her on the training field alone.
Our trainer called one exercise “Lighten Up,” where you simply run around the course, dog at your side, and any time the dog takes an obstacle, you have a big party. No cues, no set pattern, just run around and celebrate anything the dog does.
I think Lilly would like that game. I think she’d be good at it, when she’s calm enough to get up off the ground, that is.
I’m happy to say that Lilly doesn’t seem upset with me for taking her to the class. Unfortunately, she’s still pretty pissed about the bath from a couple weeks ago.
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