I Wouldn't Be Telling the Truth If...

We took Bo to Austin's hair cut appointment this morning. He stayed in a down stay for about 20 minutes but never settled to a relaxed position with his head on the floor for more than a few seconds. The distractions were few, so I worked him without treats. He remained in his down stay as I left his side to look at products. He also remained in a down stay as staff and customers walked past him.

After 20 minutes, he began whining quietly. I waited for a few seconds of quiet and then cued him to stand and walk with me. We went to Austin getting his hair cut and he jumped on me and barked. He did not paw swipe, so I made an assumption that he was demonstrating adolescent dog behavior rather than a futile attempt at an alert. After walking him out of the salon and placing him in the car, I checked Austin's blood sugar. He was 144 with no insulin on board.  (Note: Bo was in the car for about 5 minutes. The temperature outside was in the mid 40s and Bo was in our complete view the entire time. ) 

Bo has demonstrated this behavior before when I've been working him in public. As you can imagine, the behavior concerns me. It concerns me because in order for Bo to work in public he will need to be able to settle quietly for extended periods of time. After all, if his training is successful, he will end up working along side Austin one day and most of his time will be spent by Austin's side being well --- bored.

I wouldn't be telling the truth if I said training sessions like the one today don't cause me to worry about Bo's ability to work in public, because I do. What I don't do however, is allow the worry to stifle me or keep me from giving 110% percent to Bo's training. I am committed to doing everything I can do to provide Bo with the skills he needs to be the best that he can be. His steady progress and willingness to learn keep me hopeful and optimistic that the challenges we face today will one day be mere blips in our journey.