While most people go to pet festivals and dog walks to spend a nice day out with their dog, we go for training. It’s difficult to find such large crowds of people, dogs, children, noises, and novel items in any other location. Of course, I have to be very diligent and keep an eye out so that Risa remains calm in these situations.
She was a bit nervous at first which I expected. But she was not so worried she couldn’t take the treats I’d brought along. We wandered around a bit checking out the entire grounds. Then I found a fairly open area with little canine traffic and started asking Ris for attention. Once she had settled enough to focus, we worked on some tricks. I was able to get her to do some rally behaviors as well as some freestyle.
Risa catching a scent on the wind while dogs and their people hang out behind her.
We moved to a new location where some kids were playing to do some more work. Kids make Risa pretty nervous so I found a spot where they were close by but not so close they’d bother her. Over the speakers, they started playing “I’ve Got a Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas. I couldn’t help but get into it and Ris and I did a small, impromptu freestyle dance. It was a bit restricted since she was on leash but she and I were having some fun. As we worked, I noticed someone watching us which made me smile.
As we did another lap around, I noticed one of the tents was dog-free and not too crowded. So Risa and I went in. I was a bit surprised to see she was a little nervous about being in there. I gave her a few treats and then we moved out from under it back into the open.
I was starting to run low on treats so I moved to a small grassy area near the large crowd. We did some work there but mostly I just rewarded Risa for attention on me. She got a little upset when she saw two young dogs playing but she never went into a full blown reaction the whole day. I was so proud of her!
We never stay at these events long as I know it’s pretty hard for Risa. However, she seems to better each time. 🙂
