Growing Up

Ri seems to be going through a fear period right now, which is a little weird and a little frustrating for me. She is fine with other dogs and in different situations, but has decided that all strange people are scary. She does seem to have a quick recovery time once she has freaked out, but I really don’t like that she’s doing it at all. I hope it’s just a phase and she’ll mature out of it (somebody reassure me!).

She has also come down with a tummy bug, nothing serious but it did prompt a vet trip this morning. She has put on some weight in the past two weeks which confirms my suspicions that she’s done a bit more growing as well. She alarm-huffed at a small boy in the waiting room, so we did some Look at That! shaping (which ended when Rio decided Look at That! was boring, and that offering to shape with one of the chairs would be more fun). She reacted appropriately when she was scared, moving away and giving off lots of calming signals, but not really what I wanted to see.

Because of the tummy upset she won’t be going to Dogs Unleashed this weekend. It doesn’t seem to be infectious (it’s not what Dylan had, and the girls don’t have it), but since she’s dealing with that, exposing her to hundreds of other dogs isn’t a great idea. Might be the best idea anyway if she is in her teenage fear period, but I think she would have had fun lure coursing and playing baby agility.

Fingers crossed the show is going ahead, considering the weather. Dylan and the old ladies are due to flyball tomorrow, and Dylan is in the agility on Sunday.