One good thing that can be said about this massive snow that we've received, is that is seems to be a confidence builder for Gibson. We had him make so many paths for us and he got so much praise for his efforts that there was a noticeable change. He's more relaxed, stands a bit taller and doesn't let himself get spooked over sudden noises.
On Sunday, I took him to Leesburg for an outing, which may have been a mistake. We started walking around Ida Lee Park. That went very well! Gibson didn't pay any attention to cars passing by, bravely barked at joggers--something he doesn't normally see--had a nice spring to his step and wagged his tail the entire time. He was concerned over a boy on a bike. The little guy was almost the same height as Gibson and was wearing a bike helmet, which seemed to take Gibson aback. Once the boy was talking and petting him, Gibson relaxed and while he seemed still puzzled by the little person with the odd thing on his head, enjoyed the pause in our walk. We practiced show stands while skateboarders went by and everything seemed just fine.
Our next stop was PetSmart to buy cookies. I should have left Gibson in the car! He was not thrilled about walking through the sliding doors and began to get apprehensive. I could see that he was trying to calm himself down and I thought a quick walk down the main aisle for Gibson to see more dogs would be good. The store was having an adoption event so it was crowded and noisy. As we tried to walk down the aisle, a volunteer was standing with a small dog and a pit pull. Gibson and the pit bull greeted each other, then when Gibson started to sniff the small dog, the pit bull went after him. We had no place to go, there was a display to the left of us, the pit bull to the right of us and more people behind us. The volunteer didn't seem inclined to back up with his growling, snapping dog, so I shoved/pulled Gibson out of the way. Poor Gibson, he was so rattled by it all! I worked at calming him down and I saw someone I know, so spent a few moments chatting to him. The pit bull was working his way down where I was standing and I decided that was a good time to pay for our cookies and get home. Gibson didn't even attempt to make eye contact with the other dog, but the pit bull lunged again as we went to the checkout counters (this time I kept a display between us and the pit bull). At the checkout counter, the cashier offered Gibson a cookie, but wanted to make him sit for it. I told him that Gibson didn't know that command but the kid kept saying "sit! sit!", raising his voice each time. Gibson went into full panic mode, tried to crawl into the space under the cash register, then tried to bolt for the door. Outside, his tail was tucked firmly under his belly. Once again, I massaged his ears, his tummy and could feel him start to settle. Then, he began to get frantic again--the pit bull was coming out the door! We dashed across the parking lot to the Sequoia. Gibson barely waited for the back door to open before he jumped into the back and the sanctuary of his crate. He didn't even want one of the good cookies I had just bought. He just stared at me with his eyes big and round. I won't be taking Gibson back to PetSmart anytime soon, and I'm wondering if this is just a setback or have I completely ruined him for the show ring?
No comments:
Post a Comment