First Day of School

Mabel attended her first training class last night (the humans all met last week, prior to bringing in the dogs), and I must say that we were proud! We were among the first to arrive, so the surroundings were still quiet and peaceful (or as quiet and peaceful as is possible when the dog park is located next to the interstate) when we entered the park and greeted two other sets of dog parents and their dogs, and Mabel remained very calm. She cautiously but happily sniffed the other dogs' faces and seemed oblivious to the proximity of the dogs' people (this was before the teachers came into the park and asked us to keep three feet between all dogs at all times, so it was Mabel's first and only chance to interact with the other dogs on this particular night).

We received confirmation that she still feels at ease more immediately with other dogs than she does with other people, and she needs slow introductions to people, ideally in calm environments, but she still did very well. She became scared of approaching people a couple times and so barked a bit and hurried to hide behind us, but she also calmed down with the assistant teacher and let her get close two times after initially barking and hiding (the first time the assistant teacher approached, it was just as an influx of dogs and people suddenly came flowing into the park and toward Mabel, which seemed to overwhelm her). Beyond other factors, last night's events were all happening in a new, busy environment that probably still felt overwhelming to Mabel even by the end of class. When the teacher, who has many years of experience with dogs, came up to Mabel for the first time while she was lying completely down--and thus perhaps feeling too vulnerable to the approach of a stranger--Mabel barked and hid behind us. But a couple weeks ago, when my sister who is not very comfortable with or knowledgeable about dogs came to the house and walked right up to her, Mabel--with Chance at her side--didn't seem to mind at all and just happily stood there waiting to be petted, tail wagging, so it seems likely that her reactions and feelings of fear and safety are strongly influenced, understandably, by the environment in which the introduction takes place and by her physical preparedness to engage in that introduction. I have no doubt whatsoever that this class will help her become more comfortable with and trusting of other humans--we just have to give her time to learn that the vast majority of people want to love her, not hurt her.

But overall, Mabel did great! We've known for a couple weeks now that she's a quick learner, and she showed that again last night. I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it plenty more times: she's eager to please. She demonstrated all the homework behaviors we'd practiced in the past week (and the ones we've been practicing on our own since we found her) very well--even despite our sense that we hadn't done enough practicing with her because of the chaotic nature of our lives right now. She calmly and quickly did the things we asked her to, and she seemed completely unnerved by the presence of the other dogs, even when a dog near her repeatedly became excitable and talkative. When we were in the large circle, practicing behaviors, one dog-human set at a time, I could see only one noticeable behavior that differentiated Mabel from the other dogs--the rest of the dogs stood next to or in front of their people and looked out into the circle, facing the other people and dogs. Mabel, however, always stood, sat, or lay facing us. It was as if she didn't give a damn about what was happening behind her--her priority was keeping her eyes (or just "eye," I guess) on us and making sure we didn't go anywhere.

We're excited to see all the progress we know she's going to make in the coming weeks. And just one clarification for any prospective adoptive families out there: I want to point out, as I've done before, that even when Mabel is scared, as in the instances I just mentioned, her instinct is not to be aggressive, not to growl, not to snap, not to lunge forward--her instinct is simply to bark a bit and hide. She doesn't want to go at the person of whom she's scared; she wants to get away. She's not aggressive, just scared, and time, patience, love, and continued exposure to people who want to care for her rather than hurt her are alleviating and will continue to alleviate that fear.