Ringcraft on Tuesday evening was pretty good :-) Ria was very unsure about all the other dogs, but I took things slowly with her, and the actual showing bit wasn't bad at all - she was ok with being gone over, albeit moving was...interesting :-D Very much a puppy! We didn't have all four feet on the floor very much, she jumped and bounced down the mats and if I didn't have her attention so much on me she pulled like a train. But I was pleased with her confidence in that respect, and she seemed to enjoy herself!

After she'd been 3 times I decided she'd done enough and went and sat with her on my lap amongst all the big dogs. She wasn't happy to start with (the tail down trying to climb over my shoulder to get away reaction - without sound!), but by the time I left she was relaxed and even hit one of my friends Golden Retrievers on the head with her paw! I didn't try her on the ground in the vicinity, because she was doing so well I wanted to make sure we ended on a good note and didn't want to push it. She was very jumpy every time another dog barked/whined/howled (there was a Malamute who was employing all 3 which really didn't help...)

So all in all, quite positive for her first experience.

On Wednesday we had our first venture back into town since the motorbike incident. As we walked down near the road (her in my arms) she started panicking - not in a major screaming kind of way, but tail pinned down, struggling to get away. There had been a motorbike in the distance, so that may well have done it (timing!). I sat there for a bit trying to get control and calm her down, but she wasn't going to be so I started walking back up away from the road. Once she'd calmed down I gave her to mum (who was with me) to hold and started feeding her as we walked back down...she was so focused on the food she was fine, and as time went on I gradually extended the time between pieces. Thankfully we didn't encounter any motorbikes!

Once we got to the park I put her down and she saw gulls, pigeons and a duck or two....she wasn't very sure, ironically especially of the ducks! But it was quite an angry duck :-P But the most extreme reaction was tail clamped down (but not right between her legs), backing away barking - which is a definite improvement on tail between legs running away screaming! - and I just waited it out.

A much more positive experience than last time :-) Slowly but surely....

On Thursday I left her crated during the day for the first time....was a bit aprehensive as it was the first time she'd been left with no-one around at all (she's been left alone, but where someone could hear her if something happened) but she seemed ok - everything was in one piece when I came home, anyway!

In the evening she came to agility again. She's definitely much warier/jumpier about sudden/loud noises now, but the previous week she'd met a young Beardie and wasn't too sure....so I was very happy to see upon encountering the same dog this week she was much more confident right from the start :-)

On Friday she had her first bath! I've been meaning to do it for a couple of weeks, but she's a poo eater and I've been giving her pineapple to see if it works on her....now she ADORES pineapple. And I had a glass of pineapple on Friday morning....and she thought it was for her :-P The end result was pineapple juice everywhere and a sticky puppy! She was actually very good in the bath, much better than I was expecting....and ok under the dryer as well, albeit I used a low power hair dryer. She certainly wasn't scared - the biggest problem was stopping her getting too wound up!

Took her for another outing to town earlier, though still jumpy she was better than the previous occasion! A motorbike passed us this time...poor girl jumped 6 feet.

I'm so done for lol...can't keep up with her! She's getting her first "show" experience tomorrow - a companion show with obedience.