President's Day with Maki and Mommy

Today I had the day off of work so I was home with Maki. I was supposed to do more separation training but it was a bit difficult due to the fact that yesterday sucked and he barked so much, I didn't want to piss off the neighbors more. I did manage to do a couple 20min sessions and a 30min, all successful! Then we did one more when Dan came home, again successful! However, 30min is usually his threshold so I'm not sure if this is improvement of just good reinforcement.

We went for a couple walks today including an hour long walk from 3-4 which went really well before meltdown. Here's a quick summary...

Peed in many bushes and on many trees

Walked very close to a not intimidated cat : success! curious but not obsessive

Avoided walking on grates in the sidewalk and pretty much any thing that resembles a grate?? what? why is he suddenly afraid of grates? We worked on this a little and he sat on a grate :)

Got barked at by a yapper in a car and a fenced dog : curious but not overly

At the end of the walk saw a greyhound dog across the street : agitated and interested but manageable

And then the meltdown : We were heading back to the complex apparently when everyone else had decided to take their dogs out for a walk and we were trapped like rats! We got to a corner where a lady was attempting to settle her fluffy pup by packing him full of treats but as we were halfway across the street the fluffy puppy fought through the mouth full of treats and got off a couple of barks. At the same moment Maki noticed a guy with a Boston Terrier on the sidewalk where we were headed, he freaked and started barking at fluffy and pulling vigorously. Finally got him headed the right direction but there was the Boston Terrier also be stuffed with treats and Wearing a Sweater!! Maki was unglued and barked at him and pulled like an ox. I lost it and started saying no to his barking, he kinda stopped but wasn't exactly sure what I was saying "no" to. We past the sweater wearing terrier and he caught a glimpse of a black lab across the street, dammit he pulls like a mad man. I try to get him to sit and settle down, which he surprisingly obeys my sit commands but is fixated at looking around for all the dogs. Finally I get him back in our complex zone and up into the apartment! Crash landing but we survived.

- Elizabeth