Focused

Focused! That is what my Bella is when she is training. I know I have talked about Bella before. For those of you who don't know Bella, Bella is fear aggressive which also makes her not a very confident dog. I have been working with her for two months straight. In March we started walking at the park at 5:30 a.m. until 6:30 just to get her comfortable with being at the park. We would arrive in the dark and leave just as it was getting light. We did this until I felt she was ready to move to a different time.

We then moved to 6:00 and walked until 7:00. Walking and training the whole time. I worked on relaxation techniques and other training things like, sit, come, wait, and heel; leave it, and other things all the while we walked. At 6:30 people would start arriving. At that time we had to work on walking with people around. I had to get her used to other people being at the park. We started out slow keeping a great amount of space between us and the other people. That would mean we would sometimes have to jog. I am so not a jogger. lol. We built up to walking about a foot behind other people with no reaction from Bella at all. This was a major major accomplishment. We even walked next to a man one day and no reaction, how awesome Bella did with that. I was totally proud of her.

Anyway, Bella has been doing great at the park getting used to people walking in front of her and behind. She has also met new people at our house and has done great. Some people she got so comfortable with she actually let them feed her out of their hands and they were able to pet her. This might not sound like a lot to some people but, for Bella it is a huge accomplishment. She has gone from lunging at people to sometimes just barking a little at them or completely staying away to where she feels comfortable.

One of the things you do to help a dog build confidence is train. Agility is a great way to help them build confidence. Bella loves being given a job and is totally focused when you work with her. My husband built a doggie jungle gym and Bella loves it. Friday night he made jumps. Bella loves jumping. Today we took a ton of pictures of her and Bear (our sons pup) jumping. As you can see Bella is totally focused.

I am super proud of Bella she has come a long way. I know we have a long way to go but at least I know we can make it there together.

To think that in November we weren't sure she was workable and were afraid she would have to be put down. She had gotten so fearful and had bitten so we knew we had to do something. We had her evaluated and were told she can be turned around but it will take work and maintenance forever. It was totally worth the work. I have built such a good bond with her and she has learned to trust me completely. I love my Bella. I just want everyone to see the sweet side of our girl.

Thanks for reading our story :D