[nagdu] ranting handling skills?

[Julie J]

I told you guys as soon as I said how we were past dog distractions 
something would come up.  I popped into work this morning for a bit and on 
the way home we had two psycho dog encounters.

Before I get to that part, I should backtrack and explain that one of the 
reasons that Belle can't guide anymore is because of the many bad loose dog 
experiences.  None of them required a vet visit, but they added up to both 
her and me tensing at the sound of tags jingling coming toward us.

To this day I still tense a bit when I hear a loose dog coming our way, but 
I have improved a lot.  Probably Monty notices and I know that doesn't help, 
but it is a work in progress.

anyway today dog #1 is one that we have encountered many times and it's very 
unpredictable.  It's also the house on the corner and all too often I don't 
hear the little darling until I'm in the middle of crossing the street. 
Today we finished the street crossing in time to meet the loose dog.  Monty 
was distracted, so I just stopped, asked him to stand and rubbed his head 
until the owner finally retrieved her dog.  I decided to make a right turn 
to avoid going past the loose dog again.

Because of that turn we had to go down an alley to get home.  This really 
isn't a problem except that there are more dogs in backyards to go by.  One 
of these dogs came running at us full tilt and lunged at the fence about two 
feet from us.  Monty turned his head and his front half to get a good look 
as we walked by, but a firm "leave it" and he got back to business.

Although there is always room for improvement, I am pretty okay with the way 
he reacted in both situations.  I don't expect that he won't be distracted 
by a crazy dog coming at us full speed ahead.  I do expect that he will walk 
past calm, controlled dogs with no fuss.  But sometimes it's difficult to 
figure out what's what because I can't see the body language of the other 
dog.  I can't see if the tail is up wagging and the face is loose with 
tongue lolling or if the tail is out straight and the head is forward and 
down.  I just do the best I can and keep working at it.

I hope all of this is useful in some way.
Julie