[nagdu] Doggie spazziness/unfocus?

[Daryl Marie]

Hello!

Just looking for input.

I take Jenny to an off-leash park regularly.  We have very few problems walking there, but when my husband and I drive there with her, she gets so excited.  She starts happily whining when we're pulling in to the parking lot, and we have had some success working with her on not pulling when we get out of the car.

Last night, we went to visit my mother-in-law at a house she moved into a couple of months ago.  We have never taken Jenny there before, and last night she just completely lost her head - pulling, whining, not listening, even in harness.  The first thing out of my husband's mouth when we got out of the car was "She thinks we're at the park," accented by dogs barking from yards in every direction.  I will admit I lost my head, too, and got frustrated with my chowder-headed dog.  It got to the point that nearly wrestling her to the ground didn't even seem to get her focused.  What really sucks is that leaving the house, I thought I should bring her Halti, and decided not to... a decision I regretted upon exiting the car.

In the end, she calmed down once we got inside, she sniffed my Mother-in-law's Yorkie, stole a bone, and laid down calmly for two hours; getting back to the car was much better.

Any advice on dealing with this?  I admit I need to roll with this better, but Jenn needs to know that this behavior is not acceptable, PERIOD!

Daryl and the normally well-behaved Jenny