[NAGDU] Dogs and National Conventions

[rdgraves2007 at gmail.com]

Greetings NAGDU Friends,

 

I have a couple of questions that I want to pose, and I want to post them
separately to be sure nothing gets lost in translation as they are both very
important to me. True to the subject line, I want to start with a question
about national convention.

 

My girl has never been to a national convention. We've been together almost
five years but this will be her first convention. She is a major "sniffer"
and is easily distracted by other dogs. I have been working with her to try
to get her acclimated to the gentle leader, rewarding her with a treat when
I put it on, but she absolutely hates it. (She loves the treats, of course.)
After having the leader  on for just a minute or two, she starts rubbing her
face on me and everythin surrounding her trying to get it off. A little
embarrassing, not to mention the fact that I have to wonder how much she is
really paying attention if she is doing that.

 

This will be my first year serving as President of the Indiana affiliate,
and I'm not exactly sure yet what all of my responsibilities will be while
at the convention. I hate the tought of leaving my girl behind, but don't
want it to be overly taxing and/or stressful for either of us. So. my
question is this.

 

How many of you take your dogs with you to convention, and how many of you
elect not to do this? If you have a partner who is a major "sniffer" and
loves to meet and greet other dogs, how do you deal with these things?

 

Any feedback appreciated.

 

Diane Graves