One thing that Cody's former foster mom told me is that he enjoys his walks. I loved that Cody already loved getting outside as that made socialization easier for me to continue. Getting a shy or insecure dog out into public can be a gamble and you may end up with a frozen dog overwhelmed by all the stimulus around them. When I know I am dealing with a dog who has a low threshold I always start slow and try to slowly increase the stimulus. For Cody, this mean a walk around our quiet neighborhood, a long walk in a quiet park during the middle of a work day, a short walk my work place, and finally, a walk in a public park located in busy downtown Bellevue.
Sharing a sniff
Unsurprisingly, Cody thrived on his walk and wanted to continue past the point where we had to head back. Typical of downtown, we walked with a lot of noise from the cars and strangers passing around us. Cody ignored it all to focus on all the interesting smells and myriad bushes, trees, and trashcans to mark.
For the most park everyone went the same direction....
Sometimes a difference of opinion occurred...
But everyone came back together eventually!
One thing we need to work on a little bit with Cody is lessening his "bull in a china shop" tendencies. He's not very aware of his own body and the space it takes up so he tends to barrel into whatever gets in his way - walls, chair legs, water bowls, and other dogs. In the video below he demonstrates this, repeatedly causing Maya or Sappho to have to adjust to make way for Cody and his big booty.
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