Bravery

Tonight, I took a huge gamble and brought Marge with me to our club's meeting.  There are a lot of people, a lot of dogs, and a lot of commotion at the meetings, but I thought it could be a good opportunity for Marge to get out and experience a new situation.

She lapped up the whole thing.  She was a little worried in the beginning (especially when one individual opted to let her dog pull at the end of the leash rather than keep it close by her side), but really did amazingly and really just begged for attention.  There were a few yawns and some lip licks, but also quite a few play bows, soft eye blinks, and lounging around on the floor. There were LOTS of treats to be had, like string cheese, chicken cutlet, and pizza.

She made friends with people who I've never even spoken to before in my life!  She saw some of her friends, like a Border Terrier, a Yorkie, and a Bernese Mountain Dog, and also met a couple of new dogs, like a young Border Collie and a fellow black Labrador.

During the "Brags" section of the meeting, I bragged about her recent OAJ leg as well as the fact that this was the first time that I'd ever brought her to a meeting - and that if you would have asked me two years ago if I'd bring her to a place like this, I would have called you crazy!

So, yet again, Marge outdoes herself.  In this high-and-low journey of what it is to own a dog with fear and socialization problems, this was definitely one of the highs.