PonyGirl Progress Report

Some thoughts on the PonyGirl experience, so far. My dog has come a long, long way. It seems that once she hit 2 years old, a subtle change took place and she suddenly became more 'domesticated'. Her 'wildness' seemed to wane a little bit. She now comes when called (most of the time). She actually 'leaves it' when I say 'leave it'. We figured out that 'wait' is something she understands and is willing to do. This comes in so handy on the trail. Yay! Slowly, we have come to an understanding of each other. She is still the most unusual dog I know. She is not the Cowgirl, as I have finally accepted. But, I have learned to read her like a good book. She is still a reactive type dog so it is important for me to pay attention to her and everything around us. ALL. THE. TIME. We still work on 'impulse control'. This is a tough one. But she tries. She can now restrain herself in the presence of a cat, but only when she is on leash. The good thing is that if a cat holds its ground, PonyGirl just stops. She doesn't attack, and for that I am so grateful. It's the 'chase' that delights her. But still....well, I guess she IS a dog, after all. Oh and the one real sweet thing is that she is learning to like cuddling in bed. I guess she decided I was serious when I kept telling her that this was a non-negotiable issue. She is still just a bag of bones but now she lets me kiss her and hold her close. I am relaxing more with her and she is too. Funny how that works.