Walkin' in a Weenie Wonderland... Or Not

For the past 3 weeks, Sophie and I have participated in Beginners Obedience Training at PetSmart.  It is a 6 week program and we meet once a week.  This has been a very interesting experience so far.  Sophie is almost a year and a half old so we are getting started at this a little late.  Chris (the fiance') wanted our stubborn puppy to be better behaved before we all have to coexist together in a few months. 

The first week of training, we worked on the commands "watch me" and sit.  Sophie generally has a good grasp of these two commands.  The second week, we concentrated on leash walking and greeting strangers appropriately.  I specifically asked about kids because Sophie is NOT a fan of little ones even though they LOVE her.  We practiced approaching a young girl in the store, but ofcourse Sophie did wonderfully because there were treats involved and the little girl did not squeal.  Last week, we worked on "leave it", "drop it", "take it", and "lay down". 

I went to my parents' house this weekend for some wedding planning and rest/relaxation.  Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day so my mom and I called up my brother and headed to a local park to walk on the trails.  I was feeling pretty confident about Sophie's training, so I thought this would be a great chance to show off her new skills.   

My mom was going to park in a parking lot away from most humans, but she missed the turn and we ended up parking by all of the playground equipment with easily a dozen squealing children.  I was already thinking this was going to be bad and so did Sophie because she was already starting to freak out before my mom even put the car in park.  As soon as we got out of the car, it started!  BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK!!!  Ofcourse, in the moment, I did not take a picture, but it looked a little like this...

My mom and brother's reaction. 

Needless to say, I was extremely embarassed.

 The kids did not seem phased by her barking and continued with squealing.  I had to pick her up, get her away from the kids, and give her some OT deep pressure to get her to calm down.  My mom and brother left us so we could chill out.  We ended up catching up with them after we calmed down.  Sophie did great walking on the leash after that initial craziness (minus one passing dog incident).

 

It is hard to be mad at this sweet face, but I will definitely be reporting this incident to her trainer tomorrow night.  Have a happy day! :)