hope and expectations

October 19, 2013 by ldmaking 2 Comments

Today was a reminder that sometimes things don’t go as well as you’d hoped. Sadly, things went as I expected. Perhaps I set myself (and Molly) up for failure just by ‘expecting’ but that doesn’t mean I stopped hoping.

I asked a couple of friends if they would mind swinging by the house one night next week to take Molly for a little walk as I have to zip out of town for a few hours after work. They immediately agreed as they had puppy-sat for me last year and love her. Now, because I’d made some changes to the tools with which I walk Molly (using a Halti now instead of the chain collar) and there have been a few shifts in her behaviour, I asked them to drop by so I could run through a few things. They did and she didn’t like it.

At first she was wiggles and happiness but then her demeanor shifted and she growled and snapped. I asked them to give her a command (make her work for everything) and she listened but when they would try to pet her again…growl and snap. This happened a couple of times. My friends were very understanding but did appear saddened by her behavior…and I couldn’t help but feel responsible.

What am I doing? What have I done wrong? She listens to me. She follows me beautifully. I just can’t get her to feel the same with people she knows…let alone people she’s never met. Am I missing something? I wish I knew what was going on in her pretty little head. I feel like I’m letting her down but I don’t know what to do.

My friends are still going to come by next week to take her for a walk. There’s a part of me that wonders if I’m a contributing factor and she might be fine when I’m not here. But I’m nervous and I feel horrible.

To calm us both down we went for a walk and she was lovely but..and here we go again…am I the right person for Miss Molly?