Bella proved that her social skills are slowly but surely improving, especially when compared to last year's walk; this year, she actually even approached a few strangers asking for attention on her own! She sat quietly and accepted the attention that people were giving her and she even got several compliments on her "I'm a Lover not a Fighter" t-shirt! (Better that, than getting dirty looks for her bald spots on her sides from her itching/allergies). She did get a bit spooked by a life-sized stuffed dog that was displaying a doggie-jacket in one of the vendor booths, but I made her sit next to it for a few minutes so she could see that it wasn't anything to be afraid of; then there were also the scary flags that lined the barriers at the starting gate of the dog walk, but again after spending a few minutes walking back and forth past them she settled down nicely. I'm quite pleased with her progress overall and am looking forward to an even better time next year!
Bella also made a new canine friend at the event, a little chocolate colored Pit Bull named Keelie. Keelie and her owner were part of our dog pack (team). I had met Keelie before and knew she was a sweet girl, granted she has lots of energy, but I had a feeling that, if Bella could get past that they would probably hit it off; they did, after some nose to nose sniffing, Keelie rolled over on her back and they became instant friends. I'd love to get them together one day where they can run around off leash I think they would have a blast together.
We had a great time, got some good socialization and exercise and our team, Dogs R Us, raised almost $600 to benefit the no kill shelter! The forecast called for rain but fortunately we didn't have anything more than a few sprinkles. All in all it was an awesome day!
