I've wanted to see if Abigail has what it takes to be a therapy dog; but, she must complete this course. We're three classes into an 8 week course. I trust / respect the trainer - she worked with attack dogs in the military. Hard to 'see' that, as she's just this itty bitty petite little thing
This trainer rescues all kinds of dogs, and has pix of other Yorkies with whom she has worked. I feel blessed that our community has her. My problem is that each session has me in knots. Abigail is the smallest dog, and her very presence seems to upset the larger breeds. And, we are talking LARGER breeds (GSD, Labs, Husky mix). Now, Ms Abigail is (of course
) the perfect little lady - no barking or snapping at other dogs. I must say I've been truly amazed at her demeanor when we're away from the house. She's a completely different animal than the one that won't even let us watch animal shows on TV! I am so proud of her. Anyway....back to my point. She got really scared in class yesterday, as two of the larger dogs had lots of negative energy going on between themselves. She asked to be picked up, but that's a class "no-no"
, Trainer says if I pick her up, it will reinforce that I think there is danger (well..."helllllooo!" lol), and she needs to deal with other dogs/people. At one point, she was so scared, she refused to move. The trainer took over. I was almost in tears from the stress. Abbie trusts me not to let anything hurt her. I would just die if one of the other dogs got loose and we were another YT statistic
. When we get home from classes, she's so worn out, and I'm so stressed I can hardly move. I guess
I just need some opinions from other Yorkie owners if y'all think I'm asking too much from her, and I needed to just write out my feelings, I guess. The trainer is very impressed with her - considering she's in a room full of dogs that seem to want nothing more than to get to her
.