How old is Lucy? When Cooper was about 1 1/2 I took him to visit my parents in Florida and to a dog park for the first time. I was scared, as was he. He would cower in the corner and not let any dogs go near him. We actually tried the park every other day for a week and it never got better.
A few months back I discovered a new dog park about 1/2 hour from where I live. I was scared to take him for fear another dog would hurt my little teapot (& am sure Coop sensed it). We were the only ones at the dog park for the first hour. He had a wonderful time playing with his ball by himself. Slowly, other dogs started coming into the small dog area and Cooper ran to the fence to greet them! I was so pleased by his behavior.
I really think that going when it's not crowded is really going to help. When we were in Florida, there must have been 15 dogs there when we arrived. Cooper was scared to death to enter that area, as was I. I'd try it again when you think it'll be less crowded, or perhaps there's another dog park in the area? |