Field Trip

Gorky had an adventure in the city on Sunday and did great! While he was definitely a little nervous by all the new sights and sounds, he's a resilient little guy and before long his tail was up and his butt was wagging. Thanks to my fully loaded treat bag he decided this city stuff wasn't so bad.

Looking towards Seattle Center from the edge of downtown

We didn't overwhelm him too much. Just a little walk with lots of sniffing (and peeing on) street trees. A streetcar drove by, as well as a bicycle, a skateboard and a bus and he took it all in stride - watching them carefully and then regularly checking in with me to make sure this was all safe.

Checking out all the street trees

The only thing he found really scary was riding in an elevator, but who can blame him! I mean how weird is a room that moves?!

Making sure nothing tries to sneak up behind him

On our way back to the car we stopped so he could admire the landscaping and we could avoid a Shiba Inu that was walking past. While Gorky isn't really reactive to other dogs when he's on leash, he does get hyper-alert and intense so we kept more of a distance to help him learn another dog on a leash isn't a big deal. That will be important for his continued acclimation to leash walking - no face to face or up close greetings while he learns to relax. Then he can slowly work up to closer distances to the other leashed dogs. Unleashed, he is totally relaxed around other dogs but on a leash he's still working on feeling safe.

It was a great experience for him though. It's always good to expose dogs to a variety of environments, just making sure the exposure level isn't overwhelming and the overall experience is a positive one for the dog.