Happy Valentine's Day to all!

I know that we are falling behind in the updates on Molly ... we've gone from daily to weekly. Not bad, I'd say. This week with Molly has been a good one. We've been giving her a Bach Flower Remedy mixed up especially for her by Koji's Kitchen. Actually, KK made us 3 different remedies for Molly. Two were mixed up to address specific behaviors and the 3rd is a "catch-all" of sorts called Rescue Remedy. So, the general approach is to give one remedy at a time (except the Rescue Remedy can be given in conjunction with another remedy). You give 4 drops 4 times per day for 5 days and then go to 4 drops 3 times per day for a day, 2 times, etc. until you are done. The first remedy we gave her was to address some separation anxiety that she seemed to be developing. Late last week Molly was starting to get anxious as we were leaving and barked and scratched at the front door one day. So, we are going down to 2 drops per day today and Molly is much improved! Now when we leave there isn't a nervous dance as we get our coats on, etc. Molly sits and watches us get ready and as we leave we give her a treat. She is back to being more interested in the treat than the fact that her people are leaving.

The next remedy is to address some fear of other dogs, pulling the leash, too much interest in cats. We are very hopefully that this remedy will have the same great improvements! We will wait to start it until Thursday and then she will have had 5 full days of drops 4 times per day when we go to doggie class in 2 weeks. In the meantime, we will use the Rescue Remedy to help make her less anxious at class. See, Molly is 3 yrs old, but hasn't had much socialization with other dogs. She is not aggressive, but she really doesn't know what to do. She wants to play, bark, jump, etc. We had our first doggie obedience class at PetSmart this week. She was wired as we arrived (because we weren't smart enough to use the Rescue Remedy!) We did some laps in the parking lot to burn off some of the excitement and then heading in. The instructor met us at the front of the store and walked with us to the class area. There were 6 other dogs in the room and Molly (and us) were assigned to sit between a labradoodle and a standard poodle. Molly has never been in the same room with 6 other dogs and soon the 7th dog walked in. If they gave out gold stars for barking, she would have been the winner. Overall she did good. She tried to meet her neighbors, but they both snapped at her. She barked. She sat quietly and then laid down quietly. Then she barked some more. The class was pretty much about the instructor learning about our dogs and their issues ... which Molly demonstrated pretty well. At the end of the hour some of the owners had their dogs meet other dogs. Molly met 4 or 5 of them and did well. Again, she barked at some, but seemed to get the idea that you sniff and then move on. We've been working with her on commands, so if all she learns in this class is that dogs are okay, we'll be thrilled!

Dave is working a double today, so after dropping him off this morning Molly and I spent time at 2 different outdoor shopping centers and a different park. We just want to get her exposed to different things and to learn that not every person will pet her. Today was a great success on both fronts! Molly sends everyone a big wet dog lick for Valentines!