Princess – First Adoption Event: Day 1

Today was Day 1 of a weekend-long adoption event being held by Tails of the Misunderstood, the rescue group for whom I’m fostering and training Princess. This was a big deal for Princess: it was her very first event, and she had to deal with a lot of stimulation… and some unexpected situations.

Overall, Princess did amazingly well with the event. She did an excellent job of controlling her tendency to jump on people, and when a problem arose without any warning, she made a valiant effort to ignore it and stay close to me. Unfortunately, she did end up almost yanking me off my feet because the situation escalated, but I was proud of her for at least trying to stay calm.

Princess met several people today, including some older children. She did an amazing job of minding her manners. Due to the stress signals she was exhibiting [heavy panting, nervous pacing], we only stayed at the event for just under two hours. She was so exhausted she fell asleep in the car before we were even out of the parking lot…

Tomorrow is Day 2 of the adoption event. I expect things will be much better for her tomorrow, and we’ll be able to stay for the duration. I still have a lot of work to do with Princess [pulling is still a big problem], but she is working hard, and that’s all I can ask of her.