So as I posted a while ago, Otis is having trouble with strangers both entering our house and out in public. Today, we went to the beach for a walk, so of course there's lots and lots of people (dogs too!)...... Knowing this I was fully equipped with lots of treats and my clicker. The first people he encountered was a man by himself who he promptly growled at, and then a group of about 4 women who reeeeealllly wanted to pet him and it was honestly a bit embarrassing! He growled and barked at them and wanted no part in being near them.... luckily they didn't force any interaction and just kept walking, I did lots of clicking and treating for watching them calmly while they walked away. At this point I was super frustrated and was dreading the rest of our walk, but to my surprise he was a totally different dog for the remainder of the walk! Many people had dogs, so if you had a dog, you were okay in his book! He made lots of doggy friends and was able to say hi nicely to their owners too. He also let a young man and woman pet him that didn't have a dog, and another man while we were leaving he went right up to and immediately wanted attention from him. I needed a new ID tag for him, so we went to the pet store right afterwards for that. He loves the pet store, and he loves getting attention from everyone and anyone at the pet store. I wonder why he is so eager to get attention from everyone inside the pet store but is so nervous when we're out and about? Anyway, I try to visit the pet store just for the human interaction! Unfortunately it wasn't all good, we were in the parking lot and a woman was getting in her car and he growled at her briefly before hopping in our car. Overall this is positive progress, right!? I hope I can work this out of him soon while he's still (fairly) small, because I'm sure a full grown lab growling at you is much scarier than a 5 month old.
