Wishful thinking

This morning an amazing thing happened. I was out walking my dogs before work, there was someone coming towards me. I changed direction but her dog set off towards my pack quite fast. Having suffered numerous incidents in the last year, I didn't wait to see what it had in mind, but asked her to call her dog.... and here's the amazing thing..... she called it back to her. I have rarely seen such a marvellous thing occuring in park during the last year, and it really made me happy. No argument, no 'why should I', no 'oh he/she only wants to play' (as some rabid beast in full hunting mode charges into my dogs barking and snapping), no pretending that I cannot be seen or heard as they walk past me leaving me to try and fend their dog off. This kind of problem is a regular topic of conversation among all the dog owners I know, so is it just wishful thinking that things could be improved, or is there something that could be done?

On a completely different note, I have bought a cheap second hand camera off of ebay hoping to jazz up my blog. That was a week ago and it hasn't arrived yet. So feeling a bit like Bart Simpson I guess I will have to send a daily email of 'where's my camera?' WHERE'S MY CAMERA?' until it arrives! I need to get some pictures of my 'puppy', who is now as tall as my girls! Deece continues to be a ray of sunshine, his tail is constantly wagging and he is nearly always grinning. His canines are coming through now, although his baby canines are just about hanging on in there. He and Zazzy get on really well, and now Zazzy has got over her op she is more playful than I can remember her ever being before, so I am very happy about that. I have a six week plan going from operation to starting back training for agility. I can barely remember what it is though! Due to the bad weather we have hardly done any this winter. I guess I am feeling well adrift from agility, we have been out of competitive mode since last August.
I had a lovely time at 'The Dog Barn' near Chichester on Saturday. I met up with Laura who helped me do some restrained recalls, and in turn I helped her with Boomer's contacts. Boomer and Zazzy did their puppy class together, but he is streets ahead now, really fast and looking fantastic over the equipment, and has really muscled up! Laura brought her gorgeous borrowed sheltie to the co-ordination and balance workshop that I ran in the afternoon, and wow what a transformation! She has really done wonders with her. The course was really enjoyable and all the dogs seemed to have a fantastic time.