Again!

We ran into another loose dog today! :(  This one was really scary.  We were at the park working on the 100 Jumps and after that I took Tibby for a little walk around the park.  I wanted to take some pictures of her.  The park is 55 acres.  There were 2 people walking with about 6 or 7 dogs off leash near the far side of the park, across 4 soccer fields and a baseball diamond.  They were letting the dogs swim in the lake.  Fine.  Great.  Whatever.  I was taking some pictures of Tibby in a little rose arbor and then we started to go back to the car.
Out of no where a huge, muscular brindle dog with a docked tail comes running toward us - full speed, head lowered, ears back and teeth showing.  I scooped Tibby up and the dog circled around us.  I kept turning to keep facing it, because it kept circling around us.  It started to come in fast again and I stepped into it and yelled, "NO!!  GO!!"   I may have also kicked at it. 
It turned away and then ran back to the group of dogs by the lake.

I'm glad I picked Tibby up, because it seemed to make the dog rethink what it was doing.  Even though the 2nd time it came toward us it looked like it was going to jump up toward Tibby.
During the whole thing Tibby just sat in my arms.  I think she was a little confused.  She did not try to chase after the dog when I finally set her down, so maybe she could tell that it wasn't a friendly dog.

The dog easily weighed more than me, so if it had jumped I wouldn't have been able to stopped it.  It not only wasn't on a leash (which is the posted park rule), it also didn't have a collar on. 

The scariest thing was the way it looked - focused - on Tibby.  Not A Fun Day.

Miracle Alert

I just took a relaxing stroll with Tibby and she had a loose leash the whole time.  Awe.  Yesterday at Petsmart I bought her an Easy Walk harness.  Today I put it on her and Poof! she could walk nicely.  Wow.  I held on to the leash with 2 fingers.  2 fingers!!  Not holding on with all my strength while she pulled me through snow banks.  We saw people, we saw cars, we passed dogs  - she was interested, but did not pull.  I kept waiting for the newness to wear off and for Tibby to start pulling again.  And hour later.....she was still perfect!
If she keeps walking like this I can take her anywhere with me.  Wonderful!  My Mom can walk her and I won't have to worry about Tibby pulling her over.  Brilliant!