Duncan the Incredible

I just can't believe it. He continues to surprise and impress me over and over again. Duncan had a big afternoon today as far as accomplishments go. Hold on to your breath here, he may take it away!

Ok, so first I took him for a quick visit to the Vet after work today. Wanted to get him a "once over" and also have his teeth checked out. I've waited awhile to make this visit until I felt Duncan might be able to handle it. And after the week he's had, I thought maybe he could do it now. When we got to the Vet's office and there were a few people in the waiting room. Duncan did absolutely no cowering or trembling at all! He made friends with a cute little Dachshund, paying absolutely no attention to this new friends owner. The fact that he made friends with another dog is not surprising-he gets along with other dog fantastically. What I was surprised about was that he was not overly nervous about being around several strangers. He noticed them, but did not react in what I've come to know as his normal nervous behavior. I guess normal isn't normal anymore. When it was our turn, he followed me into the exam room without issue and let me pick him up and put him on the table. He let the Vet, Dr. Justin Roach, examine him and remained very calm the whole time. Unfortunately, I was correct that Duncan's teeth are in serious need of a cleaning-lots of tartar. So I'll have to schedule that shortly here. After we talked a bit and Duncan was back down on the floor he even approached Dr. Roach of his own accord and let him pet him. I was so proud of him!

Since Duncan handled the people that he encountered at the Vet's office so well I decided to go ahead and take him to another local park. So we went down to Mackin Park. This is a larger park than the one I have been taking him to, and it is considerably more busy as well. There would be more people that he would have to interact with. When we got there, he seemed to know we were going for a walk and was eager to do so. There were a couple of joggers that passed us that made him a little nervous, but nothing serious. We passed a group a people standing to once side of the walking path-one man standing right at the edge of the path, and Duncan passed right by without flinching. He just kept trotting along happily. He's a very polite walker. Me moves on ahead eagerly but does not pull, and my corrections for keeping him on the left side are becoming much less necessary. When we got around to the playground he was just a little nervous. Children were playing and screaming and it worried him just a bit. But he kept moving, and once we were past he was absolutely fine. When we got back to the car he seemed so content and stress free that I decided to try to get him to do a little more. So...

We stopped by Petco on the way home! He did wonderfully! The sliding doors made him a little nervous-perfectly understandable. But he went through them, and walked around the store with me like it was no big deal. It was of course a quiet Friday night, so it was a little easier on him than a bustling Saturday morning would have been. But there were a few people there that he had to encounter, and he walked down the isles and past folks with absolutely no concern. He was a little nervous when a woman past by with a cart but again, nothing serious.

If the weather is nice tomorrow, I am going to take him down to English Landing Park. I think he will just love it there!