Small Wins

Tuesday morning, my human and I were finishing a quiet walk at our favorite park when I spotted my dog nemesis across the grass and road.

He’s a friendly enough dog (I hear), the 40-poundish mutt smiles as he meanders and sniffs (a lot) while his human quietly trails him, a bit unaware of her surroundings, but you humans with reactive dogs know that’s kind of sometimes the least of your walk worries.

Well, I stopped, my human tossed treats on the ground, and you wouldn’t believe how amazing I was! I turned around, towards my human, for treats. Not once, not twice, but four times! Then, I kept walking. No Mabel Cradle or carrying needed, I walked away all on my own.

My human was so proud of me, talking and cheering me on that she barely cared about the onlookers behind us, on park benches, learning about local wildlife from the park ranger.

As we happily bounced and pranced towards our car, we spotted a small child, curled in a ball, crying and leaning against the woman’s bathroom door.

I heard my human ask, “Are you ok?” and the child responded in sign language. Usually, when I see a human, it’s a lot to hold back my loving alotness until my human knows the person wants to say hello, but I was so sweet and gentle, staying close by my human’s side.

Just then, another human got out of her car and said, “Is she with you?” My human asked the same question before I heard, “The park ranger is over there. I’ll get him,” and “ok, I’ll stay with her.”

We walked even closer than I’ve ever walked towards my nice-but-nemesis dog, trying to get Dave, the park ranger who followed us back to the little girl, while I looked over my shoulder, but I moved away from the dog!

Luckily, the child was with the group visiting the park and got separated from her chaperone. And, she seemed to shake off her stress and fear quickly when they reunited. 

And, well, I got lots and lots of treats for being a good girl every step of the way. I love treats, especially the Beef & Liverwurst snacks my mom makes.

Love, Mabel Sweet Good Girl

*This article also contains an affiliate link to the harness I (Mabel) wear to stay safe on walks.