Lately Barry’s confidence is growing and his anxiety with new and different experiences is getting much better. I decided it was time for him to visit our little town of Kanab and hang out at my house for a little while. I was working the middle shift (from 2pm until 11pm) and so on my dinner break around 6:30pm we headed out. Barry is usually pretty calm and relaxed in the evening so this was a good time. He was good in the car until he realized this was going to be a longer ride than normal. After about 15 minutes he really started to get nervous and pant heavily. We arrived in town and he jumped right out. Barry was pretty anxious and he was walking around the driveway and flower beds aimlessly just trying to figure out the situation and where he was at. After a couple minutes he was ready to go up onto the porch but once he saw that there were a few stairs to climb up he wanted nothing to do with it. He didn’t like the way the wood felt under his paws so he needed some encouragement. He ran across quickly and we went inside.
I wasn’t sure how he would react once we got inside so I left the leash on him and dropped it. Usually with nervous dogs it’s better to ignore them and let them adjust to their surroundings on their own. I let him do his own thing for about 15 minutes while I ate some food. He was just wandering around turning in circles. He was very perplexed by the carpet. Barry must have thought it was sand because he kept pawing at it and trying to dig into it. He finally calmed down and laid next to my feet. I sat down next to him and he really soaked up the petting. I turned on the TV and this startled him a lot. He had no problems with the linoleum in the kitchen. He was sniffing everything but he never even attempted or thought about marking anywhere.
Barry even started playing a little and was doing his play bows and "snarling smiles," as I like to call them. He lays on the floor and rolls on his side and he smiles and paws at you all the while he is make a snarling sound and his lips curl up. It’s very funny. He was also stretching out and would scratch at the floor and jumped around a little. By the time he was ready to leave it had gotten dark and he was nervous about going outside and didn’t want to get in the car. But once in the car it seemed he liked that he was more comfortable with the ride back up.
At my house Barry needed some time to himself in the beginning but once he was comfortable he was a perfect gentleman with his manners and became a little playful! It was nice to see Barry relaxed and at ease. My biggest hope for Barry is that one day he will live in a home of his own. I think that will be the greatest reward for such a special dog.
