Working through fears

      Ever since Jet first set foot on my porch, he has had a piece of my heart.  He takes a bigger and bigger piece of it every single day.  I love this dog so much!  With that said, I have to try to keep in mind he is not mine and remember why I'm raising him.  And that means I have to stick with working him through his timidness and fears.  I think it's safe to say he HATES things behind him.  I've tried lots of things to work through this and will continue working, but I would love suggestions from other puppy raisers who read my blog, or anyone else for that matter.  Our latest "workout" was with toys.  I rubbed them up and down his back and tried walking behind him with them making noises in my hands.  He didn't like it much.  But, he did pose for a picture for about half a minute!

"I HATE this thing!  I'm uncomfortable!"

Here's his panicked look..."Oh, no, she's going to walk around me again!"

Then, we practiced some "leave it" and self-control with food.  He does really well, but didn't want the food near him.  I think he was afraid he might cheat!

These pictures took many, many tries.  He didn't want the food near him and he finally backed himself into a corner to hold his stay.  This was as close to an outline as I could get...not as good as our friend Kolby!

And finally, some beautiful fall pictures I was able to take.