Excitement! well.. sort of.

Though his body language does change, West seems to be ignoring people around the carport area. He will run toward the fenced yard if we're really nearby, or else he just turns away. I think this is a good sign, since in a conflict situation, I'd really like him to choose moving away over biting! He saw the care aide who comes to help my grandmother today. I called him (She is very strange with the dogs, so I didn't want to take any chances) and just held his collar while she got in her car and drove away.

After she left, I crated archie and went inside briefly to get some bones for West. Then, I went to find him (when I leave, he goes to the motorhome door and just waits there) and brought him past the car. I took his collar, showed him the meat and opened the car door. He leapt in (I wasn't expecting that!) so I just placed the meat in for him.

He was still way too stressed to eat, so I got in the other side and shut all the doors, then put his Thundershirt and Calming Cap on. After a few minutes, he got to work on his bones. He would eat for a few, then stress for a minute, then eat again.

Overall good progress, I think. I've moved to doing this in the front, since I've read alot of success stories of dogs who hate the car being better when they can see out the front window. Once the car is conditioned as 'access to great places', I'll work on moving him into a crate in the back for safety. For now, I just need a way for him to travel fairly comfortably, and I think this is working.

He sure looks adorable all decked out in his thundershirt and calming cap and dap collar. All he needs now is a Belly Band and you couldn't tell he was a dog! :)