On New Years Day, Maisie and I met a new friend at the dog park and had a wonderful time.Maisie has always had the attitude that everyone should be her friend. Most of the time, this is OK, but I’ve always been sensitive to her over-friendly ways and how they are received.

When we were going through our Therapy Dog training, the biggest challenge for her to overcome was to restrain herself when meeting new dogs and understanding that playtime doesn’t happen all the time. Fortunately, with lots of work and positive reinforcement, she was able to understand that she needs to wait for me to cue when it is OK to meet.

We continue to work on this…every time we encounter a dog.

One of my New Year goals with her is to start giving her more opportunities to run and play when it’s appropriate and to find doggie friends that are a good match for her.

Luna is definitely a good match for her!She is a sweet, young, energetic girl who was adopted from Newfoundland Rescue by a wonderful nearby family.  We have met a couple of times at events put on by our local Newfoundland Club but I always had Winn with me.  Winn is more reserved about who she wants to meet and play with, but I knew immediately after meeting Luna that Maisie would love her.

They ran, they bounced, they greeted a few other dogs and then ran off again together. It was perfect and we will be doing this again regularly. Maisie works so hard when we are visiting schools, she deserves some time when she doesn’t have to contain her exuberance!