Tonight I took Kody out for a walk and he was acting very strangely. He was super intense and I didn't quite know what was going on. Then we ran into some neighbors who were outside with their dogs and I understood.
Kody barked and the neighbors asked if Kody wanted to meet their dogs, I said, "No!" They laughed. We went back inside to get some hot dog bits and went to a controllable distance to do some "look at that" work with Kody. We were probably about 30 feet away and just clicked when Kody looked at the other dogs and treated. We were able to move about 5-10 feet closer as Kody calmed down. I went through the hot dog bits and we went back inside. It was a good experience for Kody.
I went back out to meet the dogs, one of which was an 11 week old puppy and say hi. The people complimented me on being patience, which was just about the nicest thing anyone could have said to me. Working with Kody is such a challenge that to have people notice sort of justifies all the work I do, and quite honestly makes me feel a little more sane. Working with a crazy dog can get to you sometimes.
There's a drawback though, now I notice all the things people do wrong and it's very painful for me. I try to give fun easy advice to get people on the positive training track, but I'm sure I sound like a know it all.
I see these "easy" dogs and I think of what I could do in just minutes with an easy dog like that. As for the puppy, I thought of what a great dog I could make out of a puppy knowing all that I know now. I encouraged the owner to get that first set of shots and then safely introduce the puppy to as many new experiences as possible.