Tomorrow Is Another Day

I knew today was going to be a busy day at work. I had a lot to do before noon, plus all the regular Monday tasks and the regular day-to-day tasks. There was a lot going on, not surprising, and of course, that last hour is when you start to remember all the things that really need to get done today and the interruptions keep coming. I just didn't want to be there anymore. I can put things off for future me to deal with. I just wanted to get home and run with my boy.

I really wanted to make sure I got off work on time. I was scheduled a little earlier than most Mondays, which was going to come in handy as I wanted to take Henri for a run, but I wanted to avoid the darkness as much as possible. Last Monday it had been getting dark when we went for a run and so I couldn't see the dog was out that ultimately ended up biting Henri. The combination of the time change and this incident has put us in a weird spot. I need every run to be a positive experience for Henri. I need to ease him into situations in which he has to choose to react to a dog barking or not and get him comfortable making the choice to run by. I need to be able to see the situations he's about to get it, so I need to be able to see.

He had one interaction with a dog in the park. They were walking and we were running behind them. The dog noticed Henri and wanted to say 'hi'. Henri froze. I slowed down and eased him by the dog and kept going. Henri didn't look back. He didn't whine. He just didn't remember what he was supposed to do. I'm okay with that. I can slow down to help Henri remember that dogs are not there to hurt him. I can show him to just keep going and nothing bad will happen to him. If we can stick with a few interactions like this a run, I think he'll get his confidence back. I know where all the dogs live in the neighborhood. I know where they are in their backyards when we run by. I can avoid these spots for now and get him back to the place he was. Fingers crossed.