Gracie not ready to travel
Hi Kids, despite our best efforts to get Gracie ready for prime time, and our visit in 10 days, I don't think she will be ready. Among the various other ways she isn't ready, her condo tolerance-- riding in the back of the car-- is not reliably even an hour. Anything can set her off and get her barking maniacally-- passing traffic, stopped traffic, people with dogs, loud noise, the wind in her ears-- you get the picture.
She doesn't tolerate high-distraction environments well: Picture leash and directional training in the aisles of PetCo. That's not surprising, but to her sitting quietly in the car at the field, a man and dog playing is high distraction. A Robin hopping in the front yard is high distraction. Building her tolerance, which we work on every day, is slow and uneven; who knows how long it will take.
So, our current plan is for me to come up on my own for Ryan's birthday festivities, and Alex will tend to Gracie at home. Good break for me.. not so good for Alex.
