Good Job, Ryo!

I have Ryo for three looong weekends! Heh. It's an adjustment of our schedules, but it's no trouble at all to have him over. This boy is similar to Choya at home. Unobtrusive, snoozes loads and can be trusted to choose his corners unsupervised. I am pleased. 

We made a breakthrough this December, and Ryo is giving me the best Christmas gift ever. He has finally managed to reconcile all his training and encourage with a little increase in confidence to manage all his fears of the great outdoors and the night. He's afraid of night-time if he's outdoors. Everything is too bright and too overwhelming for his senses. He's still on the fearful and timid side though. 

We incorporate his presence into our daily lives. This means going for dinner out of the house almost daily. This doesn't mean we have to choose indoor venues to dine at. We won't set him up for failure because we're consciously choosing outdoor venues that aren't too noisy or sees high traffic. I.e, he's not ready for venues like the outdoor areas at Esplanade or Amoy Street. He might never be ready for those, and it's okay.

Ryo's generally not friendly with most dogs. He's happy to walk past another dog very calmly. You won't see him react. I welcome that. The other floof can totally bark its head off and neither Ryo or Choya would give two hoots about it. However Ryo doesn't like approaching them or have them sniff his butt. But that doesn't mean we don't try. We need friends! We have to be methodical about it and simply approach with awareness if the other owner is comfortable with it. 

Took Ryo along to two impromptu but welcomed gatherings at Brewerkz and Atmosphere Thai Bistro. Singapore is surprisingly empty this season and we have no issues getting tables at many restaurants, even with a table of eight or ten and twelve. 

There were a few other dogs present at these gatherings. We were with friends who know how to have their floofs meet and greet properly. This means calm sniffing and not crazy paws all over the face. I watched Ryo closely; once that growling and snapping starts, it's a firm but gentle pull-away. Not jerk and definitely don't yell at all. That startles everybody. The friends didn't mind checking Ryo out too. Some have met him. They also calmly walk their floofs away. The floofs can all co-exist in the same venue as long as they don't sit too near to each other.

Lo and behold, Ryo was perfectly fine at these two venues! He was more curious than frightened. Once he sussed out the going-ons and sounds, he found spots to chill out. He didn't attempt to whine, pull or bolt. Wow! That's really very welcomed. It made going-out less taxing and less painful. I could have a drink and a meal in peace. 

Brewerkz is more open, but buffered by railings from the busy riverside pedestrian walk which also sees cyclists zooming by. Ryo found a spot near us and sat down next to Choya. At Atmosphere Thai Bistro, it was empty that night save for our big table. We occupied a whole corner. The floofs cleverly spread out to the corners they liked. Hahaha. Ryo was so comfortable there till he even fell asleep for a bit. 

Lovely lovely lovely. This is progress indeed. Ahhh... the training and all have helped. At school, with the trainer, his pawrents work at it, we work at it. I'm very proud of Ryo. He has come a long way. We have more to work out. But we celebrate little wins, and we'll all work together to instil more confidence in this silly boy.