Old Dog & New Tricks

Silent treatment still going strong on the home front, so, I decided to throw myself into other activities to keep me busy. 

This week my Doberman, Red Boy and I had a private session with a dog trainer to help me teach this 80 lbs. guy to not drag me when we go for walks. She was amazing! In one session she taught me that my dog is not hyper like how I thought but that he has high anxiety when out for walks. The smell of other dogs, the noises and all the commotion going on around him scares my gentle giant, making it hard for him to focus. I felt so bad! She showed me how to redirect his attention with snacks and praise. And it works! 

I take him on walks 3-4 times a day about 20-30 mins long and only up the street and back. Our goal is to get him comfortable with one street at a time then later we can introduce him to the next street. With one session he is a changed dog and I am so happy and proud to walk him. Though, he is not 100% "trained" but such a huge improvement. 

Since I sought out training for my beloved dog, I figured I'd seek out some help for my marriage as well. I've been vigorously looking for a marriage counselor that specializes in the areas that can help us. Yes, there is more then one area that we need help in. We have talked about it in the past but nothing ever came of it. Now thinking back, if we would've followed through maybe we would be better off right now. Well, no time to dwell on the should've, I'm on a mission. 

The search has been rough, I found one that I felt would be perfect but sadly, they aren't taking on anymore clients at this time. At least I know that I'm not the only one now. Haha. I spent all last night looking and started to feel discouraged. He has no idea that I'm searching so the next step I'm going to be faced with is telling him I made an appointment. How will he react? Will he be as open to it as he was in the past? Will he even be willing to save and grow this marriage? Regardless of his reaction I need to know that I tried. My silent husband and I need to seek help fast or just walk away from one another. If not then it will be the same disagreement every other month with no progress in sight. I don't know about him but that arrangement just does not work for me. 

My Big Red "Puppy" Boy