Sky's solo flight

Tonight Sky made her first trip to the Walla Walla Dog Park all on her own. I've taken her there several times in the past week, but each time her brother Monty has escorted her for moral support. Monty LOVES the dog park, all the strangers and all the dogs, big and little - but it was time to see if Sky could handle it all on her own. She did very well, although she was a little nervous starting off again, but that only lasted a few minutes. She met several new dogs and got to visit with a few she has met at the park previously. She's also getting braver about meeting strange people and letting them pet her. On the other hand, there was a young man (maybe 8 years old) at the park who was swinging a tennis racket, which she did not appreciate at all. After lots of barking and a little growling even, I asked the boy to come scratch on her while I held her. She was very tense, but relaxed as the two of us talked and scratched on her. After that, she didn't bother him again the rest of the night (we spent about 1 1/2 hours at the park), but she didn't get very close to him either. Overall, it was a success and I could see she made huge strides forward in her progress tonight.