Prepare for the worst, expect the best...

and it works. We have spent the last week building fences and opening up the yard. When we moved in we fenced half the yard for the dogs because it was easy and quick. We planned to fence the rest of the yard but honestly could not figure out exactly where we wanted the fence to go. We went back and forth, round and round. However, with the neighbors on both sides getting dogs we needed to act fast. We finally decided to put a wood fence up because 1) they would not be able to see through and focus on the neighbor dogs all day long. And 2) it was cheap and easy. But we did not want to cut off our view and the open feel of the property so we made the fence only 4 feet tall. So for the last week we've been staining wood and building fences. On Monday night we got it all finished and opened the yard up for the dogs. They love it!! Love it!!! With the fence down the middle of our yard it cut our yard in half physically and visually. Once we took the fence down I got a feel for how big our yard really is. It's big. Really big. The neighbor on either side have much, much smaller yards. We scored on this property, that's all I can say.

Then Monday night the new neighbors brought their dogs over and the reaction was much better then I expected. Axl went a little crazy but he calmed down fairly quickly. Then yesterday morning he was much better and by last night he was just curious. I think this is a good thing for Axl. He's also getting much better on the walks. He used to completely freak out when we came across another dog on the walk. He would jump and bark and spin around. I'm sure people thought we needed some roadside assistance for him. But I've taken to feeding him treats when another dog barks at him or when another dog is around so he starts to associate other dogs with good things. This is working much better and faster then I ever dreamed possible. He is calming down so much and becoming so much better on the walks. Things are just going so well, I'm very, very happy. I knew he could be a great dog and he's well on his way....