Cookie is doing better than I thought! (Training related)

I'll get the part about Cookie in a second, just bear with me. I have to take care of my dad's friend's cat again, and Soldier is upstairs. We took out the stairs since we're renting upstairs out like an apartment for extra income. So, I have to go through by the gate and use the extra key to upstairs. The gate swells up when it rains heavily, and it rained heavily today, so I couldn't open the gate. The dog's porch is right next to the [fenced-in]yard with the upstairs apartment that we're renting out. I have a big board in place to keep my little dog, Treader, from going into the other yard through the slats in the porch. I went onto the dog's porch, made sure that Cookie and Treader were inside, and moved the board and opened the little gate behind it so I could get to the upstairs apartment to take care of Soldier. I went in, but by that time my mom had managed to get the gate open.
I went upstairs, fed Soldier, came down to put the key back up, and went onto the dog's porch to put the board back in it's place. Then I went to Rachel's (my friend's) house.
On the way to my friends house, surprise, surprise - I saw Cookie and Treader greeting the Mastiff next door. (At the house where the Dobies used to live. Someone else moved in now.) I figured that my mom must have let them out into their porch while I was feeding Soldier, and she hadn't closed the big gate. I called Cookie a few times, and to my surprise, she actually came willingly. She followed, in a jogging kind of way (well, actually she was kind of next to me, almost ahead of me) to the house. I had her sit while I waited for my mom to open the door.

Cookie had a good visit, and couldn't wait to get back to you and tell you all about it. But what about Treader????

Oh, how could I forget to mention Treader!?!
My brother caught him and I took him back to the house. Cookie growled a little at him like she was scolding him for running off. Like she should talk.

You have an interesting life, Cookie's mom!

Thanks.
Let's see...this is what Cookie has to work on before we'll try the CGC test again:
-Obeying promptly with distractions
-Leash pulling. Not too bad, but she does pull slightly. After I fix that I will teach her to heel.
-Reactiveness to other dogs. Not as bas as it used to be, but still needs some work. I also have to teach her to stay by my side even when another dog walks past.
-Getting used to people handling her


The last one will be hardest. What with her being abused as a puppy, being scared to death of vets (she seemed to think of the CGC evaluator was a vet), and being that way for 10 years. I'm not sure if I can work through that last one or not, but I'll try.

If anybody can succeed, somehow I think you're it. I'd wish you luck, but you seem to be the kind of person who makes her own luck by working hard and being ready when opportunity presents itself ... an excellent way to go in life. You go, girl! Post more pics!

Forgot to say ... your blog (The Musings of Two Dogs) is nicely done. Interesting and good pics. The description of your working with Cookie is great.

Cheers ...

Good luck.

I'm sure she'll do brilliant, fingers crossed for you although she won't need it