Today I took Mae out in front. She was as always, wound for sound, wanting to run. And she was pretty reactive to things in her environment. After about 5 minutes, she settled down and didn't react to anything unless is was a change. For example, two neighbors who were chipping ice off their driveways were pretty much ignored, even with I talked with them. But Fred getting out of his car earned a woof while Mae stood on two legs. But then she dropped back down, checked in with me and didn't appear to be too stressed.
She was very barky about Anna and took a bit to let me talk with her. Then Mae settled and was good until I came too close. I put her into "work mode" and had her sit. She was able to work and control herself while she worked.
So I'm thinking what is realistic for a Belgian sheepdog. I want Mae under threshhold at all times. But she's a very high energy dog. How much calm, casual walking is reasonable to expect? She'll do it for me, but it takes so much control that it's incredibly frustrating for her; how much real training is going on doing something so frustrating and unrewarding for her? However, the more energetic she is, the greater the risk that she's masking stress by going into drive and motion; motion is a "safe zone" for a lot of Belgians. It definitely is for Mae.
Mae was very happy tugging with full commitment to play. She was happy to get food rewards for checking in. She was stressed at first, and then stressed with I was talking with one neighbor. Mae is learning to respond to a "shhhhhhh" cue to be quiet.
I think it's going to be a long journey to teach Mae that people, and things that move are nothing to be concerned about.
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