So before Misha got into his little spat with the husky I'd already signed him up for Tracking class. Since I've waiting for a year for the class, and he was showing no signs of issues on-leash, I kept him in the class -- and boy am I glad I did! He's not very confident in himself with the tracking right now, relying more on what he sees than what he smells, but considering class one he shut down and class three he tracked at least part of 4 tracks (including one turn) that's a huge improvement! Not to mention that he's only getting training and exposure in the class, right now; though I need to go lay some starts this week. But the biggest improvement I've seen in him is that he's no longer up my butt. One of the other people there has been trying to give Misha treats since the first class. This past class he ate almost a whole hot dog from her hand, and let her pet him, and did commands when she asked. He saw her when she walked up and wagged his tail at her, he was even laying on the ground on his side at the time. Then while staying a while and socializing, the trainer's wife sat on the ground and Misha went to investigate. One Nutrigrain Blueberry bar later, he was flopped over on her lap, getting belly rubs. With this kind of progress, I'm thinking about organizing a bi-weekly walk/hike with my friend and her dog, to see about getting more positive experiences!
In other news, Misha's training is going fairly well. He is back to a being in the yard for a little bit, mostly for late evening potty breaks, because, it's really not safe to be wandering in the dark at midnight waiting for the dog to pee. His outside time is mostly limited to on-leash or kennel time right now, and with the muddy mess of the backyard, I'm not sure running around and playing there is high on my list -- his, on the other hand... He has greeted two dogs on leash and done fantastically. One was in class, and after a quick sniff he backed away and her owner told her not to pursue it, and we parted ways. Another is a dog he played with before hand. She greeted him the first time by barking and being a fool, but he was fine, tail up and wagging, play bowing her. The second time she got in his face and he just walked away. The path we walk usually involves several barking dogs and they don't seem to have any effect on him. He hasn't seen, greeted, or played with the husky since the incident, but I did talk to the owners, and they do want them to be able to play together again, so I think we're going to try some on-leash, out-of-yard greetings first. I've started spitting treats to Misha, with the theory that that will give a higher value to looking at me, and a lower value to what I'm doing with my hands. He hasn't shown jealousy towards me paying attention to other dogs, though I'm not trying to push those limits, either. I got Click to Calm from Amber (by way of... Heather, I think), but haven't started reading it yet. Misha is still showing guardy tendencies when in the yard, but I don't expect them to just magically go away. I've also started feeding him only in his crate, I tried feeding him in the kennel, but he started barking at... who knows? cats, squirrels, etc. So I think giving him one place that is *without question* his one place, where he sleeps and eats and doesn't have to be bothered, will help with the fence and outdoor guarding, since the crate is in the garage. He also barked his fool head off at a delivery person the other day, and when he wouldn't follow his command to be quiet, I took him by the collar and walked him into another room, where my mother held his collar until I had talked to the people at the door. I'm not sure if that's the best way to handle that, or what I should do in that situation. (The collar walking was because there's no leash at the front door, it wasn't angry or anything, just matter of fact. You're barking after I told you to stop, let's go into the other room.)
ETA: Oops, perhaps this should have gone in the training section? Duh.