Vito's Meltdown

Went to the Minnesota Pet Expo today to give obedience demos with the club.  I was going to have the corgi and give Adam the toller since the corgi can be quite naughty when he knows Adam has no clue what he's doing.  But plans changed.

On the way there Vito was whining anxiously because we were in someone elses car.  He sat on my lap but it didn't help.  When we walked into the expo he seemed ok until we walked over to the demo area.  I don't know if it was seeing the disc dog booth and all the frisbees he couldn't have, the smell of water from the dog diving area, or just the overall noise in the place but Vito again started to whine.

Exhausted Vito

I switched dogs before the demo started and Vito was able to make it through the first half of the demo ok.  As long as we were moving he actually offered some lovely heeling but still did low whining during the waiting periods.  He completely reached his breaking point during a stay with distractions demo when our announcer brought out a tennis ball.  Vito became very intense and held his stay but it wasn't pretty.  A bouncing ball has always been hard for Vito but today I could tell his brain exploded.  I had Vito sit out with Adam for the remaining portion of the demo and took over with Lance.

I think we were at the pet expo for another hour or so walking around.  Vito seemed fine while we were walking, but still couldn't handle being still without whining.  He would also obsessively lock on to the dog diving area and the disc dogs. 

I'm not sure why today was especially hard for him.  While today was very busy and loud I have never seen any hint of Vito being anxious in a crowd before.  We've go to trials all the time, and the MN State fair can be just as crowded.