Continuing Previous Threads of Thought

First — an update on the truck problem. Same place, same truck, same scared reaction. Prada tried everything from running away from the truck to trying to climb into the back seat to avoid the location with which she associates pain in her tail. This time, though I decided that halfway in my lap wasn't acceptable, that she needed to get over it.  So I bodily lifted her into position and held her there firmly but gently, all the while praising and comforting her. She shook badly the first half of the ride, then I rolled down our window and she poked her nose out and settled down a bit, but she was still a tightly wound spring when I let her out. Progress, it appears. We'll just take each ride as it comes and I have confidence that she'll get over her fear with Mommy's help :) Helping a service dog get over a bad experience is like helping a toddler with the same issue.  You don’t give them the option of refusing, but add positive reinforcement, and through repetition eventually the dog (or toddler) will move on.  It’s very much like helping them “get back on the horse,” so to speak.
Second;  new game and new information! One of my roommates and I took Prada out to play in the long, spacious hallways of Franz' fourth floor-OFF LEASH! We checked and made sure all the doors to the various stairwells were closed so she couldn't escape that way, then let her loose and tried to interest her in a game of "chase the squeaky." It worked for a bit, then she decided she just wanted to run for a bit so I raced her up and down the halls. As we gave her more and more reign over the various side halls she became increasingly attached to us, and oftentimes refused to run past the door she knew led to home. I see this as a great indicator of how well she's bonded to me. When people came in and out of their rooms she would trot down to say hello, but if she had to walk past our door to get to them she halted and turned to point straight at the door. She is definitely quite attached and showing more and more of the single-minded shepherdly devotion that is characteristic of her breed. Yay Prada!
In my further research into the nature of herding dogs I begin to understand that they’re much less likely to leave what they consider “their” territory, even if it is the first time they’ve visited a location.  They tend to assume natural boundaries, such as hills, hedges, and transitions between grass and pavement.  I’ve experimented letting her off-leash at my parents’ home in Oregon, where we have about an acre and a half of partially fenced land, and she’s been very diligent to stay on the upper part of the hillside, unless we’re on the driveway, in which case she assumes she has the length of it.  Also, after three and a half years in a dorm and two in an apartment, she and I have gotten very creative about finding ways to substitute various environments for a yard, like hallways or naturally bounded lawns at UAH.  Derek and I have talked about buying a house next summer or fall, though, and I am very much looking forward to having a dedicated space in which I can turn her loose.  At seven years old, she still loves to run!