Immy is lovely and sweet, but very timid. There was an episode on their first walk together. Kate still has a scar on her hand from when they were walking along the river under the underpass. It seems a car drove by overhead and at that same moment Kate's foot struck a rough spot on the path and it all startled Immy so much that Immy bolted and pulled Kate down onto the gravel path. Kate got on her knees in front of Immy to talk with her; reassure her. She reached out to pet Immy and Immy bolted again. She caught Kate totally off guard and ended up dragging Kate several feet through the gravel.
"Wow," Kate exclaimed, startled and in pain. "I'm not sure this is going to work out." I was surprised that Kate seemed to feel so defeated after this incident. It was just one incident of a dog bringing it's old fear into the new situation. I understood Immy because Kate was strange to her and she had not had a chance to build up a level of trust. On the other hand Immy was strange to Kate as well, and she had not had a chance to build up a level of trust either.
Give it time Kate. Give it time.
