This morning, when we were out walking, a small terrier came rushing up to Meg barking, again and again. His Mum called him, and he half went to her, but then he turned and rushed back at Meg, barking again.

Now in times gone by, there is absolutely NO WAY Meg would have put up with that. She would have absolutely put him in his place, and in no uncertain terms. But today, she just looked at me and wagged her tail, ignoring him altogether.

This is not the first time this has happened, and I think I can now say with certainty that, since losing her leg, Meg has become less reactive.

I'll spare you the whole case history, but suffice to say that Meg was an extremely troubled dog, when she was dumped on me by a stranger in a churchyard, just over seven years ago. She was around a year old, extremely reactive, unhousetrained and had clearly never established a bond with any human being. It really was like taking in a wild animal, and a traumatised one at that. She kicked off at absolutely everything. With love and time and inordinate patience (on both sides) trust developed between us, and with the help of several behaviourists, she did calm down a great deal, but... she remained reactive to certain triggers (scooters, people on horseback, dogs coming into 'her' territory, aka the vet's waiting room, men in shorts, border terriers, and any dog showing aggression towards her or her pack).

What I wanted, what I've always wanted, was for her to look to me to deal with it, rather than feeling the need to take on the world by herself. And, at last, at last, that does seem to be what is finally happening. When a dog threatens her, she looks to me. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me and how proud I am of her.

It could just be, of course, that Meg's getting older, but I can't help feeling that this has to do with her leg. It could be that she was in pain before, and pain can certainly make you short-tempered (at least, if I'm anything to go by). But I do think it is also that the experience we have gone through has had a profoundly bonding effect. In Meg's case, as many of you know, her leg problems were protracted. She needed intensive physical care (multiple daily bandage changes etc.) for almost a year before losing her leg, and then there was all the recovery, and the ongoing physio etc. too. We also play a lot of puzzle games. We did these before, but we do more now, because the reduction in physical exercise means I need to tire her out. Nina Ottosson's dog casino is a current favourite. These games are collaborative and I think that working on them together is also helpful – when Meg gets stuck, she looks to me for assistance.

So, I just thought I'd share this. I know that not everyone has the same experience and sometimes dogs can become more reactive, but for us, at least, this has not been the case. Thanks for reading, and I'm sorry to have gone on so long. I always think I'll just write a brief post, and then...

Meg, Clare and Elsie Pie xxx