"There is nothing to fear but... fear itself"

So we adopted Kiwi when she was 8 weeks old...

and we have prided ourselves on trying to socialize her very thoroughly so that she would behave well with people and tolerate all kinds of experiences without fear.  She has grown up in a city where she has had exposure to traffic, bicycles, all types of dogs, all types of people (babies, homeless people, people in wheelchairs, etc).  We have taken her on many trips- by car and now plane and train.  She did have an adverse response when we took her to Savannah and Charleston and she was terrified when she first saw a horse (they have many horses/carriages as part of their tourism trade).  She barked and growled when she saw, smelled, or heard them (it was really embarrassing).  We trained her to be calm and she eventually adjusted to them and is fine, still really curious, but does not bark/growl.  We thought "she is so well-adjusted, so able to handle new experiences..."

Or so we thought until we came here.

Kiwi met her first skateboarders.   She has never seen a skateboard.  She went CRAZY!  It was truly frightening. We were walking past a park and some young kids, probably around 12 years old, rode by on skateboards and she was uncontrollable.  Barking loudly and thrashing around to break free from my hold on her.  I had trouble keeping her under control.  This happened several other times if skateboarders approached and even with der Junge and I both present, she was unable to be re-directed.  You never want to believe that your dog would ever hurt anyone, but it was really scary and you just don't know...  She was scared or felt threatened, I'm not sure, but she was a ticking time bomb for any approaching skateboarders.  Really scary.

So we knew what had to be done. We had to buy a skateboard.

These are the photographs documenting our "training session" (You can feel free to laugh to see der Junge on a skateboard! The live experience is priceless.)

our practice grounds (beautiful countryside)

Kiwi in her jacket (yes its cold!)

yup, there he is, "the offending skateboarder"

after many, many trials: desensitization at work! Der Junge also perfecting his technique and picking up speed!

A success! Kiwi is at peace with the skateboard.

Well, mostly....  She is not so reactive now but does still become highly alert- hair standing up, eyes wide- upon approaching skateboarders.  Der Junge may have a new alternate mode of transportation
by the time we are finished training!