Not bored

I've been wandering on the same thought tracks than Jaska in his comment. But whether the dog learns through the process of 'wait, another new thing before was not scary, so maybe this one is not either' or whether he starts to feel more confident and safe in general, the end result is the same: all new things are not nearly as frightening.

There's an interesting difference in whether the new thing takes place at home or outside, though. For example strange people can pet and babytalk to him freely outside, but in his own house it's a much more controlled affair. New people have to go through a probation period first, before he moves on from being polite to enjoying himself.

Most of Shep's problem, having the bordercollie brains, is that he learns and connects things much quicker than us. He will do anything, as long as we can figure out a way to explain what we want.

This weekend should be an interesting learning experience all around. We're going on a volunteering weekend to Inverewe: 500 miles in a minivan and two nights in the same hall with 10 strange people. With the dog.