Tuesday, September 28, 2010

An act of bravery!

Well, this morning I took all three dogs for a walk. Previously, it has been Tangle and one of the other dogs. I knew that I had to have NO goals in mind (like actually getting my heart rate up), deal with things as they come and train what needs to be trained.

Split and Tip did all their usual things. Tip walked nicely on the leash, Split pulled because he NEEDED to run out to his favorite spot, and of course Tangle NEEDED to follow him! So, we trained loose leash walking for a while.

We crossed a very busy street where we have to pause in the middle to wait for the other lanes to clear. Tangle did an excellent job. No trouble with cars shooting past him at all.

The next obstacle that we encountered was the BC mix who herds the dogs at the fence. For some reason this sent Tangle OFF!! Barking, lunging, just generally going friggin NUTS. He wanted a fence fight! Ah, found the next thing I have to train. This morning I just got past the problem and made a mental note to do this again, just with Tangle and totally awesome treats.

Finally we got to the park. I let Tangle off the leash (first time ever in public). I needed to test where he was at in terms of the desire to stay with his pack. He did absolutely magnificent, which was my expectation. He herded, followed and watched. As we walked around he never once strayed from the 30 foot boundary he seems to have with his pack. Good knowledge to have!

Getting back home was uneventful except for the desire to bark and 'fence fight' with dogs.

So, on the list to train--more loose leash walking and relaxing around barking dogs :)