Today's Walk, with some good training thrown in!
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| River and Ted on the front steps of Spiritdance Church |
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That's my house, with the black pitch roof - the old Church. I love this part of town, it's older and I can walk to the Post Office and Grocery Store from where I live, plus the yards are bigger in the older part of town. You can see my car parked in front. |
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Here are River and Ted doing a down stay outside of the Post Office. I actually brought them in with me though. |
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Here is Ted, also knowns as Mr. Happy Feet because he has a tendency to bomb around quickly without really putting thought into it. I love him, but he has a tendency of even running right into other dogs, me, fences, trees or doors. He's just so exuberant and full of joy, but his feet do outrun his mind at times. Now look at him, walking beside me and paying attention. I've been doing the lessons assigned to me by Elvin Kopp to have them both in a neutral state of mind, so we can approach our sheep calmly. |
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What is interesting, is that when he is on a leash, Ted always seems a bit submissive and reacts very poorly to a tug, usually hitting the ground. Off lead he is very happy and becoming more confident in himself. If he oversteps and goes beyond me, I just give a very low growly reminder and he self-corrects, bless his heart. |
(I love this photo below...)
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Caden and Jet. These are the two harder dogs to work. But if I pair up Ted with Jet or River with Caden, my two sweet dogs get upset at the tone I use. So, I pair up these two, ready to be more stern. Today, they were so great I wanted the walk to go on forever! Caden was fussing beside me onlead, and Jet was offlead and keeping pace beside, dragging her line, paying attention. I can hardly wait to bring this dog back to Elvin to see how my work is paying off. Please dear dog god, let Jet behave herself when I do... |
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I did more down stays with these two, because they are so reactive to things. They are good but like to check everything out. So as cars and people went by, I had them do downstays. I am now trusting Caden in a platz and letting go of his line. There was a time, not long ago, that I would not have done that. |
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People were everywhere this afternoon with kids in tow. It was great to have such different distractions. |
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| Here they are on another stay. |
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And another stay. Caden in a sit, and Jet in a stand stay, which is another thing I am working on - a standing stop. |
So that was our walk today, on this warm day - I had no mittens on, it was hovering around the freezing mark! As I fiddled with photos, I caught this one of River, who is very happy to be home and resting on the bed. She is showing her age, but I am determined to keep her active and healthy.
THE END(S)
Category Article Border collie, Caden, German Shepherd, Jet, River, Ted
