Yesterday, I suited up in matching sky blue rain paints and raincoat to walk Isis.
It was blustery and raining, you see.
You’da thought she’d never been outside the house before, she was so enchanted by all that she saw (and smelled, no doubt). I don’t think she walked beside me for two steps the whole time. I took her to the high school where I let her loose on the soccer field. She went berserk.
I went home and read a book intended to cure the leash-reactivity, based on positive reinforcement clicker training, shunning the prong collar altogether. And here I was, wondering if there were something stronger than the prongs. Like, could I sharpen the points?
Despite a coupla lengthy naps on Saturday, and sleeping til noon Sunday, I couldn’t get myself out of bed before 8 a.m. this morning. So I took it out on Isis. No walk this morning. I’ll be sure to take her on one when I get home, but if I’d taken her on one this morning, then I could feel good about taking her on two walks today.
Even though I let her down today, she’s the greatest workout partner. She doesn’t want to stay inside when the weather’s rough; she’s even more excited to get out walking. Only problem is, her excitement = chafing of my leash hand.
Note: This post and the previous are cross-posted on my Dog Blog. I plan to channel most of the training/behavior discussion there. I’ve had some technical problems posting, but it seems to be working now. For future linkage, see Isis in Progress to the right.
Kari Neumeyer 