I had a commitment tonight so I couldn’t walk the dogs after work. Instead I rushed home at lunch and I met a neighbor and we walked the dogs together.
Sally has a chocolate lab named Brady. She has only had him since December; you may have heard me mention Brady before. Brady looks so much like Delilah, Sally actually mistook Delilah for Brady. 🙂
We hiked the dogs through the trails for about 35 minutes; I was a little worried about Sampson since the Prednisone he is taking is making him really thirsty and tired and I didn’t want the walk to be too stressful for him.
Sally and I are new friends, so while we walk; we talk. Sally reminded me today of a game you can play with your dogs to help in training them off leash. The game is a favorite game from your childhood…Hide and Go Seek; except you aren’t counting to ten, you aren’t running to base and you aren’t calling “Olly Olly Oxen Free.” What you are doing is waiting for an opportunity when your dog wanders off or isn’t paying attention to you; then you hide behind a tree and watch what happens.
What should happen is your dog should begin looking for you, hopefully you will be hiding in a place where you can see your dog to see how he/she is reacting. Your dog may panic a little bit when they can’t see you, which is really what your goal is; to have your dog a little nervous so they pay more attention to what you are doing and less attention to other things that may be distracting in your walk. However if your dog is totally losing it; you will want to step out from your hiding place and let them know where you are. If you really want to, you could shout out “Olly Olly Oxen Free.”
Brady and Sampson had the height advantage here.
He's so handsome.
Cute idea!