Two very exciting things happened on Tuesday and I just had to share them with you.
First I took Sampson and Delilah up to the field/woods for our afternoon walk. Once we were far enough away from the houses, I unclipped Delilah and let her walk without a leash.
Initially she stuck right by my side, but after a couple of minutes she’d dart ahead and turn around and run right back. I only left her off-leash for about five minutes, because I wanted her off-leash time to be successful and for it to end with her winning. It did give me confidence to handle the next hurdle.
We left the park and headed back home. Just after we left I noticed a little black dog on the side of the street barking. You may remember Delilah and I encountered this dog once before. If you missed it, you can read about it HERE.
Do you think she sees that dog? Do you think she’ll freak out?
I’ve been working really diligently with both Sampson and Delilah with the “leave it” command when we approach people or dogs. Delilah could care less about people and she’s gotten really good about other dogs as well. The minute she spots another dog, she immediately looks to me for a treat.
Sampson will look to me, but he still wants to snag the treat and then head back to his prize, but he’s getting much better, the more I work him.
So as soon as I saw this other dog I called pulled out the treats and started doling them out. The little dog ran back inside his/her yard barking. It would run forward, barking. Run backward, barking. You get the idea.
I stood in the street for about a minute wondering if the owners were going to come out to see WHAT the dog was barking about.
They didn’t.
I had three choices. 1) I could take a left onto a side street avoiding the dog and adding about 15 minutes to our walk. 2) I could strap my courage on and walk past the dog. 3) I could wait until the owners came out and brought the dog inside.
I’m sure you know which option I chose.
Yes, I strapped by courage on and grabbed a handful of treats. In my happiest voice I sang out, “Let’s go” and I led the dogs up onto the grass on the opposite side of the street from the little black dog and we sashayed right past it.
And boy did I let those dogs know just how excited and proud of them I was. Of course, I’m not really sure they knew what I was dancing about, but they were sure happy with those extra cookies.
Do you celebrate the small successes with your pups? What types of successes have you seen?
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