CAT | Judy
Our adventure today was very different. Mostly an uphill climb along narrow trails. Not easy to walk abreast, we practiced leading and following, and passing. We walked through the old cemetery, it was dark and overgrown very unfamiliar territory. The dogs behaved beautifully, NO problems!!! In and out of the paths, sniffing and curious. Lose leashes, everything was great.
Yazzie and Ryder alone. They like it this way, but it is not helping us to accomplish our goal. We will be together again on Thursday and Friday.
Today we have decided to walk around the recreation center lake, where the walkways are wide and we meet a few people and dog walkers, enough to make it a little challenging. We started out very smoothly. We were greeted by a bunch of mothers and toddlers in strollers out for an exercise class. We stepped to the side and allowed them to pass, uneventfully! Claudia had the leashes of Ryder, Relay, and Jax. Judy had Yazzie, Deuce, and Rookie. This day of walking was off to a very easy start. We had participated in an agility trial over the weekend and we were hoping the dogs would be as tired as we were.
We were moving along. Ryder was positioned next to Jax, and a few times Ryder gave Jax the Elvis sneer, lifting a lip showing a hint of pearly white fang. Claudia gave Ryder`s leash a quick snap, got his attention and all moved along without incident.
During the outing we split up a few times, taking different paths to wind up at the same place. Ryder carried on a bit to be separated from the whole group, especially his buddy and house mate Yazzie. Mostly he whined and pulled, but not crazily. He calmed quickly, but not completely. This day was marked by no big events! YEA!!
We met at Claudia`s house. Hooked up the dogs and started up the driveway. UNEVENTFUL!!! After a few yards we exchanged leashes, and kept walking. Claudia had the leashes of Ryder, Rookie and Relay. I had Yazzie, Deuce, and Jax. The walk was mostly an uphill climb. We stopped a few times and practiced sitting and starting up the walk again using the ready, O.K., move out command.
After the better part of an hour walk, we returned to the house. We discussed letting the dogs loose in the yard. Putting them all on a sit stay, slowly without sudden moves we unleashed them. Still on a stay command, quietly we gave the O.K. command. Careful not to have any excitement in our voices. The dogs casually got up and began milling around. They headed towards the water trough. Deuce and Ryder both got in the tub. Ryder showed teeth, but we were able to put a stop to it before it became an incident.
We were planning to go down the hill to the agility field for a little practice as a reward. The dogs were off leash for five minutes at this point. I opened the car door to get the treat pouch, all hell broke loose!!! Ryder and Relay got into it. Scrapping, deep guttural ferocious sounds, both down fighting. Hard to tell who is on the top, hard to know who is the aggressor. This is Relay’s house, but Ryder’s vehicle. This was a struggle over possession, or of personality. We pulled them apart, no injuries and we calmed the situation. Relay was crated.
After a short period of calm time Yazzie and Ryder got to practice some agility skills. We walked back up the hill, said our good byes. We will see what next week brings. We are learning and progressing.
We have decided to persevere; meeting at the same lakeside location, but taking a different path. And we have changed the cast of canine characters. Jax got to stay home today. We have added Breeze, a female Aussie with an authoritarian personality.
We made a big mistake at the start. We allowed the dogs to meet head on. It was an accident. The way we parked and exited our cars contributed to this confrontation. Claudia had the leashes of Deuce, Ryder, and Breeze. In an instant Ryder and Breeze exploded into a frenzy of snapping, growling and gnashing of teeth. Rearing up at each other, engaging and behaving very badly. Claudia was able to get them under control, and we were able to move forward.
During this altercation, I had the leashes of Yazzie, Rookie and Relay. They were contributing to the craziness by barking and pulling and inviting themselves to get involved. I pulled them away, got them sitting and under control using firm voice commands and eye contact.
There was tension in the air. Once again as we moved forward and they settled into the walk. After a few minutes we were moving briskly, six abreast along a wide up hill trail. We encountered a few dog walkers along the way and passed them uneventfully.
Somewhere I heard that a tired dog is a happy dog. I believe this is true, and a long walk is key. Our walks have really progressed and many of the behavior issues have become less of a problem thanks to training, consistency, and persistence!
