Flying Poodles

Being a city dog…

This morning, rather than do five minutes in the yard with Dancer, I took her for a long city walk. We walked from our house through Mt. Tabor Park to the off-leash area on the south side of the park. I asked for good leash manners in the face of other dogs, squirrels, and cats. I reinforced heavily for good behavior. I got good behavior.

At the off-leash park, she continued to just hang with me, rather than playing with the other dogs, until we encountered a lovely little Airedale bitch. She was delighted to play with Dancer and they ran for a good bit, then Dancer and I made our way back through the park and home, with Dancer once again expected to behave nicely on leash.

I normally train two or three times a week at the barn and with Debbie. Adding in the five minutes per dog every day and trying to vary the location has really made a difference that I can see already.