Saturday

We took Toby on a sunrise walk on the causeway before his training class this morning. It was 75 degrees. 

I love the stillness of the morning.

John got this shot of a rainbow on the opposite side of the sunrise.

A gentle awakening 

And then it was daylight and everyone went about their tasks.

We rode Toby around Lake Saundra on the trike to tire him out some more; then we headed to training after a two week break.

All the dogs showed improvement, even Toby. We practiced walking around the store, come, leave it, down, and look. In addition to walking around the store for distractions, our trainer bounced a big red ball and made weird noises. She got John to make noises at one point. She’s trying to help us keep our dog’s attention even when there are other things going on. It’s very stressful and exhausting. Plus, two of the four dogs are barkers, so our trainer has to scream over them at times.

At one point, John was walking through the store with Toby, and he was supposed to keep Toby focused on him by saying “look.” Except he got confused and started saying “listen.” The trainer burst out laughing. After 20 minutes of training, we can barely talk or think straight. We hear what’s she saying, but it’s hard to process it, focus on the dog, ignore distractions, communicate with Toby, and reward him. I think she likes us though or she wouldn’t have laughed out loud.

Everyone came home and napped. Somehow we mustered enough energy to walk the causeway. It was 84 degrees, overcast and lightly sprinkling, making an afternoon walk comfortable.

Next week is graduation day for this class. We signed up for intermediate training which begins immediately after beginner training. In intermediate, he will keep practicing what he’s learned and learn to “go to your bed” and “stay.”

This will mark our first dog with “higher education.” Dee Dee graduated beginners, but Dexter was a drop out, as best as we can remember. But he attended Dee Dee’s graduation around 2007 (pictured above) and got his GED, since he was practicing along with her at home. (Dee Dee did attend a special education class called “Feisty Fido” because of her dog aggression issues.)

I miss my dogs. 

We got takeout baked pasta from Hungry Howie’s. It was too salty, but at least we branched out to try a new place to eat.

Miles walked: 8.4

Miles biked: .91