Tuesday

This shot is from our last walk of the day. It was a purposeful Toby walk with his new harness.

We had a consultation and fitting with his trainer at Petsmart. She helped us to get the best harness for his body type, adjusted it, and helped us figure out how to put it on.

She spent over an hour with us for individual training in the classroom. We learned a lot and are digesting it all. It is very humbling to see and hear how ineffective and counterproductive we are. It is very hard to think and react in real-time when your brain is processing so many things at one time. It was helpful to see her work with Toby.

Here are some tips we learned:

Say the commands that he knows one time and without reward. Or, better yet, use hand gestures. If he doesn’t follow immediately, wait him out. If he still doesn’t follow the command, then abandon what you’re doing and try again in a few minutes, especially if following the command leads to a walk, feeding, playing, or a car ride.

Don’t say his name over and over to get his attention. Instead, use commands such as “look” and “focus.”

Don’t talk so much. Use single words and silence.

Be firm when he is hardheaded and don’t give in to him. Walk away.

Change directions if he’s pulling on the leash, like when in Petsmart.

Don’t give him treats for things he’s learned to do. Let the treat be the walk, sniffing, entering or exiting the house, putting on his harness, etc.

We all were exhausted from our lesson. She made Toby think. He got frustrated. But out of frustration he learned to obey a command and got rewarded with play. She says that training is much more exhausting to a dog than walking because they have to think.

John went fishing this morning and caught three fish. He carefully removed the hook and let them go. They call it a sport, but I don’t get it. Seems it would be more fair to jump in the water and catch them with your hands. 

John’s fishing trip delayed our causeway walk because Toby refused to walk out of the yard without John. So we walked Toby when he got home and then left for the causeway.

It was 75 degrees with a 9 mph breeze. The high temperature for the day was in the low 80s.

It’s 7:15 p.m. and he just paraded in with the bath mat. I diverted his attention and made a better game with kibble, duct tape, and a cereal box. Then we practiced heel, sit/come, sit/down/stay, and heel again. Is it time for bed yet?

Miles walked: 10.7

Miles biked: 0