We met our trainer for our weekly walk this afternoon with Ziggy, Jen, Juno, Clovis (a little Norfolk terrier) and Lise (a four month black cocker spaniel) and all was going well with the dogs having great fun running after each other and playing chase until we turned for home. On the homeward trek Juno decided that she did not need to listen to me and decided to continue eating acorns and conkers or to come to me rather than lay out in a nice muddy puddle! OK I thought if you're not responding we have to walk on loose lead for a few minutes, which usually works quite quickly - but not today! Juno decided she was not going to look at me and just sat and watched her doggy friends disappearing down the track and then started whining and carrying on because she wasn't with them. She's never whined before in her life! Finally she checked-in with me so we started a loose lead walk which lasted all of two paces before she nearly had me off my feet to catch up. So with a lot of stop start, nearly being pulled over and standing around we finally caught up with the others who were waiting further down the track. After giving me a sit, Juno was allowed off lead to play and although not perfect for the rest of the walk managed to drop most of the acorns she picked up in exchange for a treat and returned to the whistle when running through a field with Jen and Ziggy although I think that was because Ziggy started running towards me but I'm not complaining. So my little angel is now curled up asleep in her bed next to the sofa while I nurse my arthritic knee which was causing enough problems before todays events. Oh well, nearly time for some more painkillers.
Ah, one of those days.... Sometimes our doggies do seem to conspire against us! Sounds like you kept your cool. I hope that your knee feels better soon.
Hope your knee feels better today. Sometimes they just like to test us (I know this isn't true, but it sure feels like it sometimes!). Willow really struggles to be on lead and behind people when we're walking in a group. She's fine when we're walking together, or if she's ahead, but she will get frustrated and whine a lot if she's behind, pulling on her lead which means I have to stop and we get even farther behind. It doesn't matter if there's a dog ahead; it's all about the people. So, of course, we're working on it, but when we have to get somewhere, it's easier to just have her ahead. It's going to take a long time with lots of positive reinforcement before she's able to cope with it happily.
I have a different dog today. The angel I have today bears no likeness to yesterday's demon . On our short walk this morning she ambled a long with me and had a sniff, despite the walk being shorter (in distance) than normal as it feels as if someone has put sharpened knives in my knee. Currently trying to work out how I manage this afternoon's longer walk, and it's raining just to make it more fun. Next dose of painkillers due so hope they are a bit more effective than this morning.
