Took Charlie to the very, very beautiful Cardinham woods in Cornwall today. He went nuts for an off lead walk there. I tell you, wafer thin, zero fat turkey breast wasn't cutting it as a reward. I'll have to go back with king prawns... Bonkers nut case of a dog hurls himself in the river - the river that is running extremely fast and full from all of the rain. He had to swim against the current going nowhere for a good 5 minutes (while I debated going to get him). In the end, he made it into the lee of a fallen tree trunk and managed to get out. Without a bother on him. Looking at me, the gibbering wreak clutching at her heart, in bemusement. At least he definitely seems to be returning to full fitness. "What? I work out".... pup by Julie T, on Flickr
What a beautiful lab! Charlie is so handsome and quite the physical specimen. They do love the water!
Eeeeek!!! Oh, my word, I feel dizzy just reading that- you must have been having kittens !!! One of my big fears, that, losing my water-baby to a fast river.....
We're going back tomorrow. He'll be on a long line until he remembers how to work his ears around water, that's for sure.....
Phew! What a scary moment! Hope the long line technique works and you don't end up swimming with him!
Having had this with Shadow not that long ago, I know exactly how you felt! Once he climbed up a 5ft vertical wall to get out, I was all over him, shaking. He just looked up, saw a butterfly and trotted off after it. These dogs will be the death of us! Charlie probably just thought he was back in the hydro pool, swimming but going nowhere...
He was very different yesterday - up to now, he has been a bit of an angel off lead (which I've found both great and a bit worrying). He has also not wanted to play with other dogs (both great, more control, and worrying - is is because something is hurting him?). But after the walk yesterday, he was pretty much a hooligan at training in the afternoon. With a short attention span, and the instigator of hoolies instead of work with the other dog training with us. I can't make up my mind whether to be pleased he seems back to his normal self, overflowing with confidence, and obviously feels physically well enough to get up to his usual hooligan antics - or disappointed because one walk with too much free running, and not enough paying attention, threw away some hard gained control. Well. We'll see how we do on a long line and with cheese rewards today. It's very much a training walk.....
Had the BEST time ever going back today. I found a quieter bit of the wood, with safer water, and took my full arsenal of toys, whipit, and so on. And much, much, much better treats. I stayed in the same area of 500m or so and just worked on control exercises. He was great by the end of it, heeling along the track like a pro.... Exactly what I should have done yesterday. Nevermind, lesson learnt - again. We'll build up slowly.
You go Charlie!!! Sorry, Julie.....but just the look on his face seems to say "no sweat.....I knew what I was doing all the time"!! Great to see that he is back to his "old" self.....he looks fabulous....you have done good work.
