Loose Leash Training

Since it rained most of yesterday (not much though since we only got a quarter of an inch at our house), the temperatures were cooler.  So after supper we went for a walk.  Mom said we had to work on our loose-leash skills.  Oh, I hate working on loose-leash skills.  It is much better to just tug on my leash and go the direction I want to go.

"Hey mom - maybe you need to walk faster - ever think about that?"

Dad worked with Stanley too but between you and me I think Dad lets Stanley get away with more than Mom does with me.

Stanley kept watching me go in the wrong direction when mom would turn me around to make me stop tugging.  Of course he doesn't want anyone to know that he was SUPPOSED to be listening to Dad tell him to sit but instead he was watching me.

Dad still trying to convince Stanley to listen to him and ignore me.

Stanley finally did a sit so then he got to start walking again.  We were also working on chaining commands.

I had to relax in the grass waiting for Stanley to listen to Dad.  It also helped me store up more energy for tugging on the leash.

We had to check for pee mail at the sign post.

"Mom, will you hurry up, they're leaving us behind!"

I like the view up here.  We practiced "Wait" on the rock.

Stanley isn't as patient as me so he jumped off the rock before mom could get a face shot of us.

When we got home, Mom said our walks would be longer because we are getting older and can go further. That is fine with me, I like going walking and so does Stanley. Then mom said we were going camping next weekend. "What?" I asked. "Camping . . . us?" When she confirmed we're going camping, me and Stanley got so excited! "Our first camping trip!" we barked. We both jumped up and did a High-5 (mom and dad were surprised because they are trying to teach us to shake and we secretly can do a High-5). We zoomed off, jumped on the couch, dove off onto the floor, ran down the hallway, into the master bedroom, around dad's night stand, zipped back into the hallway and came bounding back into the living room where we tackled each other and wrestled for 6 hours. (Actually we do this all the time.) Then we stopped and Stanley and I looked at each other and asked, "Brother, what's camping?"

Well, Stanley didn't know either so we had to talk to a few friends and do some research on TV. We found out that when we go camping we will be sleeping on the ground, under the stars, and getting really dirty and smelly. During the day, we'll go off with dad and hunt for our food for the day and mom will stay at the camp and pick berries or maybe wash some clothes in the river. Later in the day we will build a fire, roast hot dogs and eat Smores. A bear might come to eat us (but that's okay because I know mom has Bear Spray left over from a trip to Glacier National Park). Then we will tell scary stories. We'll all cuddle by the fire and use rocks for pillows. And the best part . . . no loose leash training when you're camping! We can't wait!

I posed with mom for this picture.  Notice I am smiling really big!

Murphy