Scary Cat

Today we worked on HALTing at intersections and HEELing while walking next to me on a loose leash. Three walks for about 45 minutes each. Buddy will usually pause at each intersection without command. Maintaining a focus on me needs work. There are more dogs out in the nice weather, so we were able to work on dog distraction and calm meetings.

Buddy gets frustrated when we walk through the dog without playing with the other dogs. So we need to continue to visit the park and minimize his play time. Sticking to 30 minutes a week will be a challenge, because he enjoys it so much.
We will be rescheduling our walks for later in the day as it gets warmer. Buddy doesn't handle the heat well and loses focus. Walks in the dark also give us an opportunity to deal with "scary" objects. Common objects during the day are unrecognizable at night.

This evening as we passed a parked car, we both jumped when we were surprised by a loud hissing noise. Apparently we invaded the space of a cat and she let us know that we were not welcome. We spent a little time lingering around the area, not to antagonize the cat, but to deal with the "scary" cat. When Buddy was comfortable we continued.


“Getting a dog is like getting married. It teaches you to be less self-centered, to accept sudden, surprising outbursts of affection, and not to be upset by a few scratches on your car.”
- Will Stanton