Nature really does a body and mind good. Thursday, I took Poe to Happy Hollow park for a hike. I’ve been needing to get out of the house, to connect with nature, and hear the wind in the trees. I wanted to relax on the hike.
A lot of the times people are hesitant to take their dogs with them. They worry the dog won’t focus on them, that they will forget the leash manners, or that they will be “that dog” barking and pulling on the leash. Now, when we are looking at things from that angle… it just doesn’t sound relaxing at all. It sounds like more of a headache to take them on a hike… and it certainly doesn’t sound relaxing!
A lot of the times we are hard on ourselves and our dogs. Especially when we don’t know exactly how to teach our dogs to work under distractions. I will say this right now, it is OKAY if you don’t know how! It is okay to reach out for help. And there are people that are happy and able to help, like myself.
The hike was the perfect time to work in a more distracting environment. There were tons of sights and smells. There were people walking, biking, running, and there were dogs, too. And Poe did well! This is the first time we had been to this park together so the sights and smells were new to him. We passed a dog on leash that was super excited and barking and pulling the frazzled owner. Poe looked at them with interest… but then kept walking when I said, “let’s walk.” Dude, he floored me. I was so freaking proud of him!!! The work we have put in, playing engagement games and teaching him how to walk nicely on a leash, made this trip a relaxing one. It was so good to connect with my dog in nature.
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