Excellent day.
We went first to the pet store to get him a pulling harness for the kicksled we can’t use because it’s above zero and all the snow has melted.
He clearly recognizes the pet store parking lot and is eager to get inside. Two backups for walking ahead of me, but he wasn’t pulling. Inside he looked at people and wagged but only jumped once at the last minute. Very nice. When he’s standing around he’s standing, not pulling. When we’re moving he’s light as a feather and almost stays out of all the treats. “Suddenly” I can enjoy going into the place without thinking constantly about him flossing teeth or knocking anything over.
I bought him a harness – nice one with a handle on the back I can hold without bending over, and a Siwash front to encourage him to pull into it when he’s attached to something gullible. Put it on him and – same story as the snood he didn’t want to wear. Put his head down and pouted. Same sort of behaviour he’d give me if I gave him leash corrections – exceptionally well behaved but no spark.
Still, there were treats and a new bone and people to wag at and he was over it by the time we left. I let him wear it in the crate in the car while he was eating his bone. Then we went outside Canadian Tire and played the watch-people-go-by game again and did some sit stays and heeling. The great news is that, given a minute to look around, he doesn’t seem to care where he is as far as working is concerned. When I let him stand around, he watched and wagged. When I worked, he was engrossed in the work and ignored everything and everybody. Perfect.
I need to start taking him out to the car on leash, he’s scanning for feral cats. When he spots one, he chases it, and doesn’t come back until the cat has disappeared into the barn. This is a non-starter. Sorry bud.
And another alien encounter – a guy approached to pet and said his buddy also had Bouviers. His male was at least 18″ taller than Spider and he sold semen for $1500 a pop. I smiled. Yep. 43″ Bouvier. Impressive.
Anyway, excellent outing..