Went to a pet store today, limited slip collar, no tugging, met several people and didn’t lift his feet off the ground, kept his leash loose (one moment of forgetfulness as we got to the rawhides), kept his mouth to himself. Wonderful outing. I do have to start training again soonest, but I’m having such a good time just exploring his wonderfulness. What a SWEET person he is.
Barn hunt class and beginner agility class tomorrow evening.
This afternoon we went for a run with the Gator. I left the girls loose but kept Blockhead on a leash until we got to the dugout, which is 2 shelterbelts and 3 fences away from the road. He’s purebred (so relieved to see this… ), he waded right into the water, tried to drink the dugout dry – but limited himself to wading. I hauled out a bumper and started tossing for Syn, which really annoyed him. From this he learned that she’s liable to castrate him if he tries to take the bumper away from her when she’s swimming. Point taken. After a dozen or so, I asked Syn to stay and started tossing the bumper for Serra, at first just in reach without swimming, and finally just out of reach. He thought about it, turned back, tried another direction, turned back, thought about it. If he couldn’t do it, I sent Syn to get it, which annoyed him more. Finally I got a perfect toss about a foot too far out and after wishing it in didn’t work, he launched and got it. It wasn’t more than one stroke out and one stroke back, but it was actually swimming. He’s going to be a bona fide water baby. That’s going to make conditioning way more fun.