21.01.11

morning run:
Alice
Posey
Frijolita
Stella
Floyd
(5)

We're changing up with the season and the situation here at dogonomicon. Anna and Bogus, a couple from Poland, have arrived here to help out via Roni's legwork on HelpX.com. This will free up time for Roni and me to do stuff, and although I'm still working an insane amount we are both feeling pretty good physically, and the weather is improving (no bugs). So I'm going to get myself out of the mindset that I have to get every possible dog out on every possible run, with the idea that perhaps I could spend time focusing on specific dogs and specific issues when I take them out, at least some of the time. In this case, Floyd was the issue: he really needs discipline, so going with fewer dogs makes that easier. This was also Stella's first run, and I must say it was amazing: it was like she had been on a hundred runs with me. She listened, stayed with me, had a good time, and came to me when I called her. We did roughly 7-8k, a loop through the Shire (what I used to call my "Shire Training Run"), going out by the dirty road and coming home via the land bridge (still flooded up to your knee in parts). Alice kept up and was pleasant. Floyd is similar to Rufus, and they are at a similar age, I think. For the first 100m he is so wound up and playful that he will not stop grabbing at the leash; I kept us going forward, but he was running with the leash in his mouth a lot of the time. I fought him at first, but since everyone else was being so incredibly good and sticking with us I decided to get his attention on what I wanted him to do instead of trying to force him to stop doing what he was doing. By the time we got to the shrimpery intersection he had stopped. He needs to not do that at all, so that is the goal we must work towards. From that point on he was good, and I made him do a lot of things. He must sit before he gets water (he really likes getting a drink on the run). He has to stay seated until I get the cap back on the water bottle and can't push in on anyone else getting a drink. When I stop he has to walk with me. I reinforced everything with him as we did it with my voice in a consistent way. Although I didn't do a perfect job of all of that, I did better than I have done with him so far and he responded in kind. At the very end, after we had crossed the land bridge, Posey took off up the road like a lunatic, and Frijolita followed. Stella stayed with me, so she gets an extra gold star. That was the only serious misbehavior. Otherwise a very nice run.
GRADE: B