many of you know that i signed my baby yorkie, teddy bear, up for obedience school classes at my local petsmart. his first class was on a thursday and he learned to respond to "clicker training" and to sit. i was amazed at how quickly he picked it up! he was a natural. well, his second class we were going to work on "come." the trainer explained that we needed to put a leash on him, and that would help us teach him. i let her know that i didn't have a leash, but she said not to worry, she had one and a collar little enough for him. (btw, i know i'm an awful mother for not keeping a collar on him, he just hates the feel of them, and cries whenever i try to put it on him. it's not like he's ever out of my sight or anything....) so anywhos, we loop the collar around his teeny neck and strap the leash on, she gives me the other end of the leash and told me to walk him. well...... it occurred to me.. that i have never walked him on a leash before! i didn't know it was something you had to TEACH a dog to do. i was under the impression that you strap it on them and they walk with you. this, however, is not the case.
after the trainer/teacher learned that he was a very stubborn dog, and did, in fact, think he was the boss of me, she said we weren't going to work on come. we were going to train him to walk on a leash.
i thought this would be a simple task. it was not. he refused to actually walk and instead attempted to lie down with his four legs sprouting out from his body and he seemed to really enjoy being pulled across the slick floor. i thought this would hurt him, but the trainer assured me that as long as i don't jerk on the leash, and i keep a steady pace, he would be fine. he can either choose to walk, or be dragged along. so there i am, in the middle of petsmart, dragging my dog along the tile. he finally realized that walking with me was the better option.
my homework for the week was to take him on a walk in an unfamiliar place, a.k.a not my back yard, and walk him.
that was 2 weeks ago (i had to skip one week of classes for LA, then the next for my birthday.) i have taken him on a walk every day that i have been in town and i must say, he's getting pretty good at it. that is, until today.
this morning was just like any other morning. i woke up, took a shower, ate some breakfast, blow dried my hair, and decided it was time for teddy's daily walk. i decided today we would walk around the block and that would be enough. well, that was more than enough. first off, today he decided that he was scared, and he was very skittish of anything that moved, i.e. cars, people, birds, and leaves. i could tell he was getting tired and hot by the way he was panting, but i kept reminding him that there was a BIG bowl of ice cold water waiting for him at home. this seemed to keep him moving. until he decided to stop at the neighbors yard, and smell the roses. i am not kidding you. we spent 5 minutes letting him sniff each and every rose before he was content. or so i thought. he then proceeded to lie down on the bed of roses... and SLEEP! yes, sleep! closed eyes, heavy breathing. i mean, come on, i know he's got short legs... but it was 1 block. 1! i carried him the rest of the 5 steps home and gave him his bowl of water. he lapped it up like he had never been given a sip of the liquid gold in his life. i carried him to my room and plopped him on the bed, where he immediately went to sleep.
i would tell myself that a whole block is too much for his little legs to walk, except for the fact that he's walked it at least 7 other times with no problem, running even!
anyways, i decided that i would share this fun little blurp with y'all. maybe one day he will be strong enough to walk 2 whole blocks, but i highly doubt it. do you all have any fun doggie stories?! does your dog like smelling the roses? let me know in the comments. and i'll write to y'all later.
xoxo,
blair
