Happy trails = wagging tails!

Morning hike with Maren her dogs Opal, Trixie and boarders (Lexy, Chester n Maggie)...crossing my fingers, toes and eyeballs that she'll partner together to do trail clinics for beginner adolescent dogs working on polite trail etiquette on and off leash; recalls, attention, polite meet and greets (body language basics of dogs and how yours can help them decipher English ;)

Also how to D & C for motion reactive dogs (dogs racing after moving bikes, kids, people)... which is soooo lacking in our area!  I put this together to show her how easy it is to let nature provide ample training opportunities with a few things we'd talked about as we walked that we noticed people in our area seemed to be completely unaware of.

ie... their idea of walking or training their dogs is basically, open the car door and let them run. 



All the dogs checked in often, and we were creative in using nature to peak their curiosity to come running and join in the fun..that way you're not always using and abusing your golden recall!  Plus you're building a history of fun and adventure!

We covered so many things that I would have appreciated learning in a class, mainly because we were in the environment! Also being in nature really helps calm dogs, and there are natural distractions and rewards EVERYWHERE! So people will learn to improvise and not feel like they'd have to rely on treats.  OR go into HOLY...mode..and panic because they are out of treats...which the dog reads their body language and PANICS TOOO!

I think that's where a lot of people give up.  Plus... dogs, being dogs...end up training the owners for the treats rather then the other way around.

There's so many other rewards that trump treats that people haven't been taught to take advantage of.   ie..TTouch.  I used TTouch on George when we were at the Chief doing D & C around dogs in the distance...a couple of TTouch circles along his back and he flipped over for a tummy rub and just instantly relaxed.  It's kinda like getting a shoulder rub when you've had a stressful day.  Or a hug when you're feeling overwhelmed.

Afternoon hike to Radio Hill with Darrell, Daizy, George and Taiki. Keegan was pooped after 3 hours morning hike, so he rested at home :)



I just LOVE my beagie-boos! GEORGE DID A CRAZY AWESOME JOB NOT A PEEP WHEN ENCOUNTERING OFF LEASH DOGS!!!! They're so much fun and sweet as can be. They LOVE adventuring!!!! I just have to make sure I keep our on leash skills sharpened