Going On An Adventure!

Hello everyone!

With the weather improved today I was able to take Poppy out, which she LOVED!

We went to the Botanic Gardens to work on her listening skills in a distracting environment, its safe to say that we have a lot of work to do. That being said, she was really well behaved. When we first got there I took her for a little walk around the garden because she loves to explore and this little kid around 4 years old came running up so excited to see a dog. I am so happy with how Poppy handled this, she listened to me and sat quietly and let the kid pat her when I told him it was ok. I am so happy with this because she is completely different with adults, she loves people so much and its really hard to keep her calm and stop her from trying to jump on them but she's so calm with kids. This gives me a large peace of mind as I would never want her to knock a child over and it means I can have more confidence in her as children don't always know how to act around dogs. This isn't to say that I won't hold her properly, or introduce her to people and children slowly but it means I have a good guess as to how she will react in different situations.

We didn't work for long as she was too excited and distracted from being out of the house. Worked on her 'come' a little bit as that is something she needs to work on most, she is definitely not an off leash dog as she only wants to come when it suits her. I feel like there's an expectation that all dogs should be off leash but I don't believe that's the case. You need to know your dog and how they will react in all situations and for some dogs its safer for them and a lot less stressful for you if they are on leash, leads are not just for dangerous dogs. I do occasionally take Poppy to the off-leash dog park where I do let her run around but I make sure to keep a close eye on her and the gate to keep her safe.

Hopefully the weather will continue to be this nice so that I can take Poppy out at least once a day.

Until next time!

#Update #dogtraining #working #distractions #behaviour