Soul Dog Journey Project: Week 3-Toe to Toe

When you don’t have a fenced in yard, you tend to go on a lot of walks with your dogs. The dogs typically went on four walks a day. I loved my walks with Lance. It gave us time to connect and I got to go outdoors and get some fresh air.

Lance, enjoying outdoor time.

It wasn’t always the case. Lance was a puller. He wanted to go everywhere and not listen. Spending a lot of time working with him, getting him to check in with us, telling him “oopsie” and stop walking when he pulled, and lots of patience and treats, helped Lance become great on leash. He would usually only pull when he needed to go potty. Believe me, I got it, Lance…when you needed to go, you needed to go!

One of our favorite walking places was Claude Moore Park in Sterling. There was plenty to see when we would go there and they have some nice paths to walk on when it hasn’t been raining. It also wasn’t full of triggers like when we walked around our neighborhood.

Our walks were a great time to build connection with Lance. He was leash reactive and had triggers that set him off. The Post Office truck was our greatest nemesis. And the UPS truck. And joggers. And people on bikes. Well, you get the idea. He was pretty good about checking in with me when he saw some of these things and we worked to avoid them.

Stopping to sniff.

But the favorite part of walking with Lance was when Lance stopped, dropped, and rolled. He loved to roll around in the grass when we walked and no walk was complete until he rolled at least once while we walked.

Stop, drop, and roll

What was your favorite part of walking with your dog?