Today we went on our usual walk. It kind of felt like a video game, because "challenges" kept popping up for Olive to deal with.
The object of the game: successfully walk around the neighbourhood on a loose leash and do not bark or growl at anything. Also, do not attempt to chase anything.
Bonuses: clicks and kibbles or chicken flavoured soft treats.
Challenge 1: man mowing lawn.
Challenge 2: lady walking down the street towards us with bags (extra scary).
Challenge 3: people getting into car ahead of us.
Challenge 4: various people walking past us.
Challenge 5: lady standing still at bus stop (very scary).
Challenge 6: motorcycle, heavy traffic and public bus passing near us.
Challenge 7: people coming in and out of local bakery while we walk by.
Challenge 8: two kittens springing out of the bush at us while we walked by (tempting).
Challenge 9: kitten #1 stalking us down the street (very tempting).
Challenge 10: man walking parallel to us across the street.
I am happy to report complete success on our walk today!
This past weekend, Olive and I spent time our friends Debby and Ginny (the German shepherd). Ginny is weak on obedience skills but very friendly with humans. Whereas, Olive is good at obedience but has weak people skills. I think they help each other out a lot. On our big walk together, we faced packs of runners, bicycles, other dogs and walkers. Only a few barks or growls were elicited from Olive, despite the extreme challenge conditions. I think this is because, when she saw that Ginny wasn't concerned about the strangers, she became less concerned, too.
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