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Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Hiking.



One of my big personal goals is to get in better shape and hike more. Some might even say those are kind of linked.


I also really want to be able to hike with my dogs off leash where it is permitted so they can do all their dog sniffing and running around but also stick close and come when called.



We have been working on their recall. They are pretty good most of the time however I took them out for field test they showed we still have a lot of work to do. Out in the mountains they were distracted by the environment. Also the dense vegetation made it difficult to see them even if they were close.



After a failed test I kept them on leash unless we were in a more visible area I also let them get tired as well as explore some on leash so when we tried again they were much better also tired and hungrier so they were better for the treats.




Clearly we have more work to do. I think in the future I am going to let them acclimate on leash for a while first. I also might bring a long leash although in the kind of hiking we did recently it wouldn't work out well and would just get tangled.



I also might only bring one dog. It's easier to pay attention to only one and to keep the attention focused on me. It's also easier to keep track of just one rather than have split attention.





It was still a beautiful adventure and although it showed us that we need to work on and improve our off leash training they were both very good at posing for pictures and staying when asked. Also at the end they both did well after they were a little tired and acclimated to environment. Simon mostly stuck close even when he was ignoring me (good and bad here). Also we hiked for over two hours and I did better that I thought even though it was high altitude.

Lots to work on but over all I had a wonderful time with my dogs and can't wait for our next adventure.