Positive Habits

As I sat on holiday enjoying the beautiful sunset, it hit me that I hadn’t posted this month’s blog yet! With all the hustle and bustle of life, I completely lost track of time. On a brighter note, Dasher is doing wonderfully with his rehabilitation! We’ve been able to do so much more with him lately. Just recently, we took him in our motorhome to Cirencester. We had a lovely walk into town, stopped at a dog-friendly café, and made our way back to the campsite. Dasher was such a good boy!

Of course, not every dog we met had good manners. A lively, rather large adolescent puppy playfully bounced on us while his owner was desperately calling after him. I paused to let her catch him, but didn’t jump in with advice since I was on vacation, and she hadn’t asked for my thoughts. She did mention that it was a habit he was developing, and if she had asked, I would have suggested keeping him on a lead until he had a solid recall established. Otherwise, she might be reinforcing some not-so-great habits.

To keep Dasher safe, he was on a long line. I didn’t want him to run off and hurt his shoulder. He already had some time off the lead in a safe area where I knew he wouldn’t be distracted when I called him back. Remember, establishing a good recall is all about practising those positive habits!