Just enjoying life!

Spring is in full swing, rain and all. On the days we get that are sunshiney and bright, out we go! Here we are back at the Corning Preserve, watching ducks and bike riders.

Koda is back into his collar and off the gentle leader. Cue sad face. Pulling is back and still a struggle to deal with. However, the gentle leader rubbed a spot under his eye raw! He might not be big enough yet for the large gentle leader, that is the only reason I can figure for this small malfunction, it worked perfectly with my other shepherd.

We are still having fun, though, just working a little harder for it!



And I will be biased and say how BEAUTIFUL Koda is becoming. His sweet eyes just slay me and his beautiful coloration makes me so happy :D

And I will leave you a picture lastly of Koda's favorite new activity, playing soccer defense! He loves to defend against you kicking the ball and practice heading the ball back to you. It's kind of amazing to watch his precision, how high he can jump, and how agile he is. Love it!



Plotterkill

A few words to sum up this hike: muddy, slippery, misbehaving dog (shortly before the neutering).

I didn't even remember that I had pictures for this. Not sure I wanted to remember it! Koda was pulling me everywhere. We have since gone to obedience school, gotten a gentle leader AND gotten neutered and are having much better walks/hikes!

So, very sorry for the picture quality, but Koda was not having it this day.

Not sitting still for the camera!

And, for you, a PDF map of Plotter Kill Preserve. It really is beautiful (though I will caution it is slippery in bad weather)... it has many waterfalls and is a gorgeous hike right in Rotterdam, just about 15-20 minutes outside Albany.

And lastly: SPRING IS HERE. There is little to no snow surrounding Albany, the Catskills are clear, and we see the Adirondacks in sight!! We hope to get up north for a hike before the dreaded black fly season *shudder*

Happy Trails!

Leading gently

The vet-imposed rest period is over!

(Koda cheers)

Tehehe.

It was nice. Chris and I took him on a walk to Buckingham Pond and it was lovely! Koda was very excited to get out of the house.

However, Koda is over 60 pounds now, 7 months old, and we have faltered in our training. Heeling is not going well. Obedience school starts this week, so that is tactic one for dealing with this issue. Tactic two is the Gentle Leader. I love this tool (and I am using it as a tool, not as a lifetime fix). Koda heeled the entire time on the walk with the Gentle Leader, got lots of praise and treats, and there was no tugging or fighting or distress on either of our parts.

It made for a very happy walk :D

I am in awe of this product. It is completely humane: it doesn't restrict their breathing, barking, or in any way prevent them from opening their mouths. And it had immediate results: he was unable to pull me forward, struggled for a bit, then relented to walking beside me, which gained him praise. He didn't choke again his collar from pulling, I didn't pull a bicep muscle from holding him!

So props to the Gentle Leader company. I wish I didn't have to use it, I wish training alone (my training and his!) was allowing us to have calm walks. But until that is a reality, I love having a safe and gentle alternative to walking my dog.

Four stars!