Woof! Bark! And also Whiiiiiiiiiine.

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BaronessBL Aug 2016 3:46pm, 26 Aug 2016 5,827 posts	0 BaronessBL I went for a walk in a park in our nearest town with a friend and her lab today. For previously well documented reasons I thought it best to keep Wanda on a short lead throughout, apart from in the dog enclosure where I let her off the lead and she went straight back to the gate and sat down!! However my friend cannot hold her dog on a lead at all so he spends most of his walks off lead. He scuttled into a hedge beyond which is the pond, and in recent weather has become rather shallow. On his return you could have drawn a line along his body from approximately his chin.... and below the line was caked in black mud and above the line was still golden... I'm glad I wasn't going home in their car on a warm day.....
Mazlin Aug 2016 4:02pm, 26 Aug 2016 1,430 posts	0 Mazlin Yep, the back seat of my car looks like I habitually carry around a herd of sheep in there.
FergusG Aug 2016 4:08pm, 26 Aug 2016 310 posts	0 FergusG My Labrador gets hosed down in the driveway if she's rolled or waded in anything stinky. Any previous attempts to wash her indoors have resulted in carnage! The Whippet avoids mud or water like the plague however (she wont even walk through shallow puddles) and just doesn't need washing. She's more like a cat than a dog.
Helegant Aug 2016 8:23pm, 26 Aug 2016 3,376 posts	0 Helegant I made sure Jet was clean, brushed and fed and then droppd him off at the Land of the Giants. I thought he was going to be the only 'guest' but in addition to the resident GSD there is also the Lab I mentioned (it is not longer terrified of me but seems to eb egernally cuatious), and a Goldie-doodle female that seemed gentle, and Jet took to quite quickly. He is half the size of the others. I took his soft crate so he has somewhere safe to retreat to and to sleep in. Still crossing my fingers for a succesful stay.
halfpint Aug 2016 8:42pm, 26 Aug 2016 21,193 posts	0 halfpint I'm sure Jet will be just fine. Easy for me to say though. I'm sure I would be apprehensive if it was Ernie. I think my puppy has me well trained. I started using a bit of loose lead training at certain points on some of our regular routes. On some occasions it was in an effort to shift a stubborn dog. Now I am fairly certain the dog is being stubborn so I will do some loose lead and he will get liver cake. That said he also did some beautiful walking to heel voluntarily whilst on the harness and off lead - he was however looking at me expectantly. Much like he does when he comes back at frequent points during our off lead walks. I presume it is ok to give him a reward and reinforce this even though I am not giving a command.
Sharkie Aug 2016 10:35am, 27 Aug 2016 9,828 posts	0 Sharkie I've read that it is a god idea to occasionally reward a dog when they least expect it (as long as they are being 'good'.) I am happy to report that Jess can finally join Flossie with her Swimmer's Badge. She loves all water including the sea and makes a real beeline for any on offer ... but we'd never actually seen her swim until yesterday when Raffo took an impromptu dip in the English Channel. He loves swimming in the sea but somehow hadn't got round to it this year, so out on Jess' walk he made the decision. Jess was hardly going to stand on the shoreline waiting ... so she swam. Hurrah!
D2 Aug 2016 10:10pm, 27 Aug 2016 8,958 posts	0 D2 Well done Jess! Reminds me of Ruth one of the first GSDs we had, she loved to swim and often wouldn't come out, I remember her in a local big damn swimming along just out of reach with her teeth chattering but still wouldn't come out. Bless her she was a character!
Sharkie Aug 2016 10:13pm, 27 Aug 2016 9,832 posts	0 Sharkie They never know when they've had enough, do they?
D2 Aug 2016 10:16pm, 27 Aug 2016 8,959 posts	0 D2 No! Same dog used to get the kids sledge back out of the shed and take it in the field when everyone else was too cold to sledge any longer.............
Sharkie Aug 2016 10:22pm, 27 Aug 2016 9,833 posts	0 Sharkie Love it! She DOES sound like a character. Actually I have a Jess being a character story....