Today, it hit me just how far Storm and I have come in the last few weeks. School might not be back in session quite yet but hurrah, there's cricket coaching this week so this morning, Storm and I dutifully headed out on the school run.
Now, the last time we tried this, Storm was pulling on her lead, weaving about in front of me when we walked, sniffing at everything en-route and would get obsessed with pigeons, squirrels and anything else chaseable. I know, this is relatively small potatoes when it comes to dog behaviour problems but it was annoying and it made walks less than fun.
Less than two weeks on and my goodness, how things have changed. Storm's lead is loose, she trots happily at my side, she leaves everything (well, 99% of the time!) and she's just a joy to walk with. It's amazing. I partly credit a couple of books ('The Pet Gundog' and 'Total Recall' for you book worms) for the change and our session with Sarah Miles which seems to have done big things for my relationship with Storm.
And it's not just me that sees it. I also took Storm to my Mum's today and we went out for a walk with her two retired Guide Dogs. The difference was huge - and Storm loved being out with dog friends!
We also practiced our moves in the garden today and it was fabulous. On the recall, Storm no longer runs past me but stops and sits right in front. She waits, she turns, she let me get down the full length of the garden (about 120ft) while she waited for my signal to come. She walked to heel without the lead and she hunted out little pieces of apple I'd hidden. I barely had to talk to Storm, hand signals and facial expressions were enough. My partner was amazed and Storm was so pleased with herself.
The dog I have now is just a bit fabulous and we've come a long way baby. But there's still a long way to go...
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