It's time to let the cat out of the bag--Russ is a Mama's boy. Yep he is a big 'ol unabashed Mama's boy. I enjoy and encourage his devotion to me. I love that he follows me everywhere and that he is game for anything I am up for. My little buddy is never far from me and here lies the crux of our most recent caper.
We are working toward Russ passing his canine good citizenship test in April while we are in Kentucky. He is solid as a rock in all things except and this is a big exception--accepting the friendly stranger. In order to pass this part of the test, he has to wait patiently with "a friendly stranger" while I am out of sight for 3 minutes. For Russ this is tantamount to torture--30 seconds with the bathroom door closed and he is a basket case.
So yesterday on our walk, I asked a friend to hold his leash while I made a restroom stop. He did fine, only barked once, which is fantastic progress. However, when I took the leash back Russ decided that his only option for keeping me where he needed me was to herd me on the path. Yep, the big goof nipped, pushed, nudged and generally made my life miserable until he was convinced that I wasn't going to leave him again.
We are working toward Russ passing his canine good citizenship test in April while we are in Kentucky. He is solid as a rock in all things except and this is a big exception--accepting the friendly stranger. In order to pass this part of the test, he has to wait patiently with "a friendly stranger" while I am out of sight for 3 minutes. For Russ this is tantamount to torture--30 seconds with the bathroom door closed and he is a basket case.
So yesterday on our walk, I asked a friend to hold his leash while I made a restroom stop. He did fine, only barked once, which is fantastic progress. However, when I took the leash back Russ decided that his only option for keeping me where he needed me was to herd me on the path. Yep, the big goof nipped, pushed, nudged and generally made my life miserable until he was convinced that I wasn't going to leave him again.
Memo to self--training phase 2: try to stay one step ahead of the smart dedicated ornery herding dog!
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