18 December 2009

{17dec2009: family walk night}

We all went for a long walk tonight.  We practiced heeling and waiting and coming with Darwin.  As much as Darwin doesn't listen, she's getting much better about walking on the leash.  And she's been less of a scaredy cat and willing to walk farther than a block.



We stopped in the pet store to pick up more training treats and Darwin managed to scare a little girl and make her jump about a foot in the air.  
We passed a lot of Christmas lights up and one house had a moving deer light statue.  Darwin spotted it from the corner of the yard and stopped dead in her tracks.

We made her walk closer to it and she just kept staring at it.  

Thank goodness she didn't bark at it, but my camera flashes made the lady who lived there come out to see what was going on.  She thought it was hilarious that Darwin was afraid of it.  
After an hour walk Darwin is still ready to play!

5 comments:

  1. I like your coat, mine is green.

    woof - Tucker

    ReplyDelete
  2. Now who said she was afraid of it? Maybe she was just wondering why it didn't say hello!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ya, Loki barked at a large lit up christmas tree on the way home a few days after thanksgiving. we were in the car. it cracked me up but nothing i could do. can't correct for fear. hope she got a lot of praises for being near it.

    i tried to get him riled up over a gigantic reindeer (like 30 feet high) tied to a tree with lit up reins. but he didn't fall for it. he figured it out after the first tree lights!

    if i were a kid, i'd freak over a dane too, i sure hope that person didn't reinforce it and helped her be kind to Darwin and likewise Darwin kind to her! best thing to do for every fear (kids and dogs) is to confront them!

    Oh that reminds me. Loki actually freaked out over 2 dane puppies he saw (big ones) during a walk downtown a year ago. I just did positive reinforcement, turned him away and praised calm behavior and turned him back (2-3 time) each time turning away when he freaked and praising when calm. and by golly we got w/in 4 feet of the danes and had a lovely conversation with the handlers (dog NANNYS who thought I was dog nanny or trainer...they were confused as to why i would be training my own dog... yes, this is los gatos... town of doggy nannies and trainers!)
    ~wags-n-wiggles~
    wild dingo

    ReplyDelete
  4. OMG...that is too funny! Sounds exactly like something Nala would do. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. And why I think Qannik would be scared of a moving deer light decoration too?

    ReplyDelete