July 12 thru 18
Woohoo, now that we can walk every day we are having some fun! Ellie is demanding that walk every morning before I go to work. I can hardly get a cup of coffee in me before she starts barking. The exercise seems to be working as she is settling down a little earlier at night and is a little less destructive. For the biggest part she is leaving the furniture alone but she is still ready to get into the bathroom garbage and swallow cotton balls. She is no longer trying to chew on body parts of us so I am thinking we have a good thing here.
I started working on some more advanced obedience training and retrieving. She is a great retriever but does not want to give you the ball or Frisbee when she brings it back. She wants me to chase her and she is fast so it’s real hard for me to catch her. Just kind of pisses me off and that’s no attitude to have when I am trying to train her. So I have started to turn my back on her and ignore her when she does this. She comes up and basically hands me the ball now. I still have to turn my back but she is starting to get the idea.
I think I was bragging on her a little too much. She destroyed a Lilly Pulitzer sandal that is irreplaceable (my wife’s not mine). Man was she in trouble for a day. You could tell she knew something was up and remained low keyed and sullen the rest of the day. Gradually she won favor again but it was rough.
Sunday was beautiful and a little cooler. We went down to the river walk again, hooked in the dog lead and did about 3.5 to 4 miles out and back. I think I have figured out her limit. She was bushed on the way back and with about a quarter mile to go she lay down and refused to walk for a minute. She rested nicely the remainder of the day but was back up full of energy by early evening. I am enjoying the walks immensely and am losing a little weight. I am not a large guy and am in fairly good shape. It’s good to go get regular exercise anyway. It is a great way to start the day.