Today Kachina and I went for our first street bike ride. No dog park!  I actually enjoy riding on the side streets with Kachina more than going down the bike path at the dog park mainly because there are less obstacles (dogs and people). The traffic during the afternoon is pretty minor and we are on the side streets so I don't anticipate traffic being an issue.

 

To protect Kachina's feet from the asphalt and other pieces of junk (gravel, glass etc.) I put her boots on. She doesn't seem to mind them that much either. I used a dog sled harness so that she could pull the bike for a bit and it worked great!  The difference between a "sled" harness and regular dog harness is that the sled harness is cushioned across the chest and has two D links on either side so that you can hook her up to a cart or sled.

 

I got a few odd looks from people but really, who cares!!!  The nice thing was that I didn't have to stop every two seconds because of a dog or person and Kachina didn't pull my arm out of it's socket trying to get to the other dogs.

 

She's tuckered out now and sleeping. Tired Belgains are well behaved Belgians.  :) 

 

M.

It was a snowy day and the dog park had very few people there. I had Kachina on a long leash and her harness and managed to avoid other dogs for most of the walk.  On the way back, we encountered a standard poodle and I let them play for a moment before taking the leash and carrying on.

 

We were walking on the bike path (an on-leash area) and this old guy and his springer spaniel are walking towards us. His dog is running up to Kachina. It looked like it wanted to play and so I let Kachina's leash out.  As soon as Kachina made an unfriendly noise, I pulled her back - fast!So fast that there really was no encounter. His dog was scared and it was yelping and here's how the conversation er encounter went:

 

MB: Is your dog okay?

OC (Old Coot): I don't know

MB: Well it looks okay.

OC: Your dog shouldn't be here. This is an off leash park.

MB: My dog is on a leash.

OC: Your dog should be put to sleep!

MB: Well that's a little extreme.

OC: Your dog is vicious. I want to kick it.

MB: Don't make this any worse.

OC: You shouldn't be here.

MB: Look, this part here is an on-leash area. My dog is on-leash and under control. Your dog is not. It run up to her.

OC: You let her.

MB: She's on leash Sir.

OC: I should kick you.

MB: I wouldn't do that.  You know, you are just a miserable old coot. (Then I turn to walk away).

OC: Yelling to other people there.  "You'd better watch it. That dog is vicious!"

MB: She's on a leash sir. Control your own dog.

 

And I walked away.  Talk to my ass.

 

Wow, Kachina sure can stir up trouble!

 

Okay, so I've mastered the staying calm thing. Now, I want to go for comedic value.  I'm sure they won't see the comedy in their behavior or my response ... but just think of the good stories I can tell.

 

OC: I should kick you.

MB: What are you - 12?

 

OC: Your dog should be put to sleep.

MB: Your behavior is no better than hers, maybe we should put you to sleep.

 

OC: Your dog is vicious.

MB: Only towards crazy old men.

 

OC: I want to kick your dog.

MB: I want to kick your ass.

 

Ya...that would have been much more fun. You see, when you are in the right...then you can have fun with it. The key is to stay in the right! 

 

I'm sure there will be another tale to tell .... Kachina is still young.

Today I decided to take Kachina for a run with the bike. I put her boots on so she wouldn't hurt her feet and used the Halti so she wouldn't pull my arm off.

 

There were quite a few people on the bike path.  I can see how some of the bikers get annoyed because people do not move out of the way and their dogs ... arg!

 

So what I did was if I spotted some people ahead coming my way, I got off the bike and walked Kachina over in the grass area. In one case this guy's dog came up to her and she wanted to rip his lips off. I made her sit and allow the dog to sniff her butt. She wasn't happy about that at all! 

 

I told one lady with a schnauzer that Kachina wasn't always good with other dogs and so she reluctantly got her dog off the path. What is with these people!!!!!!!  Can they not just move aside and let us pass? Okay, and then if they see me getting my dog - that is on a leash - out of their way ... ya think they might want to not let their dogs come up to us! Maybe I should just let Kachina snap at their dogs.

 

I can see that going to that place is a pain in the butt. I like the bike path there because I can run Kachina with my bike without worry about traffic. Well car traffic anyways. Maybe car traffic is easier to deal with than dog traffic.  There is that little issue of riding a bike with a dog on leash being against the law...so as long as I can avoid the cops. Things are never easy are they!

 

I did manage to run Kachina for a bit and then we went up and down my street a few times. I figured that I needed to burn that frustrated energy off her. She could have gone longer but I was pooped. I can't wait until I can take the electric bike out again. There is still too much ice on the side roads and it is kind of dangerous to ride a bike, let alone a bike with a dog.

 

I wish I had the energy to go jogging or for 10 mile hikes. Damn this Fibromylgia!!! 

 

Oh well, I'll just have to get more creative in my dog exercise solutions. No, I'm not buying a treadmill for my dog ... yet.

 

M.

We are walking along the bike path area of the dog park - which actually is suppose to be an "on-leash" area, not that anyone obeys that law - when this guy and his two old(?) dogs are coming by.  I have Kachina on a short leash and the guy's American Eskimo, who looked blind, is walking toward us. I hear Kachina growl and stand between the AE and Kachina, meanwhile his German Shepherd is coming around from the back. Kachina lunges at the Shepherd and I stop her and then put her in a submissive position.

 

The guy is checking his German shepherd for injuries(?) and the AE is still trying to approach Kachina, who is being made to lie down by me.

 

Okay, how stunned is this guy? My dog is on a short leash and I'm trying to block his dog from getting to mine. Hello Stupid - I'm trying to avoid a confrontation between dogs here.  Sheesh!  He looks at me surprised as if I did something wrong. First, his dog's were not on leash - mine was. Second, his dogs were getting into my dog's face and she had no where to go.  Yes, it's bad that she snapped at his dog - I'm working on that. That is why my dog is on a leash!

 

What is he thinking walking a blind dog (off leash) at a dog park anyway?

 

I guess I'll have to warn all who approach, "Careful my dog isn't always good with other dogs."  I suppose it couldn't hurt our reputation which is crap anyway.

 

The question of the day is - what was it about those two dogs that provoked Kachina?  Was it that she perceived the "blind" dog as weak and that triggered her wanting to attack it?  BTW, dogs are not naturally "sensitive" toward the weak or handicapped,  as humans are.  In the animal world, that alone is reason to attack.  Perhaps that was the reason?

 

I was walking with Johanna today and let Kachina run around (ahead of us) on the long leash. Perhaps this gave her the idea she was the leader and acted with that in mind. She certainly didn't want to listen to me today. She kept trying to chew her leash off and wanted to jump on people who were close by. 

 

Granted, some days I am slacker in her handling than other days.  Then again, some days she is more rebellious than other days. Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Well today we ventured back to the dog park. I kept Kachina on leash the whole time but I did put together two leashes to give her an extra long leash. That worked okay in some parts but in other areas, those where other dogs were running around, Kachina became frustrated because she wanted to go and join the other dogs but couldn't.  I also found it difficult to control her when she was in that mode - especially since I had her on a harness (the Halti was in my pocket).

 

I saw Carrie out there and so I just went the opposite way. I left the park. I just didn't want to bother having a confrontation with her. Why ruin my day.  Yes, I still want to stuff her, all of her, down a gopher hole. I doubt that feeling will go away any time soon. 

 

Back to Kachina. One of the reasons, besides the park becoming polluted by a negative presence, I left is because people were throwing balls for their dogs and it was too chaotic to have a nice walk with Chena.  We went to a different place where there wasn't that many people around and I let Kachina run around on her extra long lead a bit more and then put the Halti on and we walked back.

 

I came home and watched a few of Cesar's episodes from Season 1 and realized that I've made a few mistakes worth mentioning:

 

First, I should be correcting Kachina whenever she is on leash and even looks at another dog.  I didn't do this before because I didn't see the harm in looking but it begins with her looking and then she starts pulling, wanting to go to the dog. Perhaps if she gets corrected at the beginning when she starts to look, I can teach her to ignore other dogs. The dog park may have some value for me yet. 

 

The second lesson is that I am still letting Kachina walk too much in front of me.  I didn't think it mattered but now, I think that perhaps that few inches is enough for K to think she is leading?  It may not be as big of a deal as the first thing but ...  .  

 

I do think that she needs to have some "free time" on the walk where she can sniff and run ahead. For that reason I will continue to bring the extra long lead but I will use it after she does well on the walk and ignore other dogs portion of the walk - kind of like a reward.

 

I ordered Cesar's "People training for dogs" and I'm sure it will correct me further.  Kachina is sure teaching me how to manage a dog!

 

We'll see what tomorrow brings. 

 

M.