Flying By Night

As her full name suggests she should do, Marge took the big field by storm tonight at dusk. These pictures do not do her or her speed any justice. She had a full-out zoomy fit and ran endless laps in a state of perfect bliss. I am happy to report that this is becoming a regular occurrence now that the weather is cold.


This might be a pivotal time of year for Marge. Though it is not shown here, there were still a good number of people in the field finishing up their soccer games. Because the cold weather turns Marge into a very different (and much happier) dog, I'm hoping that the fact that she can co-exist with the outside world peacefully right now may eventually carry over into spring and summer.

I am trying to make a conscious effort to a) not completely avoid situations where we need to walk around people/sounds and b) not get frustrated, discouraged or hyper vigilant when Marge begins to get concerned about something in her environment. So far, I've had the most success with both of these while out in the field. Marge knows that the 20' leash affords her more freedom, so I think that alone makes her more comfortable. Also, any tension that I may be unconsciously sending down the line doesn't really transfer to her the way it would on a 4' or 6' leash.

When Marge sees something that strikes her interest (usually in a bad way), she tends to stop in her tracks and stare at it. What I notice now from all our walks on the 20 footer is that often times, she looks back to me to see my reaction to whatever the stimuli is. Doggy social referencing, so to speak - she has been asking me all along what things are okay and which ones aren't, and I haven't always been providing her with the right feedback.

Now that I've recognized the connection she makes with my own body language and general opinion about the things around us, I have started to use it to my advantage. When she stops, I usually keep walking - the nice thing about the 20' leash is that I can keep walking and the leash will stay slack for at least a few seconds, in which time she usually looks to me, deems the situation acceptable, and continues on her way. Sometimes, at this point, I'll throw a treat out for her to go grab - she loves chasing them down as she watches their path. It is amazing how quickly she finds them against the green grass, too.

Of course, it doesn't work for things that are very direct (like if a person is walking right at us) or immensely scary (like fireworks). But, it's definitely not a bad thing to have in the behavior modification toolbox, even if it only works in the big open field.