March 23, 2003
9:15 p.m.
The Oscars must not be very interesting, because Dusty is sleeping right through them! In her defence, she had a really busy day!
As promised, we went for many long and wonderful walks. The weather was really beautiful. In the morning we went for a short walk, but played chase in the front yard for a long time.
After Dusty's morning nap, we got ready to go on our Big Walk. Dusty and I walked all the way to Annex Pet Store to buy dog food (I figured should she be involved in this expedition since it is, after all, *her* food).
She was absolutely super! No tugging on the leash, she sat to greet people passing on the sidewalk, and more-or-less behaved herself for the two hours that we were out.
She was being so good that a couple who had seen us struggling down the sidewalk yesterday actually stopped to compliment me on how well behaved she was *today*. A group of ladies stopped to ask me about her and crooned over her in Spanish, which was kind of neat - I could almost guess what they were saying from the tone of their voices.
I meet the nicest people when I'm out with the puppy. It's really neat to see the faces of complete strangers light up with smiles when they see us coming. There are a lot of schnauzer lovers out there!
For me, the biggest training victory today was Dusty's behaviour at intersections. She stopped and sat when I asked her to before crossing the street (she still doesn't do this automatically although she *will* sit when I stop - I've trained her to do this).
We actually practised this - stopping - a lot. Whenever she started to tug a little bit on the leash, I stopped and asked her to sit. This seems to be a good way to control that behaviour.
So, tomorrow I have a seminar to go to and Dusty gets a day of crate-confinement. Bladder relief will provided by the Cookie Lady, who is going stop by and walk her. I hope the pup does okay alone.