Off leash area

I took the dogs to the off leash area last night, and enjoyed the dramatic sky's last rays of sun before it set at 8:30 pm. The whole city was rainy, but the dog park had a spot of bright sun and strong wind. I love that it is set on a peninsula on the lake. I am struck by the beautiful contrast of clouds-- white fluffy ones lit but the sun and dark, heavy ones on every horizon. Every time I have been there recently it has been overly crowded, but last night the rain had kept most people away.

Anyway, Daphne has excellent social skills with other dogs at the park. A cattle dog mix had some stern words for her, out of the blue, and she was appropriately respectful and took a hike. She takes an interest in the herding breeds because she grew up with Mona. They don't always appreciate the bully breed energy, but she is very respectful. One time she had a blast running with two border collies who were chasing a ball. They didn't pay any attention to her, but a dominant dog full of attitude like a cattle dog will sometimes want to tell her in advance, no BS. There was also a grown yellow lab puppy who was both rambunctious and insecure who wanted to play with Mona and Daphne. He was larger than both my girls, and clearly still learning how to approach dogs. I forgot what Daphne did exactly, but it conveyed interest in playing as well as some aloof dominance. He approached Mona and she snapped at him. She has no time for playing with puppies. So he went back to Daphne and they romped a bit. I was impressed with how Daphne set the tone with him, and managed the interaction well.

I also saw some progress on puddle-drinking. I make the dogs drink. I don't suggest others try it because it takes a lot (LOT) of patience. Daphne used to almost prefer drinking from puddles and runoff surrounding the dog bowls. I lean over her yelling, "No drinking!" (ready to move her if she does not comply) when she starts to drink from any source other than a dog bowl. I always did this with Mona, but after the leptospirosis scare last year, I am even more emphatic about it. I tell the dogs to "Get a drink." I tell Daphne in particular to "drink from the dog bowl" or "Drink some water from the dish." So, she is learning the vocabulary of dog bowl and dog dish.

When Mona was a puppy, she picked all this up very fast. I would tell her to drink and then wait for her. She still sometimes defies me, which can take up a lot of time. You really cannot make a horse drink, physically. But you can wait and not let anything happen until the dog at least takes a token lick. So most times, Mona just drinks when I tell her to. What happens is they don't think they need water, but then they have a little and notice how good it was. Then they drink a lot more. I also like to make sure they drink along the way so they don't gorge themselves at the end and then feel sick or vomit it up. Conditioning for this kind of behaviour promotes the dog to take care of itself without a lot of ongoing intervention. That way, I can trust the dog with other people who may not know not to let them drink from puddles.