As some of you may know, I became very ill last year shortly after bringing Misty & King home. I ended up bedridden for the majority of 3 months, and then several months of recuperation followed. Needless to say, the pups got the short end of the stick in regards to socialization as a result.
**NOT** what I had planned!! Anyway, long story short, by the time I'd recuperated, the heat of summer was still in full swing, we couldn't take the pups anywhere due to concern with overheating, and we had LOTS of outside catch up work to do that hadn't been done during my illness. Then winter work hit & I couldn't take them b/c they'd still be in the vehicle too long.
So, tonight was the first time I've taken King to town. He's been a few other quiet places (picnics beside the creek, to a neighbors to meet their kids and stock/poultry, etc), but not to bustling, noisy town nightlife. He found it all highly interesting. Sniffing, looking, exploring. But NOT fazed. I was impressed. He was also very quick to respond to my direction. I went with the plan in place that I wouldn't work on his leash skills because I didn't want to overwhelm him. I figured I'd just let him experience all the new things without having to try to work with me among such high distractions. I was concerned it would be a negative experience for him if I did so.
However, he was doing so well, that I ended up using a bit of positive reinforcement to cue him to what I wanted. He'd forge ahead. I'd stop without jerking. He'd notice, turn back, I'd say, "good", he'd circle round me, I'd mark 'yes' when he was beside & focused on me, and he'd get a treat, then we 'd carry on. Within about 100' he was no longer pulling, and was consistently checking back with me if I stopped when he started to get too close to the end of the leash (not even pulling yet). All this with traffic whizzing past him on the main street, all the lights and dogs barking, people, etc. And, we even came to an agreement that he was to STAY OFF the seat of the car.
A great first experience :)
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