Walking, Walking, Walking

I love to go on walks and we go on LOTS. Mom says I’m a high-energy dog and need A LOT of exercise. She walks really fast and I like that. When my Dad goes, we have to slow it down, but that’s OK too. Toby, my brother, has lost 10 pounds since I started living here. He’s a lot older than I am (11-years old) and likes to sleep a lot. He told me we didn’t go for a lot of long walks before I came because Maggie was sick–he told me Maggie was a very pretty Aussie Border Collie mix. But, he loves walks too! I know.

Mom says leashes are good. There are all kinds of leashes out there, but I only know about a few. When I was a real little puppy, I had a leash on 24-7 (whatever that means). I had a great time chewing on that leash–I think I went through a couple of leashes during that period. After a while, I didn’t have to wear a leash ALL the time. I think that was about a month. That was good because I had a little more freedom. I don’t think they trusted me then–they were pretty smart about that.

I like to walk with my Mom and Dad. We go places that are fun. But I always have to have a leash on, well, almost always. Mom uses something called a Gentle Leader. I think it’s neat because I get a treat when she puts it on. She puts the treat inside the nose loop and there you go! I get a treat and then we go for a walk where I get more treats! It’s just so easy to get treats around here. I just have to do what they want!

Mom says I walk really well with her (and with my Dad when he takes me). Did I tell you I walk right beside her? She calls it heeling. She always has treats and pops one in my mouth ever so often. I never know when that’s going to happen, so I have to pay a lot of attention–focus is the name of this game. I love heeling!

When I was little, I loved to eat everything on the sidewalk or the grass or wherever. It was a lot of fun walking through the dandelions that had all the fly-away things. I would open my mouth and catch as many as I could. Mom said I was silly. Then I ate dried grass after someone had mowed. Mom said I was like a cow. Gee, do I have that many stomachs? I could eat a lot more! I learned a new word “leave it”. I guess I do pretty good now because we walk along and I don’t eat everything in sight anymore!!

I do love walks…..

Me, Afraid?

I think I’m pretty fearless, but there have been a few things that scare me. The very first time I remember feeling that way was when I was a little over 3-months old. Mom says it’s important to be exposed to as much as possible before I’m 6-months old (that’s what they all say….). We were out on one of our many daily walks around the neighborhood, when we heard a loud noise. Mom said it was a siren. Well, along comes this BIG red truck making lots of noise. We walked down the block and here was that truck. Mom said we’d wait there so I could look at this truck from across the street. So far, I wasn’t scared. Then, here comes another one and soon another one stops right beside me. These people got out of the truck with these funny clothes on and started pulling a long snake out of the truck. Now I was scared!

Mom was smart though; she took me across the street away from all those big trucks (by the way, one more came, but it didn’t park beside me). We stood there with some other people that thought I was being very brave. Mom gave me lots of treats. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. We didn’t stay long and went home to tell Dad what we had seen!!

Balloons scare me. I just don’t know what they are. We went to a parade a few weeks ago and there were these things floating in the air outside a store. That’s when I learned they were balloons. Mom gave me some treats and I looked at them for a while. They stayed away from me and I decided they weren’t too scary anymore.

There were a lot of new experiences at this parade, but I think the balloons were the scariest. A man next to us thought I was pretty darn cute though, so I decided to stay. I saw my friend Kuma (a Siberian Husky) riding in a car with his Dad. Kuma had sunglasses on and was watching out the window. I like Kuma and sometimes get to play with him.

Sometimes new things scare me–like the antlers. I just don’t know what they are, but now I LOVE antlers. Mom gets this big noisy thing out and starts moving it all over the floor. Toby barks at it, but I get up on the couch so it can’t get me. Mom says it’s a vacuum. I think it’s OK, but I’m still not too sure.

Last night we went to the park and I got to run and play. There were a LOT of dogs there! One dog was a little mean and scared me. I went to stand by Mom and Dad for a while. Mom gave me some string cheese (one of my favorite treats) and told me I could go play after a little while. I knew she was watching out for me! And the mean dog went away so I could run some more.

Mom also says I’m pretty fearless and I guess that’s true!