Looking at the weather forecast for today, it looks like we are in for a blizzard later…or at least a decent amount of snow is headed our way. So I thought I’d send this throwback video of me walking five of my dogs and eating a blizzard in what I jokingly call the Dairy Queen Blizzard Dog training Test.
This past summer I was walking five of my dogs in town when, naturally, I wanted ice cream. It was hot, I was walking, I figured why not? I decided I would just walk my dogs through the drive thru.
I stood in line, waited by the window, paid and got myself a blizzard. I was so happy with how my dogs did through this process…having to stand and wait with the distractions of a car behind them and a lady taking my money and giving me the blizzard. They were calm, patient and polite. Not once did I have to tell them to sit, wait or knock it off.
Then the next big test had to happen. Because of my lack of coordination, in order to eat my blizzard while walking, I put my wrist through my dog’s leashes. I was relying on them to walk nicely on the leash and not pull on my arm, because heaven forbid I drop any ice cream on the sidewalk. I was already the weirdo taking her dogs through the drive thru, I didn’t want to be walking through town crying over spilled blizzard.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to cry because no ice cream was spilled. Instead, my dogs walked calmly for the rest of the walk, while I enjoyed the warm summer evening and my blizzard. Life was good.
I often talk about how the most important part of dog training is how we live our lives with our dogs and who we are with them. With that being said, working with an instructor, such as myself, can be helpful in teaching you and your dog the functional skills they need in order to be successful. It’s definitely not a requirement, but in my very biased opinion, it can be helpful.
So whether you have done training with your dog with me, another instructor, or you have never had professional help with your dog, what functional skills are you teaching and implementing in your life with your dog? How has having these skills made life for you and your dog easier?
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Below is the link to a short video clip I took after getting my blizzard with my dogs. Don’t worry, it’s not too long-I couldn’t risk my ice cream melting. 😉