Mustard and "Catch-Up"
In our neck of the woods, January is quite beautiful. The winter rain makes the fields turn lush green, though they're dry and brown in the summer--sort of the opposite of most of the U.S. Wild mustard plants take over, turning whole landscapes into yellow carpets. Although it's a weed, it's such a pretty weed that nearby Napa Valley even celebrates with their annual Mustard Festival, attracting visitors from all over the world.
I feel so blessed everyday to live in this area. So much in fact, that it actually makes it a bit hard to travel to other places because there are few areas more lovely and with better weather than we have here. Plus, my bed has the perfect soft/firm combination--I really miss that when I have to sleep somewhere else.
To catch you all up on the past few days, I've decided to take a break on the dog parks for a little while. I do think it was helping quite a bit with Cabana's dog distraction, and she sure loved every minute of playtime. But...I'm tired of having a dirty dog! Cabana is drawn to the mud like...velcro to the other side of velcro. For the next couple weeks, I'm switching gears to work diligently with Cabana on recall.
When we've got a strong recall, maybe I'll even be able to call her away from the mud puddles before she steps paw in them.
Armed with my long lead (thank you, Bethany, for your comment about this; our dog training instructor also confirmed your advice) and my Bil-Jac Liver Treats (thank you, Ally, liver brings Cabana around much better than chicken jerky and kibble), we stop a few times on our morning walks. I let her go with "go play", let her sniff and meander, then call her back at random intervals. If she doesn't respond, she gets a little pull back to me, and I greet her heartily with happy praise and a tiny morsel of liver treat.
It's a little cumbersome and tangly, though, with grass and paws getting in the way of the long lead. And even with the liver, Cabana isn't exactly dashing back to me. We've only got one day of practice under our belts, though, so I know I need to take it slowly. My tendency is to expect too much, too quickly. I know, I know, patience, patience, hurry up, I need patience....
