Rosie Update 5

Over the past two days I’ve walked our big galoot of a foster dog Rosie twelve miles. I know that’s a little excessive, but the weather has been so beautiful – 70’s and sunny – that I haven’t been able to stay indoors. Besides, I gained ten pounds over this long dreary winter so I have a lot of motivation to keep moving.

I don’t know if it’s the warmer temperatures or if Rosie is actually maturing, but she has suddenly started doing a hundred times better on the leash. She’s actually manageable in a pack.

After two days of acting civilized on a leash, I decided to give her a big test this morning and took her to the Springfield Greenway. There were nine dogs and three humans (Mason, Nancy, and I) in our walking posse. Normally, particularly in a pack, Rosie fights to retain the lead the whole time, yanking so hard sometimes I have to hand her off to Mason. Today, Rosie may have pulled for the first quarter mile but after that, she was easy to handle. I’m afraid to say this for fear of being jinxed, but she was actually a pleasure to walk.

Sometimes, it just takes longer to reap the benefits of consistent training. Just like humans dogs mature at different rates. I’ll admit there were times over the past six months when I wanted to give up on Rosie – just declare her un-trainable on a leash and wipe my hands of it. I’m really glad I didn’t.