Part time retirement (PTR) has taken its toll on Daisy. She is off schedule. When I worked from 8:00 to 5:00 she would get really excited when I came home in the afternoon. Breathing hard, running from the front door back to me then to Mate, talking Schnauzer talk. She knew as soon as I headed toward the bedroom I was going to change clothes, I was going to get the halter, hand it to mate and she was going to "get dressed" for the favorite thing in her small life. A walk through the neighborhood! You might say she lives for those walks. I of course had to get a sack and a rubber glove (since I am a good neighbor and pick up behind us) and she sits almost quietly in Mate's lap waiting for me to say "Okay". Then its off to the races.
Daisy, Mate and I attended obedience school this past spring and early summer. Our main purpose was to train Daisy to walk on a leash. Not that she doesn't know about a leash, and not that she doesn't know about a walk, but putting them together is difficult for her. I know you have seen those wonderful movies, or true life stories, about the Iditarod and the beautiful Eskimo dogs that pull the loaded sled, along with the master, for miles and miles over frozen Alaskan terrain. When we were looking on Pet Finder for a rescue dog to adopt, we came across Daisy's picture and she was described as mostly Miniature Schnauzer, weighing approximately 15 pounds. We never found what else was in her background until we went for our first walk. Obviously somewhere in her background was a sled dog pulling for all she was worth. Daisy still does it today.
Despite the best efforts of the several trainers at the Obedience School, we did not quite master the walking on a leash part and we actually never missed a session. Now we did learn about snacks (her favorite part) and how she could wait patiently for one. She even learned to get down when you put the snack in front of her nose and went down to the ground. She still follows right along with you and lays down, never taking her eyes off the snack, to the point of almost looking cross eyed. She will wait patiently til you say "Okay" before she nicely takes the treat from your hand and lays there and devours it. Mate and I have not found an actual reason for this but she does look cute doing it.
But back to the walk. I often wish I had better balance and could ride a skateboard as it would be a wonderful exercise for Daisy to pull me. We have one of those leashes that you can let out and pull back in. She strains so hard I am often worried that if the leash would snap she would be in Archer County before she ever slowed down.
But back to confusion..... PTR (part time retirement) is giving me all sorts of different times to chose from for our walks and just this morning (Thursday, I don't go in til 1:00) we walked beginning at 7:00. She is trying to adjust. One thing for sure she is excited to go no matter what the time. Daisy may never be the dog that stops and smells the roses. Oh she smells all right, she has certain blades of grass and certain poles that she will at least slow down for but even when she squats she just keeps on going. I am thinking at this time in my life, going along with Daisy, straight ahead, looking neither to the left or to the right may be a good plan. The difference in me and Daisy, is that she looks down and I have to remember to keep on looking up. That way I will be sure and make home.
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