Multi-Tasking Morning Walk

There's nothing I like better than multi-tasking, which is one of the reasons I love my morning walk with Cabana. It's much-needed exercise for me, but here are some of the other things we accomplished this morning.

The tennis courts near our house are a great first stop. No one is playing tennis at 7am, so we have the courts to ourselves. Cabana does a perfect down-stay, while I take a quick turn around the courts to make sure there's nothing dangerous or tempting for Cabana to put in her mouth.


In the video above, Cabana expends some of her surplus energy. She loves to run around with her Wubba in her mouth. After she's drained some of that boundless energy, Cabana is much more pleasant on leash for the rest of our walk. We also practice kibble-induced recall--Cabana's great at that.

Lately, Cabana has been getting me all discombobulated when we go through certain doors. Automatic opening doors are fine, but when it's a push-open kind, like here, she tends to go around behind me to my right and dart out in front of me, making the leash get tangled around the back of my legs. I've almost fallen down a couple times! Maybe Cabana is afraid of getting hit by the door? I don't know. Here as we leave the courts, we practice going through a few times, making sure that Cabana stays on my left.

We also practice sitting straight on our walks. Our CFR Celeste told me a few months ago that being near a wall or fence will help Cabana to face forward. Cabana is much better about sitting straight now, but I have found that if we don't keep practicing things, she doesn't always retain them. So even though Cabana gets it now, I still try to practice a few times a week.


Of course, there's nothing more challenging for Cabana than dog distraction. We pass this man and his dog almost every day. For some reason, Cabana is EXTREMELY distracted by this little dog. Maybe because the man doesn't make his dog heel, so his dog always comes RIGHT up to Cabana and WON'T leave. I do my best to keep Cabana in a sit until he can coax his dog away. Sigh.


The grocery store is a couple blocks from my house, and I know we need milk for our morning cereal. So I brought Cabana's jacket along so we could make a quick stop. This refrigerated section gave Cabana SOOOO much trouble back when she was 5 months old (blogged here). I'm so glad there's not even a hint of that fear left.


The grocery checkers all know Cabana now and love to see her. Today, we get in Donna's line. She says Cabana is the cutest customer she'll have all day. Ain't it the truth!

Empty Poop Bags - What a Relief!

A couple months ago, Cabana started the habit of needing to poop on our morning walks. Even though she goes poop first thing in the morning and we go for a walk only about an hour later, the walking was making her need to go again. If I tried to make her go before our walk, I'd just wait and wait and wait on our lawn with her--but she needed the walking to stimulate her bowels.

On our walks, Cabana would show signs of needing to relieve, like pulling over toward patches of grass or walking in a zigzagging fashion. When she started behaving like that, I would look for a good place (i.e., not someone's fastidiously manicured lawn), then I would give the command, and she would go. She was very good about waiting for permission.

However, my puppy group leader said that we needed to help Cabana be even more controlled about her relieving. And we needed to break that habit, because she was needing to relieve 9 times out of 10 (she's got a regular little system!). So we picked a designated spot on our route where she could relieve if necessary. She would not be allowed to relieve anywhere on our walks except there.

It took a couple weeks, but Cabana was able to handle that. We had a lot of success with that plan. If Cabana needed to go before or after we had reached that spot, I would give an emphatic "No!" (I think in the manual, it says you should act like she's about to go poop on white carpeting) and I would make her sit for a minute or so. The urge would pass, and we would continue our walk.

Now Cabana rarely even uses her designated spot to poop. I still stop there and ask her to do her business. Sometimes, she'll pee there, but it has been weeks and weeks since she's needed to poop on our walks.

So I come home with an empty poop bag...and a happy tired pup!

Newsworthy Walk

A trainer for Guide Dogs for the Blind happens to live in my neighborhood. I met him and his wife and CC German shepherd about a month ago when I was out walking Cabana. This morning, I ran into him again. He's always very welcoming of questions, of which I have plenty.

Today, in the course of our conversation, I asked him which puppies he had been working with. He told me to give him some names, and he would tell me whether he knew them. So I mentioned Lani, and he said that yes! He had been her trainer! He glowed about what a great dog she is and about the extensive testing she had to undergo to be selected as a breeder. He said she was a very sweet little dog and was amazed that I happened to mention her! I guess dog blogs make the world a bit smaller.

He also said he had been working with Accord and even mentioned the kink in Accord's tail. He said Accord was doing FABULOUSLY, as was Alioto, Accord's sibling.

My mind blanked on the names of other pups IFT and questions I could have talked to the trainer about, but hopefully, I'll see him again before too long.

**ADDENDUM 5/25/09: I saw the trainer's wife the following morning and she kindly allowed me to snap a photo of Dillon, their German shepherd. But the trainer wasn't there, so no more questions or reports today.

Happy Five Months to Cabana

Cabana turned 5 months old today. I remember bringing her home in mid-December, standing outside in the cold for hours, trying to get her to do her business, taking her for walks pre-dawn since the sun doesn't come up until so late in the winter. I was really looking forward to the age and weather that we would experience today--with Cabana old enough to know what's expected of her, how to do her business quickly and able to walk a few miles with me without tiring. And to enjoy the warmth and sunshine and the longer days of spring.

Well, we haven't had MUCH warmth or sunshine lately, since it has rained here every day for at least two weeks straight. But today, I think it's actually going to be a nice sunny day! Woo hoo!

Here's a video clip of Cabana, doing her "happy dance", the cute little turns she does while my husband prepares her breakfast. She's so excited, but she also manages to contain herself. And she has the "wait" before eating down solid.

By George, I Think She's Got It!!

I was just about to give up hope on Cabana getting over her fear of refrigeration at grocery stores, when voila, today she was so much better! I was even able to push a cart while shopping with her, the first time I've attempted this courageous feat.

Cabana has also gotten better about not jumping while being petted. I was able to let a couple small boys pet her today at the store, and she sat very nicely for them. It always astounds me how much we all enjoy petting a cute animal. It's never enough just to look at a puppy--we all have the desire to touch, too.

One thing that Cabana has been great at for some time now is sitting nicely while we wait in line at stores. She melts quite a few hearts (mine included) when she behaves so well.

This morning, I took Cabana for a walk at C. Canyon regional park, which is something I've been meaning to do. Unfortunately, it wasn't really the best day for me to do this, considering that it has been raining all week and even last night. The hiking trails were definitely SQUISHY with mud. We both got pretty darn dirty. Blecch. I think I should start keeping a towel in the car, for just-in-case times like today.

But despite the muddy conditions, the park was gorgeous. The morning clouds were clearing, and everything was so green and lush. We're so fortunate to live is such a beautiful area. Here's a couple pics of the area surrounding our hike.