Naughty or Nice

This Saturday morning was foggy and a bit chilly, but it was one of those days where you can tell it's going to be gorgeous and warm later on. Because it was early and foggy, meaning that not many other people would be out with their dogs (majorly distracting to Cabana), I decided to try walking her without her head collar. It turned out to be a good idea because she did very well. With her head collar, she tends to sit down a lot, but when she's not wearing it, although she does pull a bit more, she's more willing to keep moving.

I snapped a couple photos of Cabana on our walk today. My camera is big, so I don't like to take it along, even though I often wish I had it with me.


Yesterday, we walked with the head collar on, and midway in our walk, Cabana got tired of being good. (Don't we all!) She started jumping and biting her leash, running in circles around me. All very naughty behaviors, which she knows she isn't supposed to do. It's her way of saying, "I'm gonna do what I want, and you can't stop me!" (She used to do this a lot more, but it had been quite a while since she had done this.) I grabbed her collar and scruff firmly and said, "That's enough!" (This is the GDB preferred way of saying "no".) Well, Cabana stopped and calmed down, but then, as I took a couple steps to start walking again, she came up behind me and BIT me on the TUSHIE!!! Not hard, but I definitely felt it. I was SHOCKED at her very deliberate gesture of disobedience. Of course, I gave her a firm correction, and we proceeded on our walk. Later, when I recounted the story to my husband, he asked if Cabana was repentant after that. I said she behaved herself, but she didn't seem all that "hangdog" about what she'd done.

One out of three dogs don't make it through the program to become a Guide Dog. Even the smallest undesirable behavior can cause the dog to be "career changed." I think tushie biting might possibly put the dog in the "career change" category--so it's definitely something we need to "nip in the bud" (ha ha).