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!