Gus Takes a Hike
If you have a reactive dog or a dog with behavioral issues this is your message to keep going. Keep going to training classes, stay consistent with your homework on every walk and remember that you may not notice the changes everytime. For the last couple of years I have taken Gus to dog school so he could learn to be less reactive. Finally he was approved for a hike with others from school and this was a very big deal.
To prepare for his hike I packed the following items:
his favorite treats ( hotdogs and string cheese)
I decided to keep the load pretty light so my hands could be free and everything would be easily accessible. Taking Gus to a new environment with other dogs felt like a recipe for disaster but I built a level of trust with the training team over the years. Gus was excited to take in all of the sniffs in this new location and to my surprise ignored many of the dogs on the trail! Gus is now a hiking dog, we walked about 2 miles round trip and took a few water breaks when he needed it. I am soo happy that Gus can finally be out on the trails this fall.
