I recently told you about how Gus had become re-sensitised to gunshots over new year and because of that bad experience he refused to walk on the main Ballywalter beach. (He was quite happy to walk on the northern beach at Ballywalter, but it’s rather a muddy type of sand, quite wet and just not as nice.)
I love that south beach walk. It’s a safe beach, nowhere near a road and it’s wide and spacious, especially at low tide, so there is room for everyone there to enjoy it. Him refusing to walk means I didn’t get to enjoy the wonderful beach either.
I’d gone there with Himself a few days go and after a walk to the north, we came back towards the car park and just carried on walking towards the infamous beach. With some reluctance, Gus did walk along the first part of the concrete path as far as the old lime kilns, but he refused to continue down to the beach. We went up to the tennis court area instead and threw his ball for him a few times, then went home.
I was missing my beach walk so something had to be done.
So I recruited the long-suffering Gareth into my plan. He and Tippi met Gus and I at the car park and off we went. To my delight, Gus was quite happy to walk along the concrete walk and then wanted to follow Tippi down onto the beach.
So off we tramped, me throwing Gus’s ball and him running after it as of old – until we got level with the steps up to the tennis court area. Gus suddenly seemed to realise where we were and put the brakes on. I threw the ball – and he lay down. I ended up having to retrieve the ball; to a chorus of praise from Gareth…
Anyway, we just hung around that area for a few minutes, played a few training games, then tried walking again – and Gus followed. Hurrah! We went about halfway to the first stream, with only one more minor half-refusal from Gus, then we went up to the grassy dunes to play some search games, which Gus (and Tippi) loved. (Unfortunately we lost his ball after a while and I stupidly had not brought a spare with me, but he’d had a good time until then.)
We walked back, played some find it games by the tennis courts then went back to the cars.
This experience helped Gus in getting over his scare at new year. There’s still plenty of work to be done, but this was a major step forward.
For many dog behaviour problems, helping your dog work through his issues is a long term process. It can be hard work and there will be times you feel you’re not getting anywhere – or even going backwards. Thus it’s important to celebrate the small wins by sharing them with your family and friends – and with us.
Please tell me about any small wins you’ve had recently. Just hit reply and let me know.
I’ll celebrate those tiny successes with you – I know how you feel and just how much these tiny steps forward mean.
Keep training,
Carol