Therapy Class

Well, I'm just about to leave for dog obedience this week. Last week was fine, but again a little boring. I think we are just going to think about this structured distractions and leave it at that. Since Bleys doesn't get to see as many people here as in Michigan it's good practice before we take our test. My only wish is that this could be inside. An hour outside doesn't seem like it should wipe me out, but boy howdy, by the end I'm d-u-n-done. And we aren't even doing anything strenuous. Makes me wonder how the people I see out running at noon do it.

I'm actually kind of surprised that the instructor hasn't tried to get Bleys into a Gentle Leader. She is very into them and has just about every other dog in the class in one. Personally, I love the gentle leader, for unruly dogs. But I kind of feel like if you are going to be going into an environment like a nursing home or hospital, you should have control over your dog without one. The national tests don't allow head halters, but I guess Broward does. I can't use one with Bleys anyway. Gentle Leaders work on a couple of principles, the biggest of which is where the head goes, the body follows. Another one is pressure points, the leader rests across two different calming points on dogs, which is very helpful for the rambunctious dog. However, Bleys pretty much goes to sleep when I put his on. Taking him for a walk is really hard because he keeps trying to lay down and go to sleep. If you have him in a sit with it on, his head starts drooping and he is very sluggish. He's pretty well behaved without it so, we don't use it.

Well, it's time for me to go...