Dog Blog

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Today was day one of my 30-day challenge to take my dog somewhere new every day. The goal of this challenge is to get Ace to learn to behave in new places, mostly to control his excitement levels. The challenge is also a way to continue working on heeling and basic obedience.

For our first day, Ace and I walked in a different part of the neighborhood. This was a really simple way to go somewhere new on a day when I didn’t have a lot of extra time. All we did was walk one block west of where we normally walk, and this brought us a different world - new yards, no people, new dogs and new smells. Ace walked nicely because he was wearing his backpack (filled with books) and a pinch collar. I practiced telling him to sit every time I stopped. We saw a new playground we will visit sometime soon, and also remembered an aquarium store that might allow pets inside. We’ll have to try it out.

It’s funny how we get in the routine of walking the same path every day. For the past year, Ace and I have walked the same six or so different routes from my front door. There are dozens of other streets we could take, so I look forward to the rest of this challenge.

Feel free to take part in this challenge. Where did you walk your dog today?

Click here to see all my 30-day challenge posts.

Related posts:

1. 13 tips to teach your dog not to bark at the doorbell
2. Loose-leash walking: Days 29-30
3. Loose-leash walking: Days 26-28
4. Loose-leash walking: Days 22-25
5. Loose-leash walking (Days 19-21)

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 3:28 pm and is filed under 30-day challenge, Ace, Behavior, Training, Uncategorized, heeling, obedience, pinch collar, walking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.