Going For A Walk

I've been really lazy about taking Millie out for her walks. It's not like it's a huge chore, she is a small dog with short little legs so really doesn't need a long walk. Just up the street and back but being the lazy person that I am I really have to force myself to get up and go.

But I did this morning and will try to do it most mornings from now on.

For such a small dog she is very strong and pulls on the leash because she wants to go as fast as possible. That is the part that I don't like, the leash pulling, and I suppose I could take her to a learn how to walk on a leash doggy class, but the laziness comes into play here plus the fact that she is so aggressive with other dogs that she would just bark and growl and probably get suspended from school. I could hire a personal trainer, but here comes lazy again and I guess I'll just put up with the leash pulling for now.

She is so funny, when you put her harness on she knows she is going for a walk but doesn't run to the door like a normal dog would, instead she freezes and stands there so I have to pick her up and take her to the door. Once the door is open off she goes, but she hates the harness and has to stop four or five times and shake herself in the hopes that the harness will come off.

Then up to the main street outside the neighborhood, after having a few showdowns with other dogs inside the neighborhood, dogs that were in garages or front yards that Millie started barking and growling at, I've found that the outside street is much less distracting for her. Now that she has gotten used to car noises she doesn't bark at vehicles as much, just the occasional bus and if a motorcycle goes by then she HAS to bark at that.

She walks fast but then stops to sniff at things and tinkle on things and of course take a poo. She didn't like turning around when it was time to head back so I've figured out a way to trick her. There is an intersection at the street up by the school with a 3 way stop, so we cross the street there at the top crosswalk, then the side crosswalk, then the bottom and back to where we were but she doesn't realize that we are turning around, hence no sitting and refusing to move.

I didn't put her jacket on this morning since it wasn't all that cold. I had my jacket on but after walking fast with her, was really ready to take it off by the time we got home, I was getting hot!