Today was an absolutely amazing day! First, we woke up to snow-dusted rooftops. Then London showed us something INCREDIBLE. The day started off with meeting all of my new friends in the hotel lobby for breakfast. The dogs were all very well behaved, but I wouldn’t have expected anything else. Then I headed to the 4 Paws for Ability facility in Xenia, OH. Until now, we’ve been meeting at a temporary training facility while 4 Paws is under contraction for a really big expansion. My brother Caleb would have loved seeing the big tractors. This is where London spent much of the past few months perfecting all of her manners, obedience, and tricks. I would have thought London would have loved being back “home” at 4 Paws but she was not very impressed. I guess that means she really likes living with me.
In the morning we continued practicing distractions. When London is working she will face a lot of distractions – like people bumping into her, talking to her, petting her, food dropping on the floor, toys rolling by, and more. She is trained to ignore all of this because the only thing she cares about in life is hanging out with me and making my Mommy and Daddy happy. We learned a new task, nuzzling. London is trained to nuzzle me when I’m sad or mad. She does this to comfort me and hopefully make me giggle.
Now, here’s the big deal…
We went to the park so I could “take a walk.” Today that meant that Mommy walked me across the parking lot, across the street, across a field, around the volleyball court, and over a burm. We didn’t take London’s trainer with me. That is who London usually tracks. Today she had to track just based on my scent. I was really confident in her because we have become good buddies and she sleeps with me.
London was only allowed to watch me cross the street and then my Daddy walked her behind my car so she couldn’t see me. He said she started whining right away. Once my “walk” was done Daddy and the trainer got London ready to look for me. They put a long lead on her, and told her to look for me. Once again she ran super fast. She had a challenge today because it was really windy – that meant that my scent was blowing too. Daddy got to handle London while she zigzagged through the field tracking me. She found me in less than 2 minutes, which is really good considering she couldn’t see me and I was like 300 yards away.
In the afternoon, we learned some new tasks. London is trained to lay under the table at places like restaurants for the entire meal. Then we learned how to “tether.” I have a special leash that connects me to London. London is trained to not let me get away no matter how hard I try. She will either stay lying down or standing when I try to get away. Tonight London got to practice both lying under a table and tethering when Mommy and Daddy took me to McDonalds for dessert, a special treat because we never go there. Check out how well she does at not letting me get away! Remember to check out all of my new photos from today!