Week 1: Hobos have the happiest dogs...?

Yesterday, as Lily couldn't/wouldn't go in the dog basket, I had to jog her to the vet. In the rain.
Of course we got lost, and cloud cover made it so that GPS was a joke.

Whew... We were 15 minutes late, but we made it.

Then, we got lost on the way back, and involuntarily took the dog poo non-scenic route around the entire Noordkwartier of Leiden. Man, people don't pick up after their dogs. :(((

I was lost, tired, demoralized, with M. giving me directions on the phone (from the computer at home), and through it all, Lily was such a trooper. To her, this was a roaming, wandering adventure.

As M. puts it, she handles like a Mercedes Benz. I could't deal with dog trotting, or her going off after a pigeon, and she knew it. She just loped peacefully next to me until we got to the meeting point with M. 2 hours, but we got home.

***

Then, this morning, she jumped in the duck pond. 

Week 1: Lazy Sunday?

This is the face that blitzed through our one hour run, dug under hedges, jumped in a canal, and played power fetch.

I just live in my gym clothes now.

Week 1: Free run

One thing I said I wouldn't do for at least three months is a free run in the big field in the park. But this morning, during our hour-long morning jog, I figured, better find out how good her recall is in a manageable space.

It's away from immediate roads, and surrounded by woodsy park trails.

She ran, I ran, I ran in the other direction, called her, she stopped, came back. We did four to five sprints and recalls before I called a stop. A bit risky, but she was very good. It helps that every time she comes to me she gets love and praise. We're checking out a more secure free-run area for regular training.

Plus, this morning, she had half a boiled egg while we did breakfast training. This won't sort out her solid poo any time soon, but she's getting 20% of her meals in human grade food (chicken, eggs, ground beef, sardines), ultimately working up to 50% balanced real food diet (plus calcium etc).

The vet's closed over the weekend, so we're making an appointment on Monday.

[Tired dog is a happy dog: we brought the spare double mattress downstairs for her to plop down on]