Lovely Loose Leash Walk

Last night, Belle and I had such a wonderful loose leash walk that I just have to blag (my new word for bragging in my blog) about it.

From start to finish, Belle was right on cue - head next to my knee and looking up at me every 30 feet or so to check in. Being such a beautiful night weather-wise, almost everyone was outside - talking and chatting with neighbors, doing yard work, or playing with the kids. On one particularly busy block, a young family with a fearless two year old was saying goodbye to some folks at the curb. Before anyone realized what he was doing, the spunky two year old bolted over to Belle - who calmly sat, very still, at side to see what the boy would do. I treated Belle, telling her what a good girl she was until the folks could take the little boy's hand and talk to him about how to approach a strange dog. All this time, Belle sat very quietly. When the boy's mom finished with her instructions, I asked her if Belle could shake the boy's hand. She agreed and so I told Belle, "Shake". She very softly offered her paw and put it right in the boy's hand. He then proceeded to pump her paw very vigorously. Belle, the HPD Monday night Party Girl is serene and sedate compared to this little boy!

The next two homes were so impressed with Belle's performance I ended up spending about 20 minutes talking with them about Helping Paws and the work that Belle will be doing. I may even have convinced one of them to become a foster home. A teacher and her husband, their youngest child will graduate this spring and head off to California in the fall for college. They were wondering what to do with all their spare time. I told them I had just the thing for them, and invited them to check us out!!!

Belle's performance earned her lots of hugs and two spoonfuls of yogurt and all the cold water she could drink when we got home. Thank you again, Lori, for all you did to help Belle with her LLW'ing. She made us both very proud tonight.