We drove downtown and walked up and down a couple of blocks of Main St. We also practiced walking at my side, left, right, and wait on the narrow wooden patio wrapping around Steady Eddy's. When practicing for public access, I have previously been using the ring on the back of her service harness, however she's now too big for to be useful. Her front end is too far ahead of me for her to respond well to directionals. Also controlling her head is useful in highly distracting situations. So for the first time, I clipped the leash to her collar. She's always been a natural at responding to leash pressure cues, and she didn't have any significant trouble with the switch. It was certainly easier for me. I still grabbed onto the handle on her service harness when I wanted her to move into my left side and to help her stay there. She does well when we're moving at a steady pace, but she gets antsy/bored/nervous when I want her to just stop and wait.
I thought that she would be tired out after that, but I forgot that she has more energy nowadays. So at sunset we ran around the yard together. She can easily outrun me now. Because of our previous games in which I would change direction when she caught up to me, she would run past me, then turn quickly and face me. I would either turn and run in a different direction, or stop and let her run up to me and give her cuddles. I adore her happy play face.
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