Vinnie turned 2 years old today and his birthday present was going to the Pirates of the Pacific street-fair down at Brookings Harbor.
Charlie and I took him by himself so that he could demonstrate how his on-leash training is going. I’ve been working with him around the neighborhood at home and also at the various RV parks that we’ve visited on this trip. He has been doing much better lately: not so much pulling and going into beserk mode when he sees another dog. Today was the test, in a crowd of people with lots of strange dogs.
Vinnie flat-out aced his exam.
We wandered through the street fair, up and back, weaving through hordes of people and vendors and encountered quite a few dogs en route. Pitbulls, French Bulldogs, Terriers, Poodle mixes, Labradors, Heinz 57’s, and even a Boxer/Mastiff mix. Vinnie didn’t bark or make a scene; instead, he was gentlemanly, greeting and sniffing appropriately, and didn’t pull or lunge. In the past, big dogs seemed to bring out the worst in him (probably because he had been bit). But, today, he seemed quite at ease in his surroundings: no tenseness, no growls, no barks, no nada. Literally, a stroll in the park.
WTF, I was dumbfounded! Cesar Millan would be impressed.
It appears that the long hours are paying off with this little feller. Charlie and I could hardly believe it.
Vinnie has also grown very accustomed to RV living. Here in Brookings, we have about 150 square feet of artificial grass deployed in our patio area where the dogs are expected to stay when outside. Park rules demand that they be leashed but we only do that when we take them on “walks”. Un-leashed when we are chilling in our patio area, all of the dogs seem to understand that the green grass is their boundary and that “accidentally” wandering off is not allowed. We have had no incidents, even when one of the dogs has done down the steps and exited the rig on their own. Vinnie seems to be taking his cues from the older dogs, just like Booger and JayJay taught them back in the day.
After today’s excellent showing, I am much more confident about Vinnie’s behavior in public and am looking forward to Paradise By The Sea (in Oceanside, California), where there is a several acre public park next door for the dogs to run and play off-leash.
We’re about three weeks away from So Cal as of today, so Vinnie and I have a bit of time to further hone our skills.
He’s a good boy and we are so proud of him.