The last two mornings have been chilly, so I’ve forgone walking Nico early in the morning. In return, I promised him an afternoon walk, which he greatly appreciated. When Nico was a puppy, he would go absolutely nuts every time a car drove by; it was so bad that walking along the busy road near our house was a bit of a nightmare. He wanted to bark and chase after every single car. And when he couldn’t chase them, he would direct all that insane energy toward us. At that time, he was super chill with people and other dogs. After we got him over the cars, he started freaking out every time a person walked by but was fine with dogs. And now he gets all excited when he sees dogs, which has been the most difficult for him to get over. But we’ve been working hard, and he’s so close to being non-reactive around dogs. Interestingly, in really busy situations, he clearly goes into what I refer to as “work mode” and can walk right next to dogs, even having them pull toward him as he walks by, with no reaction. But when we’re on casual walks with limited distractions, he tends to fixate on dogs in the distance and, at times, will build towards barking and being a nut case. We’ve been making good progress on the casual walk dog reactivity, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Working through all of his excitement and reactivity has been challenging, but we’re so close to being hands-off with leash walking, which makes walking together so relaxing and rewarding. Khyber was so good that I could drop his leash and he would stay right beside me. I think Nico might get there someday as well; he is just making me put in a lot more work to get there!

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Gear Used For This Shot

Sony A7RIV - Sony 50mm f/1.2 GM

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