The Little Bear Dog Blog

Last Spring, Other Half and I took Little Bear into town one Saturday afternoon. It was a gloriously warm day and we thought it would be nice to sit outside a cafe and enjoy a coffee as we watched the world go by.

The reality however was nothing like the reverie. Little Bear was a complete nightmare. He barked incessantly – at everyone and everything. Heads down to avoid the disgruntled looks from passers-by, we beat a hasty retreat to the car and had our coffee at home.

Like other memories that we’d much rather forget, I’d obviously buried this one deep, but it surfaced again today. Happily, to provide a fantastic benchmark of just how far we’ve come.

On a whim I decided to take Little Bear with me to the pet shop. He was pretty well-behaved for a veritable ‘kid in a candy store’ and as we left, I decided, on yet another whim, to attempt a training session in town on the way home. My dream is to have a ‘take anywhere’ dog, but of course that’s pretty hard to achieve if you don’t take them anywhere except the park.

Armed with treats and the newly acquired squeaky rugby ball we found in the bargain bin at the pet shop, we headed off to brave the hoards of Saturday morning shoppers.  Stiffening my resolve, I mentally upped by skin to ‘rhino hide’, took a deep breath and decided that whatever happened, we’d cope with it – even if that was another hasty retreat.

Narrow pavements meant we frequently had to stop to let people, push-chairs, wheelchairs and at one point, a motorised mobility scooter pass. When we did, I asked for a sit and a watch me – both of which he gave instantly in return for a bucket of praise and a teeny bit of cheese.

We did a complete lap of the busy town centre  with just one bark and a half-hearted ‘oof’ at a passing pigeon. The rest of the time he trotted calmly at my side, stuck his head in a few shop doorways just to get a sniff and wagged his tail at the anyone who cooed in his direction (which many did).

We practically floated back to the car. Little Bear had his ‘I’m a clever boy’ swagger and I was so proud I didn’t know who to call first. We may not be quite ready for cafe culture, but I’m sure that with regular practice we might just be able to sneak in a sneaky Cappuccino before the year is out.