The Little Bear Dog Blog

Chilling out after the car boot sale

The thing about dog training is that you can turn anything into an opportunity. Yesterday’s opportunity was the local Bank Holiday car boot sale. My mission to help Little Bear feel happy in just about any situation means lots of practice in lots of different locations.

Despite the crowds and the distractions in the form of lots of stuff to sniff, Little Bear behaved impeccably. Attentive but relaxed, he sat without being asked when he saw children anticipating his click and treat as per our ‘little people mean good things’ training. He said lovely banana shaped waggly hellos to  the people who asked if they could meet him and accepted his ear rubs and shoulder scratches with great enthusiasm.

In fact, we managed the whole sale with only one half woof which he quickly thought better of and sat down instead. It’s days like this that are the most important to record. Little Bear and I are a team. We’re in this together and we’re learning on the job. I’ve no doubt that on the days when I’m frustrated, tired and disappointed in him, he’s probably feeling exactly the same way about me! All the more reason to give ourselves a team high-five when we ace it!