Tues musings

Yesterday morning I took my super charged little Jack Russell to the park. She can barely contain herself as I open the back hatch to let her out. The first 5 min. is spent taking the brunt of her charges as she comes to the end of her extension leash. This is when an extension leash is called for; unless you are walking alone at the park or an open space I do not recommend them. Don't even get me started on the many reason why I don't like them. So after about 5 min. she starts to slow it down but then her sniffer is on overdrive; that is what Jessie does on her walks, sniffs.

Jessie goes from a fired up terrier to a lagging old lady pretty quickly. Once back home it is meal time and nap time for the rest of the day. Then in the afternoon I took the poodles to the beach; this was a wonderful beach trip; the weather could not have been more perfect for a walk. Although the weather has cooled off I'd like it to be just about 10 degrees colder; so I'd really need to put on a hoodie. Tilley enjoyed her walk immensely as did Luke; but he always likes anything we do. He is such a happy guy and loves going anywhere and doing whatever.

At one point we had to walk over a wooden walkway; this is one thing I have come to know about Tilley, she doesn't like it. There have only been a couple of occasions for us to walk over a bridge or plank type deal and she pretty much freezes. It's funny because Tilley is my rock solid dog; she never startles, she isn't nervous like Luke but she does not like walking over bridges. Even when they are solid and unless you looked you wouldn't realize you were walking on a bridge; she still doesn't like it. Yesterday she completely froze; having Luke with me as well it was going to be difficult to carry her the whole way. I definitely would if I wasn't able to get her moving.

I'm not exactly sure what her fear is; but as she looks over the edge it has to do with that. We walk over lots of weird things but the bridge deal gets her. Maybe she is afraid of heights? Actually now that I think about it; it might be just that. She does not like to go out on the balcony at all. Even when Luke and Jessie are laying out there she is very hesitant to join them. I'm going to have to look into this further. Anyhow this shutdown behavior lets me know that I need to carry some really good treats with me if I think there might be the chance of a bridge anywhere. I think treats would help her to get over it.