Interactions

Upon meeting this grouch at he beach Elsa was given a clear message that he was not up for play.  She took off quickly.  

Yesterday I took Elsa to a local fenced in field area that we go to a lot.  Luke was off on a hike with his Dad, a much needed one on one since the beginning of the Elsa and Steve running team.  It had already started to heat up so we weren't going to stay long.  A couple of tosses with the chuck it, a quick look around and we were going to go home.  After a bunch of tosses and a walk around the area we saw some other people and a dog.  The way the dog was moving it looked like a puppy.  Either that or a not so coordinated type dog.  We went to see.

The dog was off leash and when the owner saw me they hooked him up.  Elsa and I approached as I could clearly see it was a puppy now.  Elsa hadn't played with a small puppy for a while.  I chatted to the owner and his son, this pup was a rescue.  He'd been found on the streets of LA by a friend of theirs.  They told me that they'd lost their other dog which was a Border Collie a year ago, when I asked "was it Patches?"  They looked at me, shocked to see that I knew the name of their deceased dog.  "I was his trainer," I told them.  Small world.  I knew they lived in the area and just took a guess that it might be them; how funny.

We reminisced a bit and then they let the pup off leash to play with Elsa.  I opted to leave the chuck it in its resting place as Elsa would not interact with the puppy if it was out and in use.  They ran and ran; the pup was only around 4 months old so could not keep up but did his best job to herd Elsa.  You could see him in action even at such a young age.  This was a hardwired behavior.  He looked like either an Australian Shepherd or mix.  Cute little guy, friendly with an abundance of energy.  This was great for Elsa.  Even at a year of age dog can always benefit from new canine interactions.  Especially young puppy interactions.

I did several recalls during their high speed chases and Elsa came immediately.  It didn't take long for the two to get very hot so we chatted with the pups owners a bit and then headed home.  Nothing can ever replace the experiences of canine interactions.  Each and every positive encounter helps to make our dogs, better dogs.  Both Elsa and the puppy benefited greatly from the chance meeting in the field.  Even though Elsa has been extensively socialized with dogs ranging in size from the smallest to huge guys she can always use more.  When you get the chance, seize the moment.