Hikes galore!

Thank you to everyone for the supportive comments on my last post.  It was very appreciated!

I have seen some great progress on Swyatt's reactivity over the last few weeks. He reacts less often and offers a sit more readily. When he does react, his ability to calm down has sped up somewhat.

Seeing the progress, I decided on two hikes this past long weekend. It was his first time not going to daycare for 5 days straight and I was a little petrified. Normal walks, regardless of how long do not tire him out so we needed something different to ensure a tired Swyatt.

Thanksgiving day we went to a large preserve for a 6mile very hilly hike with our friends Jen and Bolt. Swyatt and Bolt get along very well on leash and often go for walks together. Lots of cheese, kibble and clicker in hand, off we went.

Apparently everyone had the same idea about going hiking at this preserve that morning because it was packed. Swyatt did great. I rewarded for looking at dogs and remaining calm. The only time he got very worked up was when a lady went by with four or five large dogs attached to her waist. They were basically pulling her down the hill. It took Swyatt awhile to calm himself after that but he recovered and we continued. Overall it was a huge success. We passed about 15 dogs and he did pretty well. He was physically and mentally exhausted after the hike. Slept very well that evening

Saturday, we were planning to just take Swyatt and Bolt for a hike. But both faced two very unhappy female pups staring at us as we tried to get ready. So we decided to be very brave and take all four. I debated this a lot because I had recently read an article on transference of aggression and was worried that Swy would react and trigger Sophie or vice versa resulting in a fight right in front of me. 

But we picked a locale that is usually very isolated and pretty far out there. In all our hikes there, we have rarely seen any people or dogs. 

We arrived and had Sophie and Bolt meet for the first time on leash. No greeting, just seeing each other and acknowledging. It went fine, Sophie didn't react. Then Swy and Zainey…again no reaction out of anyone. So off we went. My two fell into line next to each other very easily. It was fantastic!

We hiked for about 4 miles and saw only a few people, no dogs. It was a perfect way to ease into the two of them walking together. 

Not something I plan to do in a crowded area anytime soon but this preserve is perfect for walking all four of them together. 

A great long weekend!