A sunny day at Willard's Woods

I had the day off today, and while it was very sunny, it was still only about 35 degrees. But I thought it would be a good day for a walk at Willard's Woods anyway. When I got there, only one car was in the parking lot. The parking area was a sheet of ice, so I actually got to use my YakTrax for once! But the parking lot was the worst of it really. There were a couple icy spots, but nothing you wouldn't be able to go around.

When we arrive, I usually keep Shelby on lead through the orchard because she's excited and I worry about her running ahead and encountering dogs. It was a good thing I did today because a guy with a young puppy was there. I asked him to pick the puppy up, because Shelby doesn't like them for some reason, and he was fine with it. Shelby greeted his other dog, a border collie, with no issues.

Once they were gone I let Shelby off leash and she was very good, staying near me. We had a nice walk through the woods, and I rewarded her for checking in. When we were getting to the field, I could see a small black dog, so I put Shelby on leash. When we exited the woods, the little dog was sitting there and Shelby started staring. The little dog's owner was calling, but it seemed afraid to go past us, so I walked back the way we had come and the little dog ran back to her owner. But then another dog came by and the little black dog followed it over to where we were. Shelby was pulling and growling at the little dog and I was trying to get her to focus on me, but not having much success. The other dog's owner was oblivious. I had to tell him to come get his puppy because Shelby was trying to go after it. I'm kind of surprised sometimes at how clueless some dog owners are about dog body language. I know that puppies need to learn when other dogs are telling them to keep back, but this guy seemed not to be concerned at all that Shelby was trying to go after his dog. I need to talk to Denielle about this, because it makes me really worried about going to trials.

I was pretty disappointed in Shelby after that, so I kept her on leash the rest of the walk. She didn't really like that, but she was ok. I did jog with her a bit, and she didn't really know how to take that! We finished the walk with no other problems, and met some poodles on the way out. I was a little concerned because one of them had a ball and was really into it, running around, and Shelby was interested, but I was able to call her away and we loaded up the car. The dogs slept all afternoon once we got home!