Today after practicing a lot at home over the last few days, Kody and I went to the SRT and had a perfect walk. It was a big challenge because he gets really excited at the beginning and the end of the walk. But at no time did I let him pull on the leash continuously. When there was a lot to distract him it was almost constant *tsst* while jerking on the leash till he calmed down, but it worked. He barked at some bikes when we first got there but only like three times before I got him to stop. He barked once at a dog we were passing but that dog barked too. And he barked twice at some people that had parked next to us when we were going back to the car.

But enough about the bad stuff. He was so good! He quickly dealt with ignoring bikes all together. The leash was loose the entire time. He didn’t seem to want to change that much so wasn’t fighting me. He was pleasant and happy. He even let the people who parked next to us give him a treat and was very happy about it.

I know that Kody is a tough dog to train. Today worked because I had all the experience I have and paid close attention to the dog whisperer. Almost all the jerks of the leash were preemptive where I could tell though my peripheral vision Kody was distracted. I never would have been able to do that at first. And I think the preemptive nature of what the dog whisperer does was the key for me. At the first sign of distraction, he does his thing. It’s hard to see at first. He doesn’t scold the dog, he prevents them from doing what he doesn’t want and then the dogs just eventually get the picture and go along with it. That’s what I did with Kody today.

Kody was so good. We passed by the same two dogs whose owner we talked to yesterday. They barked, Kody didn’t. I asked the owner, an older man, maybe 60 or so, if a woman was walking the dogs yesterday, and he replied yes. Later, the conversation somehow came to the point where I asked if she was his wife. He said, “Something like that.” I said, “Mistress, whatever, I don’t judge.” This silly nonsense is why I love having a dog. I love talking to the other dog owners.

I move my air conditioner up to the loft so it could rain down cold air into the living area. I don’t know if the laws of thermodynamics say this is practical, but it seems to be working.

I am not giving a rose to The View. Elizabeth just keeps dropping the right wing talking points, Whoopi just isn’t that interesting, and Joy and Sherri aren’t funny enough to make up for it. If there’s a cast change, I’ll try again.

I am giving a rose to the cite HTML element. It has replaced the i element for me for marking up names of TV shows and books.

I am not giving a rose to Kody’s testicles. He is so horny all the time and I never knew it could get this annoying for me or frustrating for him. Next Monday is the big day.

I am giving a rose to Kody’s everything else. He was so good at the SRT today. Even sitting patiently while I was talking to a woman who had two dogs with her. Here are some pictures of him relaxing in the stream.

It wasn’t very crowded today even though it was so nice. We spend the first half of the walk on the grass trail and then when he’s a little tired out, we walk on the paved trail next to it. We got to the path and he just stood in the middle of the path looking and waiting. I could tell what he was waiting for… bikes. Kody’s favorite part about the walks is the bikes. He loves them. He likes to bark at them and wants to chase them.

There are a number of places where Kody gets drinks of water from the river and tributaries and we stop at all of them. The one above is great because it’s a bit hard to tell but there’s a pretty significant stream there. Today Kody just jumped right in and stood in the water while he drank. I was so proud! I tried to get a picture while he was in it but I was also trying not to drop my iPhone. But this turned out pretty good even though he just stepped out of the stream.

Kody has so much fun. And the weather is so nice. It’s just great. And when we get back Kody’s tired from all the excitement and exercise. It’s the only time he sleeps like this.