A Quiet Christmas

Melanie and I enjoyed Christmas morning with a brisk walk along the ocean. I didn't use her Gentle Lead even if she decided to be too distracted; however, she was a really attentive girl, giving me , I guess, a wonderful Christmas present. Today, we took short walks, not many people or dogs about in the morning, but this afternoon, there were quite a few on the sidewalk areas. People who seemed to know each other and each other's dogs. My next new strategy with Melanie is when I sense thre is a dog ahead of us, either walking or relieving, I have Melanie Halt and then Sit and then Down, just to keep her attention focused. It is helping and she sure looks forward to those treats. We've been having some realy great walks together and I'm looking forward to 2011 with my new pal.