Darswords

Kali and I took a walk today.  Well, we actually took two walks.

We went west nearly a block, there is a house with a big dog that isn’t tied up or fenced in. I’ve made friends with that dog on previous walks without Kali. I just didn’t want Kali’s walk to be scary. Then came back home. I offered her treats as I got to our driveway telling her this is “home”.

Neither of us was ready to go inside. It was not windy. There was enough sun to be wonderful outside. So we walked to the end of our dirt road and turned south.

Right there on that corner, our neighbor has three big dogs. They are in his fenced yard. But they bark at everything that passes. I walk Kali on a tight leash on the other side of the street. I tell her I’m afraid of those dogs and to stay close to me. She is getting it. She whines a little. I remember Cesar’s training of dogs and “sssss” or “shshshshsh” her while keeping the leash tight. Once past the dogs, we relax. I give her the length of her leash.

We walked to the end of that block. I’ve never walked in that direction. With no car, our walks have always been toward our little town. But now that there is a car in our household, though it is gone with my brother to work every day, we have no great need. He picks up the mail or groceries. So Adventure! new route to explore!

Then we walked back home. Past the barking-dog-corner and driveway, “home” + treat. Then we went in to rest. I realized I didn’t have the map or mileage of the walk.

It wasn’t that far so when Kali wanted to do the “outside” thing again we donned harness, vest, leash, sunglasses, sweatshirt, hat–I think you know who wore what–we took the same walk. This time I made sure I had the app turned on, on my phone.

Well, the walking west part was the same. The walking east was the same. But when we went south we explored more. We got to see the back of our property. We got to see the haybarn I can see from my kitchen window. So cool!

Easy to see in this old winter picture. Now no snow and it is green sagebrush everywhere. It looks like a quick walk–if there were no fences between here and hay barn. But going around the block was much longer.

So it was a fun day with two walks. Saw things up close I had not seen that way before. Maybe next time I will make sure to take pictures. After all–the satellite for the GPS couldn’t track me so all I had at the end was that each walk was about 40 minutes long. I estimated about 2 miles or 4. Don’t know. Whatever, it was was good for Kali and me. She’s knocked out beside me. And not nearly as shaky as she has been.

So how do you all handle the other dogs issues on your walks? I trust Kali, just not so much those big dogs.