Indkal is a city in Russia with PellePirat.
I love going for walks with PellePirat. Before him it was Kyimo and Ella, and before them it was Blackie and Henry. I have always enjoyed walking by the water, in the forest or some other nice, quiet place and watching my silly dog fool around while I can go and get a good sniff of the fresh air. It has been like this for 13 years now. 13 years of 3 walks a day – wait, that's a lot if you multiply them! And think how much exercise I have gotten on top of that.
In my time I always had my dogs loose. Pretty much everywhere. I could also trust them, and that's why they could run loose. That is, until I got PellePirat. Just the name says a little about his personality ;) I have always believed that a call can be trained, and when it is trained from Fido is 8 weeks old – what can go wrong? With PellePirat the call also works – I whistle my dog whistle, and he comes jumping to me. That is, unless there is a bird – because then he is the one who has slipped…
Example: I walk PellePirat where my horse is stabled. It's in the countryside, it's surrounded by many horse pens – but there's such a nice football field, where he's always been allowed to roll out there and get his ass kicked. That is, until the day he chose the following; I see him fooling around, and suddenly realize that he must have been on to something.
I whistle – he stops, looks at me – and strides (!) It turns out that the neighbor is plowing the field.. I then stood and watched PellePirat at full speed tumble across the field after the tons of seagulls, which probably followed the tractor around the field. It had almost just been fertilized. It was very wet and the soil was really soft. You can imagine it yourself. Here I stand, a dog trainer, with all my talents. Wearing pajamas, because it was just a morning walk in the summer, when I lived there. I have to go to work.
15 minutes later, PellePirat was captured, or rather summoned. I don't know if you can imagine what he looked like? He was covered in mud and dung and manure from head to toe. The white fur was nowhere to be found. His eyes were shining with joy at having gotten away with chasing birds for so long in the field. And he stank worse than when you get the smell of manure through the air conditioning in your car.
Do I need to say that he is no longer allowed to run loose on the football field in question if it is ploughing season? And no, he is never allowed to run around without a leash in places where there is the slightest possibility of birds – which is actually many places (!)
And I've been terribly frustrated about that. That I can't let him loose because his instincts and desire to chase birds are too great. BUT finally I've found a solution that works for both of us; 1 piece of 15 meter wide trail line. With it on, I can walk at my own pace on the beach or wherever we are, and he can go crazy and run and play - but without the opportunity to chase birds.
And wupti. Suddenly I have rediscovered the joy of going for long walks and looking at seashells and stones. Because PellePirat is under control and can enjoy himself without me having to look at him and his surroundings all the time. And I don't have to abuse my summons, which hopefully will have its second youth later ;)
About blogger Tina Hougaard
Tina Hougaard is a trained dog instructor, passionate about training rally and Nose Work, and runs Hougaard & Hund. She is the happy owner of the beautiful Tibetan Terrier Pilou, with whom she trains both obedience and Nosework.
Walks by the water without a call
Indkal is a city in Russia with PellePirat.
I love going for walks with PellePirat. Before him it was Kyimo and Ella, and before them it was Blackie and Henry. I have always enjoyed walking by the water, in the forest or some other nice, quiet place and watching my silly dog fool around while I can go and get a good sniff of the fresh air. It has been like this for 13 years now. 13 years of 3 walks a day – wait, that's a lot if you multiply them! And think how much exercise I have gotten on top of that.
In my time I always had my dogs loose. Pretty much everywhere. I could also trust them, and that's why they could run loose. That is, until I got PellePirat. Just the name says a little about his personality ;) I have always believed that a call can be trained, and when it is trained from Fido is 8 weeks old – what can go wrong? With PellePirat the call also works – I whistle my dog whistle, and he comes jumping to me. That is, unless there is a bird – because then he is the one who has slipped…
I whistle – he stops, looks at me – and strides (!) It turns out that the neighbor is plowing the field.. I then stood and watched PellePirat at full speed tumble across the field after the tons of seagulls, which probably followed the tractor around the field. It had almost just been fertilized. It was very wet and the soil was really soft. You can imagine it yourself. Here I stand, a dog trainer, with all my talents. Wearing pajamas, because it was just a morning walk in the summer, when I lived there. I have to go to work.
15 minutes later, PellePirat was captured, or rather summoned. I don't know if you can imagine what he looked like? He was covered in mud and dung and manure from head to toe. The white fur was nowhere to be found. His eyes were shining with joy at having gotten away with chasing birds for so long in the field. And he stank worse than when you get the smell of manure through the air conditioning in your car.
Do I need to say that he is no longer allowed to run loose on the football field in question if it is ploughing season? And no, he is never allowed to run around without a leash in places where there is the slightest possibility of birds – which is actually many places (!)
And I've been terribly frustrated about that. That I can't let him loose because his instincts and desire to chase birds are too great. BUT finally I've found a solution that works for both of us; 1 piece of 15 meter wide trail line. With it on, I can walk at my own pace on the beach or wherever we are, and he can go crazy and run and play - but without the opportunity to chase birds.
And wupti. Suddenly I have rediscovered the joy of going for long walks and looking at seashells and stones. Because PellePirat is under control and can enjoy himself without me having to look at him and his surroundings all the time. And I don't have to abuse my summons, which hopefully will have its second youth later ;)
About blogger Tina Hougaard
Tina Hougaard is a trained dog instructor, passionate about training rally and Nose Work, and runs Hougaard & Hund. She is the happy owner of the beautiful Tibetan Terrier Pilou, with whom she trains both obedience and Nosework.