The heat is on and I don't like hiking in the heat, when sunny skies and southerly winds add to the agony. I opted to stay local this weekend. I had no hikes planned other than the routine dog walks around the neighborhood.
I got up for a sunrise walk early, taking Hansel solo around the long rectangular route around the 'hood. He pulled the entire time, so as soon as we got back to our street, I exchanged him with Sahne, who so far is the best on-leash pup. Perhaps that's from her earlier explorations off leash walking with her parents. She shows no fear.
I put her in the training harness, the same red harness I used on her parents last year. She's still too big for it and knows she can weasel out of it with a few acrobatic maneuvers, but today she did well once she got around the block and knew we were in for the experiment. I praised her whenever she followed me on the left, jumping to the other side only a few times, but mostly looking up to me for approval.
And then she barked at a yard dog! The pups are almost at that age when they discover their vocal cords. Her parents were five months old when they became vocal. I only hope she stays calm and doesn't get neurotic like Gretchen is already becoming.
After the walk around the block I switched to Sheba. Sheba is also a good walker, but she seemed more annoyed at the leash attached to her, buckling up a few times for a dramatic effect but generally catching on half-way down the block. Zeke walked off leash just so he could get some walking in. I stopped walking after Sheba, as I had to get my recyclables ready for Tucson.
I took Hansel and Gretel along, but in the end they didn't benefit from much walking. I got to Tucson by 3pm and it was 90F. That's too hot even for me. I found a shady spot at Costco and did my usual dog food run and was back at the car 35 minutes later. (The store wasn't that busy, either). I should have left for Tucson at 3pm instead of 1pm so that I could enjoy part of The Loop at sunset, but that would have made for a long day and I was already tired from the morning walk.
So I made the best of it, stopping by the Colossal Cave Mountain Park, only to learn that the park's gate closes at 4pm and here it was 4:45pm. I so wanted to see a few blooming saguaros! I had to make do with the saguaros along the road, traipsing through prickly brush to get close to one with a low arm full of blooms.
On Sunday I did more leash training after the sunrise walk with Sweetie and Zeke, this time focusing on Gretchen, Fritzi and Wolfie in that order. Gretchen was a complete failure, pancaking as soon as I got her outside on the driveway with the leash on. Being outside AND on a leash was too much for her. She wanted nothing to do with either experience and sat down and whined. When I pulled her on the leash, she cried as if she was being tortured. Needless to say, I didn't work with her much. She is just like Gretel was at that age: immature and whiny. She will need longer to learn to relax.
Fritzi was easier to walk on leash. He, like Sheba and Sahne, had already been outside walking freely after his parents during a walk so being on a leash was just one new learning lesson. He sat down a lot looking up at me for approval, but we did get a block in before switching to Wolfie.
Wolfie didn't last long on leash, though. I got around the corner to walk north on Sunnyvale Road when he met Robin's two GSDs, Sally and Buster. Both bolted out of their doggy door and barked at Wolfie. Wolfie panicked and wanted to run back home, so I just walked back to the house with him. I'll continue to work with Gretchen and Wolfie with the leash from here on.
I got all the leash training done by 7:15am. There was still time to meet up with Susan, who wanted to walk around Brown Canyon. This time I took just Gretel, who is much more relaxed and focused when Hansel isn't around her. We managed four more miles on trails and game trails, through dead and dying oaks, and getting back to our cars by 9:40am as the heat began to climb.
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