Weaning off afternoon walks

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JudyN
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Re: Weaning off afternoon walks

Post by JudyN »

I've no objection to him chewing through the string per se, it's just that it does rather interrupt the game when I have to keep tying it back on or finding a new piece! We had good fun with snake-on-a-string this morning, though he got bored of it fairly soon - he still went for the string, but left it when asked. Next time, I'll make sure I have some treats on me, so leaving becomes part of the game too.

We used to do 'shredding boxes', I'll have to try that again. I'm afraid we're totally out of the habit of playing apart from chucking toys around the garden - laziness really, but until recently longer walks and then him snoozing and me working in between has been the norm.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
JudyN
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Re: Weaning off afternoon walks

Post by JudyN »

Treat ball = too much effort :lol: Not straight away - at first, he was happy to roll it around for a bit but if the treats didn't come easily, he couldn't be bothered. 'Muuuum, just give them to me, don't make it hard!' I tried getting him to bring the ball to me for a refill but the message wasn't really getting through. The one time he did bring it, I got him to drop it into a trug I was carrying just in case he got guardy at the last moment :wink:

Still, it did give him something to think about :D
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Ari_RR
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Re: Weaning off afternoon walks

Post by Ari_RR »

Then fingers crossed steroid injections will get you back out and walking :-)
Ari, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Sept 2010 - Dec 2018.
Miles, Rhodesian Ridgeback, b. Nov 2018
JudyN
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Re: Weaning off afternoon walks

Post by JudyN »

Definitely :D We had fun with snakey-on-a-stick this afternoon, though - I could circle it round me just over his head height, swoop it down, try to evade him... Took him no time to catch it each time (because if I tried too hard he'd get bored again), and each time he went for the string again, but when I said 'leave' he left it and got a treat, the we started again. It lasted all of 5 mins before the string gave up again, but it was a fun 5 minutes!
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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Nettle
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Re: Weaning off afternoon walks

Post by Nettle »

5 minutes of real fun is better than some other dogs get in a whole walk. Not Jas of course because I know he gets great walks, but I do feel so sorry for some dogs I see out "walking" which is really dragging along while owner is on social media.
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JudyN
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Re: Weaning off afternoon walks

Post by JudyN »

I often feel like pointing out to those people that you wouldn't take your children to an adventure playground and then just walk round the outside holding their hands.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
JudyN
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Re: Weaning off afternoon walks

Post by JudyN »

The snakey game was going so well this afternoon, till 'something' happened - I think the string might have got caught between his toes, but being J he didn't stop howling until some time after I let the line go slack. And then of course I could see him debating whether it was all my fault and he needed to inflict pain on me in return, but I told him it wasn't, and he didn't :wink: Using a long bit of plaited fleece should hopefully be safer.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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Nettle
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Re: Weaning off afternoon walks

Post by Nettle »

They are such sensitive flowers, aren't they? Hope the fleece works.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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JudyN
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Re: Weaning off afternoon walks

Post by JudyN »

Solution = warm weather + new tennis balls + getting the ball chucker out of retirement :D J thinks this is much more fun than a boring walk, I can fire off the 12 balls while sitting down, and tell him that's the lot, by which time he's ready to flop anyway. Hopefully this won't upset his joints, but when he's had problems before it's on hard sand with OH doing the chucking, and he can chuck a lot further than I can.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
JudyN
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Re: Weaning off afternoon walks

Post by JudyN »

Though if you do play ball-chuckers in the garden, it's a good idea not to chuck a ball into a large tree heather laden with pollen... Jasper followed the ball into the tree heather, and the cloud of pollen it produced made it look like it had spontaneously combusted. Then J started wheezing, and he looked hot and bothered so I took him indoors...

https://youtu.be/UW-Wha6-qhw

I was videoing him in case I needed to get in touch with the emergency vet, and was ready with the Piriton, but his breathing improved and after about half an hour he was back to normal. So no allergic reaction, just nostrils irritated by the tiny particles, thank goodness :D
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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