Ole day15 @ the island

Ole let me sleep in today, we didn't get up till 6:20 AM. He's getting very good about going to his potty spot by the wood pile,good boy Ole!
I had a 1:00 private lesson today with Alfie the Airedale and his owner jane, so I wanted to make sure Ole was tuckered out by 12:30. After the usual morning events, peeing , pooping, breakfast, grooming session and a 30 minute power walk with all 3 dogs, I packed them into the car and we headed to Fiesta Island for a walk around. I didn't want to take Ole to the areas where a lot of dogs go , so we went to the least used off leash area that most people are unaware of. When we got there, I put a 15 foot long line on Ole and let Shelly and Elmo go completely off leash. I've got a 99 % recall on the two of them so I felt pretty safe having them loose. Ole is still in training and as long as he is, he'll be wearing his long line so that I can make sure he comes to me. It was gorgeous, wild flowers everywhere, we were surrounded by fields of yellow daiseys. It's hard to believe a place like this still exists in San Diego where you can walk with your dogs off leash,Love It! While shelly and Elmo ran around sniffing and exploring , Ole and I practiced his coming when called. I would walk along for a while and whenever I noticed him getting distracted I would run away from him and call him. He responded by immediately racing to me and getting praised and held and occasionally treated and then sent back to go sniff or play. We did that for a while and then I began hiding from him when ever he wandered away from me. He panicked when he realized he didn't know where i was and when he found me we would have a big celebration and then he was released to go play again. I knew we were making progress when he wouldn't let me out of his sight. I want him to realize that it is his responsibility to know where I am at all times when he is off leash. I want him to maybe think I am so ditzy that I forget I have a little German Shepherd named Ole so he has to keep an eye on me to stay with me. It worked! We only ran in to ontwo other dogs, a friendly big black lab that everybody liked and a rather ornery chihuahua that tore Elmo a new one when he walked near it. Ole avoided that dog as he's found out how tough those little guys can be.
We walked back to the car and as I put the dogs in , I noticed that there were 3 horses being walked along the bayshore by their owners. Ole grew up on a farm in Wisconsin that had horses and cows and pigs and goats but he had never seen horses on the beach in Ca. so I popped him back out of the car and walked him on leash to with in 20 feet of the horses. I sat on a dune and the two of us watched the horses in the water for about 5 minutes. He was mildly interested, didn't bark and sniffed at them. Now he knows what southern ca. horses smell and look like. We got back in the car and headed home.
At home we did a little more OFF training , worked on Crawl my favorite dog trick, and Bang, You're Dead, and turn away. I fed him a little lunch and put him in his crate. I also turned on my calming music tape as I was going to leave for the private lesson in 20 minutes and I wanted him relaxed or asleep when I left. I put my training bag in the car and the keys in my pocket. I then sat on the couch and read a book foe 15 minutes waiting for him to completely relax , which he did after 10 minutes. I then got up and quietly left without a backward glance.
When i got home an hour or so later I did not hear any barking or crying. I came in through the back door and all three dogs were calm and pleased to see me. I let Ole out of the crate and immediately out to his potty are where he produced. Good boy Ole!
Abner came home shortly after that. he had been in Prescott Ariz. at a flat track Motorcycle race. I guess it was freezing there , especially as he and his 3 friends had all ridden their Harleys to it. They got snowed on on the way there , not my idea of fun.
he thought Ole had gotten a lot bigger since he left on Thursday. It's hard for me to tell, although I think he grows when he sleeps.We did a family walk and then it was time for dog dinners and after dinner bones. They are living the good life.