Ginny Gets Smarter (or Maybe it's Me)

I used to take all three dogs for walks Across the Road. Rusty and Maggie get to run off leash once we're on the dirt roads and away from the main road. At first I let Ginny go too because she stayed with them and I knew that she would come with them if I called. Then Ginny discovered Birds. That was the end of the predictable behavior. Well, there was a new predictable behavior; hear the killdeer, run back and forth across the field after them. The killdeer fly in short bursts, land, change direction. Ginny would follow. I would follow her and it was only luck that I would eventually catch her. It only took me three episodes of this to realize that Ginny couldn't be off-leash anymore. I tried to take her on our walks using a long-line, but that didn't work for me. No matter which leash I used (long or short) I wasn't getting the behavior I wanted (walk nicely next to me) and she wasn't getting the exercise I thought she needed. This was all about two months ago. I complained to a friend about my lack of control of my puppy and the poor job I was doing of training her. Here is the light-bulb moment. She told me what I think I knew but wasn't admitting--that I needed to work with Ginny separately and not when the other dogs were around. Duh!

I started to take separate dog walks. Maggie and Rusty still get to go off-leash Across the Road......but Ginny walks on a leash.I found my sheepdog training flag that I had forgotten about. Carrying that has helped her get the idea of not pulling on the leash.She stills gets the chance to look for ground squirrels at times. For more exercise... ...we go on a bike ride.     These photos were all taken about a month ago but......this one was taken last week. Ginny wasn't too sure about those balers.