(I get asked a lot about flying with Prada, mostly how she fits in the cabin with me. Prada sleeps in my footspace. We prefer window seats so her nose/paws don’t stick out into the aisle, and bulkheads tend to have more room for her.)
The day before a flight I reduce Prada’s food and water intake and make sure she parks both #1 and #2 to empty her out (the reasons for that should be fairly obvious). No breakfast or water the next morning, and lots of exercise the night before.
(I use variations of this formula for varying flight lengths. For shorter flights, four hours or less, I can let her have a little more water than usual)
This afternoon's trip was to The Creamery, a local ice cream legend (creative name, isn't it?) Prada must know something's up (like flying tomorrow) because she did her worst today. Everything seemed to grab her attention. Plus side to this was that I got to practice my corrections, and Shannon is finally satisfied with my corrections! At one point I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, slid her off to the side, and ran through an obedience drill to regain her focus. It helped enough that I would use the technique again if I had to, but the whole afternoon she was just wild.
(I use this refocusing technique on days when her focus is particularly bad. Even trained dogs have bad days, like when they sense a big change coming.)
She followed me around this morning as I started packing, trying to figure out what I was doing and why. It's too bad I can't just explain it to her...
(Point of
interest: she still follows me around
when I pack. Only now she’s added unpacking to her bag of tricks. She takes toys out of my suitcase when I pack
them. I got her to put one of her
bandanas in a suitcase once but that trick didn’t stick.)
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