Training a Champion

So remember in my last post where I said I was having some personal issues and didn't feel like writing much? Well 10 days have passed and I felt I should say SOMETHING. Here's a little story about Vali's first trip.

Two weeks ago Tom and I decided that we would go for a small bike ride at Circleville Park. We had become so hopeful about Vali being a bike dog. We knew that even though he was young that we could at least get away with a short ride, and see how he did.

Vali says, "Safety First!"

Vali loves to chase the bikes, so before we got to the field we let him off leash in the baseball fields across from the park. He followed for a short bit but then made a break for the road. We are bad parents, in that we trusted him too much. Lesson learned. We got to the park and decided that we wouldn't let him off leash until we got to the woods. Here he is going up the hill. I might also add that I used to hate this hill, but now it ain't no thang.

 You can tell from his pulling, he really wants to GO.

We let him go and he followed us for a good while. He even went the right ways when I'd yell LEFT LEFT LEFT. He stopped when he met up with another dog, they sniffed and we continued. Just when we thought everything was going well, he decided to make a break for it and run to the park. I have never seen him run this fast in his life and he was gone. I left it up to Tom to catch him, and spent the time trying to find where they both went, as it started to rain. 

I'm not too fond of my face in this picture, 

but Vali looks overwhelmed with accomplishment.

We met up and had a photo opp, then continued. He was much better behaved on our way home. Tom even was able to ride with him leashed and he kept pace.

Look at him go!

The next post will be full of DRAMA. I don't know if you're ready for it.