I love this time of year. Not only is my garden in full bloom, but the sun is shinning longer and it gives me more time to do activities that I love with my dogs. My  fosters always get tons of socialization with all the art shows and activities happening around the city. Restaurant porches are some of our favorite hang out spots as well.

What puts  a kink in my love fest is when I encounter dogs that do not know their manners and the owners are so enthralled with what is going on around them, they have no idea what their dog is doing on the other end of the leash.

I started my weekend by joining some friends and their dogs on an outdoor patio for brunch. We sat next to a table that also had dogs. One little dog wanted to meet one of ours, so making sure my dogs minded their manners, I asked the owner if it was ok for them to greet.

She agreed and so we did my “3 second rule greeting”. All was grand in love fest land!!!

Didgeridoo guy and us.

Then off to an outdoor art fest. Our dogs did a wonderful job. However, I can not say the same for some of the other dogs that attended and  their humans.  It is a good thing my friend is very good at “blocking” for her dog. We had several dogs that lunged and snapped at our dogs, and what were the owners doing when this happened?  They were looking the other direction at some beautiful piece of art, and not paying any attention to where their dog was on the end of the leash or what they were encountering. We even saw a 60 lb dog, lift his leg on a ladies skirt and boots.And Guess What?

Neither the dog’s owner nor the pee’d on lady had ay idea of what had just happened. Imagine the skirt ladies surprise when she starts to “smell” something funny on her clothes and boots. Ewww……..

If you want to enjoy the love fest with your dog, and not be one of those oblivious owners, come take the manners class that is starting the end of the month. Learn the “3 second rule”, what “blocking” is and make sure your dog is not the one to lift its leg on someone else!

Beginning manners classes starting Sunday, April 28, at 7 pm.  The tennis courts near White Rock Lake dog park. Email me at [email protected]  for a registration form.

I have also moved the Tricks class to Sunday night instead of Saturday, starting date May 5th, 6pm. There are still some spots available. Come join us and have some fun with your dog.

Happy Training!