Shio @ Central Park
/This week, a few friends (furry and non-furry) and I have been taking advantage of off-lead mornings at Central Park. Picture 3 adults, 2 large dogs and 2 medium dogs piled into a 4 door Honda. Quite a hilarious sight to see if you are on the road heading North at 7:30am commuting to work. I've worked with Shio for the past 3 months in training him to come to when when called by always rewarding him with liver treats or squeaky balls. It's worked well in the dog run and around Chelsea piers, but not enough for me to feel confident enough to let him roam the streets and know that he'll run back whenever I call. Didn't help that everysingleShibablog known to the internet seriously discourages Shibas from being off-lead. Had it not been for my friends, I would never reach there point where I would ever let him run free. They convinced me to let him be free and assured that with Shio's pack mentality, he will always stick near us and the dogs.
I thought, "Well, okay. Here goes nothing. Worse comes to worse, we'll just get another really freakin' adorable Shiba pup." (I kid!)
Morning 1: Shio is super Shiba excited and starts pulling so hard on the leash in Central Park that I'm really scared that he's going to run off never to be seen again. I finally let him run free and he proves that he can stick with the pack but doesn't listen when I call him to come back to me. I even wandered off in search for a restroom without him and he didn't even notice my absence. Not cool. But overall, he was well behaved and performed better than expected.
Morning 2: Shio is super Shiba excited and starts pulling so hard on the leash in Central Park that I'm really scared that he's going to run off never to be seen again. I have a feeling this is going to happen every morning we travel up to CP. The pack migrates over to the Great Lawn and Shio runs free. This time, he acknowledges when I call him and comes running over each time. Success!
Unfortunately, it's getting colder and colder each day and we are finding creative ways to stay warm while allowing our dogs to run free.
Here are some videos!