Farm Visit

Riley and I visited with my sister and played on the horse farm last weekend. It is always a lovely way to spend a weekend. I debated about bringing Reagan, but decided to leave her behind and go with no worries.

Riley meeting Lester, my sister's thoroughbred.

I practiced lots of recalls with Riley as we hiked the 60 acres of pasture.  She did really well.

I saved about 15 frogs from the broken hot tub that keeps filling up with rain water.  It was gross.  Several frogs had died already and those that were alive were trapped.  It was not easy to be their hero.

The rest of the farm was as beautiful as it always is.

Lester is very accommodating when Denise is hosing off his nether region.  Denise looks like she is having fun too.

Go ahead, Riley, you are getting a bath later.

Impulsive

Riley's off leash control was also tested at the farm. Unlike Reagan, Riley is extremely impulsive. Although Riley is unlikely to be frightened by a loud noise, she has an extremely sensitive prey drive and does not hesitate to act on it. At one point, she even leaped in the air and grabbed a leaf hanging from a low tree branch.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE prey drive, but at some point I do prefer food drive to be the primary ruler. I am quite used to dealing with the visual stimulation around greyhounds, but paired with Riley's nose and you have a hunting machine on your hands.

Sunday started with a 30 minute walk around my sister's neighborhood. I figured I better walk the dogs while I can with the threat of rain on the way. When we arrived at the farm, I then played fetch with Riley until I felt a sufficient amount of energy had been drained.

Even after a 30 minute walk and a long fetch session, she eagerly demonstrated that her motto is act now and think later.

At one point we saw some crows 100 yards ahead and she took off like a shot. It is amazing to see how far a greyhound can get in such a short time. We then headed for a wooded area that must have had lots of animal smells because Riley went into frenzy hunting mode.

Riley came every time I called, but I am careful to only call when I am sure I will succeed or I can enforce it. There were several times when I'm sure all recalls would have fallen on deaf Riley ears.

Lots of work to do.