A good day!

Well, actually the day started pretty crappy: Jan left for California to attend a conference this weekend, leaving me and the beasties alone here. But besides that, the day turned out to be pretty awesome:

I got Pepper a bigger crate for home as well. Now I don't feel bad anymore when I see him crammed into the tiny one and know there's a bigger one that he clearly prefers right in my office. That now has the advantage that he can sleep in the crate as well, confining him to the lower level of the house (and thus giving the kitties the upper level). Let's see what happens when a great plan meets reality tonight :).

Early this afternoon I took Pepper on a walk to the dog park (~45 minutes one way). Instead of letting him run free within the fenced-off area, I stayed outside and kept him on a 30' training leash. And we practiced the "Pepper, come!" and "Pepper, let's go!" commands. And he did soooo well! What a good dog! 

When we finally got home after about 2.5 hours he was completely exhausted. And - a tired dog is a happy dog, so all was well.

Despite two lengthy walks I actually managed to get all the grading done, leaving tomorrow completely free for other work-related stuff (like working on a grant proposal, or on the paper, or preparing classes). That does sound pretty good!

And lastly, the doggy backpack that I had ordered arrived today. I figured it can serve two purposes: One, it gives Pepper a job, something important to do while on a walk. He carries the backpack which can contain, say, some water for him or us, or some tennis balls. So he feels pretty good about himself. And two, as we want to take him on hiking trips in the not-too-far future, I figured we start preparing him for that early on. After all, he can carry his own stuff, right?

So, bottom line: He did extremely well with the pack on the evening walk. He did try to bite into it a few times (mouthy lab, what can you do...), but I could always distract him with some food and a cheerful "Pepper, come!" or "Pepper, let's go!" (see how this afternoon already paid off?). He was also very focused the whole walk long, and diligently did every "Sit." and "Wait." to perfection.