Sit!

Pooka is doing very well with "Sit!"

This could be because both of us know it's the only thing I know to ask her to do, so we're getting lots of practice and treats for our one trick. She saw me whip out the cell phone and ducked a little, as if to say, you and I both know that's not a treat, so stop screwing around and fork it over.

We walked around Green Lake this morning. Pooka really wants to be let go to chase squirrels up trees, and I really want her to not want that. Clearly neither of us is going to get our way. I try a combination of calm breathing, thinking, "this is the essence of dog, and I love dog, so I love my lunging, distracted dog" and a few stern "leave it" commands. But we're still very into squirrels.