My girl is a couple months out of her 3 week board & train and Im just going to throw it out there - she is doing unreal!! ♡ Today we were walking, WITHOUT her training collar, & we were approaching another large dog. I walked Sawyer to the grass, where she auto-downed on HER OWN, but was still alert while we watched & waited. The lady with the other dog told me to go by from the distance, which you can see in my video, & I said no she could walk by. Sawyer was in a down & totally chill &, as you can see, she had no control over her own dog in what I felt was a very safe & comfortable situation. I didnt record as the lady walked by BUT Sawyer did sit up so I redirected her to a down, & we watched as the lady got closer while losing control. She did however muster some double armed strength to pull onto the street going off the curb and further away from us. Good lord. She also did yell towards me to let me know her dog was agressive. (Uhm ya no shit lady) ..... meanwhile my 6 month old XL Bulldog was laying on the grass chillin cuz it was no biggie. So, if you made it this far - I am THRILLED with my girls performance & for her to still be a baby. I also give full credit to the Arsenal Team for giving Sawyer & I an amazing core foundation to lean on!! It has been the best education & investment Ive ever made!! Situations like this could get ugly super fast. Lucky for me, Sawyer does feed off my energy & if I don't react she wont react .... usually. She knew she was safe & she was listening to me quing her to stay down. Once the other group had passed I gave her HUGE praise with a 'FREE,' & big love energy, plus tons of hugs & play time for being such a good girl on our walkies!! ♡♡

My situational awareness before having Ozzy was almost non existent. My husband was always amazed at the glaringly obvious things that I did not notice. Since having Ozzy, my situational awareness has improved considerably, but is still a work in progress. I write this post because situational awareness is so critical with a dog that it is in effect a safety hazard to not have it. Ozzy and I have recurring episodes with cyclists who have absolute no regard for people in their path and make absolutely no effort to warn of their approach. Ozzy and I had yet another incident this morning which was all too familiar. We were walking on the grass, off the bike path, when a cyclist came zooming past us on the grass. On the grass! Then, behind the first cyclist came a second, zooming by just as fast on the path. She scared the crap out of Ozzy who lunged at her full force carrying me with him and nearly knocking her off her bike. She stopped and was horrified at her own behaviour, apologizing profusely that she should have rung her bell, all while pointing to her bell. All three of us could have been badly hurt. She realized that she screwed up royally. At least one person may have learned now? I recall only one cyclist ever warning of his approach. Ozzy and I moved to the side of the path. Once he was past, we started to carry on and his buddy, right behind the first cyclist, did not warn us and again missed Ozzy by an inch. An older couple actually stopped me and Ozzy this morning on our way home to warn us about errant cyclists. I think the reason for my post is two fold. One, to comment on the interesting brain learning that has occurred as a consequence of getting a dog - i.e. needing to be aware of all of the things around me. And two, to alert all of you (who probably already know), that the cyclists of the city are the biggest hazards. Not the moose we almost literally walked into in Bowmont Park recently. Not the coyote that followed me and Ozzy on our walk yesterday. The cyclists! Please make a point of scanning behind you on your walks. As a last note, a few years ago my son's best friend witnessed a young girl, riding full speed on her bicycle down a hill, hit an unsuspecting woman from behind on the Calgary path system and kill the woman instantly (she flew several metres and landed on her head). Be safe.