Here's one of those stories about. . . things not going the way you planned, because it became more about dealing with your dog's distractions.

I had planned to have Ed take video of the start of my morning walk with Zooka. I wanted to show what our normal walks look like. Not the entire walk. Just the first few minutes.

But it took less than a few minutes for the “typical walk” to turn into something else entirely!

I wanted to show what it looks like before we go through the door. What it looks like when we go through the door. And the first few minutes of the walk once we get out the door.

I wanted to demonstrate how a good walk should start out. How a nice pleasant walk with a tuned in dog should look. What is possible.

Lots of my students are struggling with great tune in and great leash manners with their dogs. Some dogs settle in once they get going for a while. Some dogs are so difficult to walk that their humans don't even want to go for a walk any longer.

So my plan was to demonstrate what a walk CAN and SHOULD look like (eventually) for those who actually want to enjoy walking their dogs. But, as I said, things did not go as planned this time around. Just a coincidence that we happened to choose this particular walk for videotaping!

And I am glad we did. Not what I planned, but an excellent opportunity to demonstrate something completely different.

The first part of the walk – at the door and that first short stretch after getting through the door – was actually exactly what I wanted. It was a perfect demonstration of what our walks look like every day.

Then as soon as we hit the driveway, plans went in a completely different direction!

The other day, one of our boarding dogs was dropped off at our house. What none of us realized until we were videotaping the start of this walk, is that when unloading and bringing stuff in, a bully stick was accidentally dropped in the driveway.

Zooka could not believe his luck! A free bully stick just sitting in the driveway and no one else had noticed it! Sometimes dreams do come true. (What are the chances I will walk out tomorrow and find a million dollars in my driveway?)

The normal tune in that I have from the start of the walk just went out the window. Zooka was off leash, so this was going to be a challenge to get that bully stick back so we could continue on our walk. When you find a high value item and you are not confined, well, it is just really hard to give that up.

You will notice in the video that I could NOT get him to bring it back to me and hand it over willingly. On a good note though, he did not take off with it. He still remained close by me, just stayed out of each.

You will see that I even got him to come back to me at one point. But when I reached for it, he moved away. He never got growly about it. Hee never displayed any aggressive behaviors over it. He just did not want to give it up.

I tried trading for treats. But the treats I normally carry on a walk just were not high enough value. I tried tossing and dropping treats rather than handing to him. Still no luck.

Note that I NEVER tried to chase him down. I never yelled at him. I never scolded. I never called him to COME. Why, you might ask? Well, if you have done any training with me in regard to COME, you will know the answer to that!

At this stage, I never ask for a COME when I know it is unlikely I will get it. And this scenario (at this stage of his training) was likely to NOT get the response I wanted. I did not want to set him up for failure. And this would definitely have been a failure.

I also did not want to call him to come, have him actually do it, and then take away his prized possession. Even if that would have worked, what would I have taught him about coming to me any time he has something of value? Yup, not ruining that just yet!

So, if you actually watch the entire video, you will see that I remained calm and took my time. It took a few minutes. But I was eventually able to get him to trade for some treats. He allowed me to pick up the bully stick without a challenge or struggle. I gave it to Ed, and Zooka and I continued on and had a very nice walk.

A great example – not planned! – of how to handle an unexpected situation. While I would have loved if he had immediately given it up to me, I was actually very happy with how he did at this stage of his training and at his age. Well done, Zooka. You are growing into a very nice young man.