An Off-Lead Park With #SAGApupVolt

Yesterday was a public holiday, and as I had a lot of baking to do I had to pop out to one of the baking supply shops I frequent to stock up on some supplies.
Across the road from this shop there's an off-lead dog park to which I have taken Volt on occasion - but its usually FAR quieter than it was yesterday 'coz we go on weekdays!
Unfortunately... or maybe it was fortunate... I discovered that as good as Volt is at doing "recall" when its just him and me, his ears turn into decorative ornaments when there are other dogs around!
Wow!
I know he battles to focus on a group walk if there are dogs ahead of him, and we're working on it, but he's always on-lead in that situation.
I am SO not the fittest person on this planet, and literally running after a puppy that is galloping ahead of me at full tilt is all but impossible... And a puppy that doesn't listen is frustrating too. At one point I actually asked the people ahead of me to stand still and stop calling their dogs for a minute so that I could get to Volt!
Anyhoodle...
After I got him back on-leash we headed away from the other dogs as much as we could and I let him off again. He listens to recall like a pro- until there's a tree to sniff! :( And then another dog came barrelling past us and Volt was gone in a flash again!
Once I got him back - and I was aided by the return of the dog he was chasing :) - I kept him on lead and headed for the bench where my Glugster was waiting for us.
We were sitting a short distance from the trough the park has installed for the dogs so, whilst I wouldn't normally allow it, I let Volt get into the trough after all the other dogs had had a go.
First he tried to "dig" the water out, and then he sat and watched the other dogs who were watching him intently and waiting their turn. He's not supposed to "play" on-lead like this, but it was noon and hot as blazes and there was no way I was going to chase after him again! :D

 

 

He got out for a Retriever to get in, and when the Retriever got out he got back in and lay down in the water!

When he was finished chilling and cooling off, we turned on the tap to refill the trough and he chewed on the water as it ran in!

The we sat in the shade a bit before heading for a bit of a stroll so he could dry off, and then we headed home.

a wet Volt watching the other dogs

waiting for a treat

chilling in the shade

So, we will be focusing on "recall" again using the manual given me by SAGA, and some tips from this blog post.

All the photos in this post were taken by my Glugster, by the way, so big thank you to him!

click on the puppy to make a donation to SAGA

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