Asbjørn has made great strides, no pun intended, when it comes to walking on a leash. He used to pull constantly on the leash and I always came home with pain in my shoulder and a raw spot on my hand that came from trying to yank him into obedience the whole time we were out. Last fall, at my mom’s suggestion, I bought a “training aid” that turned out to be just about the best ten dollars I ever spent:

This training collar effectively stops him from pulling, even though he’s much stronger than I am, and it’s been a godsend. Today, after walking him regularly with it for three weeks, I decided to try him without it, and he heeled admirably well during our entire half-hour walk. He did his usual stop-and-sniff-and-pee, of course, but he was entirely manageable. I was able to hold the leash loosely in my left hand for most of the walk and he didn’t try to make a break for it even once.

Along similar lines, I’ve signed up to take him to a beginner’s agility course this summer and I’m trying not to be too apprehensive about it. He’s a pretty quick study and he lives for dog treats, so I’m not worried that he won’t be able to perform, but the fact that there will be other dogs there does make me a bit nervous. Since he was pretty young he’s shown some aggressive tendencies when it comes to other dogs and I’m not sure how that will play out at the class. So far, all of his macho posturing is done from such safe vantage points as the upstairs windows, and he’s never gotten close enough to another dog for me to find out what he’d do if he got the chance. I’m hoping that it’s nothing a bit of socialization won’t cure, because otherwise he’s hur snäll som helst*.

Oh! That made me think of an incident just the other day when he wasn’t so nice. On Friday last week I spent the afternoon hanging out with Helena at her place and Olof came by to pick me up just before dinner time. He brought the kids with him, which was expected, and also the dog, which was not. Fredrik and Helena said he could come on up, though, so Olof let him off the leash and the first thing he did was run into the living room and grab the cake from the coffee table. Then he made his way to the kitchen and helped himself to the cat’s food and water. Ill-mannered lout. I guess he shouldn’t be expecting a return invitation.

*“as nice as can be” … I like the ring of it in Swedish