The treat monster communes.

Sometimes I forget that Brut needs special attention and especially alone time with me.  He has been so good lately that I kind of forgotten that he still needs that one-on-one time.  Except for walks, I really haven't been keeping up my end of the bargain and he let it be known loud and clear the other day.

Can we go in now?

I was going to try working on my photo shoot practice for all four Back Dogs together and the whole thing backfired.  After working exclusively with Brut's leash training on walks with treats, he's become a little treat monster.  I had to stop him twice from going after Fiona.  By then whatever fun the three dogs might have been having was over and they all wanted in.

Which left me with Brut.

 Me, mom and most importantly, TREATS!!

So I took advantage of the opportunity to work on our agility training.  He was very grabby and snappy with the treats. And when he started jumping on me because he was scared and didn't know what was going on, that's when I realized I needed to back up and start over.  I took things really slow at first and made him wait for the click to get his treat.  We took laps around the yard to unwind in between our agility practice.  And I was calmly able to direct him where to go.

When he gets in the mood of I'll do anything for a treat just to get the treat and I give it, I'm just asking for trouble.  I also have made a mental note for our next walk that I won't be as giving with treats and that he will have to learn to take them nicely.  I can't believe Brut has lasted this long using treats on our walks.  He usually blows them off by the second or third walk.  He just doesn't care that much when we are walking.  So this is quite an improvement.  Looks like I have some adjusting to do on our next walk.

But all in all the agility went well, we both got a bit of a work out while doing some mental calming.  It was good for both of us.  After we sat together and listened to evening birds and wind, silently communing with each other and the freedom to just be. I didn't realize how much I needed this time with Brut either and it was worth every minute.