San Antonio's Famous Riverwalk

I'm so pleased that Jeannie finally brought me to the San Antonio Riverwalk.  Ben and Jeannie have been talking a lot about their move to Chicago, Illinois in August 2011.  They worry about how I'll react to downtown life in a very busy city, so they plan to take me on some downtown San Antonio walks before the move to get me used to the hustle and bustle of city life.  

It's very easy to live in San Antonio and never encounter any tall buildings, crowded sidewalks or noisy traffic.  In fact, I've been doing a pretty good job of avoiding downtown San Antonio my entire life.  Today we finally ventured to the San Antonio Riverwalk where lots of SA residents go jogging.  I have been known to tackle joggers like a powerful Linebacker! Jeannie has to grip my leash very tightly to keep me from springing up to give a friendly, yet terrifying hello to neighborhood joggers.  Like I've said before, she has A LOT to learn about handling doggies.  Up until now, she's been a bit too worried to encounter joggers on the Riverwalk.  There's a good chance that I might knock them right into the water if I'm not careful.  She got lucky -- there were no joggers around this afternoon when we went down those wonderful stairs and onto the San Antonio Riverwalk between St. Mary's and E. Martin St.

Here's a map of the route we took:

View Larger Map

Once we got to E. Martin, we retraced our steps all the way back to the downtown dog park at the intersection of Camden and Dallas.  I actually started our afternoon outing here at the dog park, but Jeannie thought I was behaving too crazy to stay.  In fact, the last few times I went to Camp Bow Wow, the counselors have said the same thing.  They say that I play so aggressively (mouthy, not growly) and rough that they're nervous I might start a dog fight.  Here's a terrible secret I've been keeping from my blog friends -- on Friday when Ben's daddy was here, I actually got kicked out of Camp Bow Wow for this!  Jeannie was so shocked that she kept asking the staff member who called her "We're taking about Mayli, right? The big black dog -- Mayli? The impossibly sweet black dog?"  It was definitely me they were talking about.  And until this afternoon, Jeannie had been one of those owners who was in denial about my naughty habits. She hates running into these owners at the dog park, by the way, and feels like a huge hypocrite.

She asked me to stop twice and even put my leash on me once after a particularly chomp-tastic doggy came into the park.  After the second time she had to chase me around wildly yelling my name, we left.  Wham bam.  Jeannie had had it!  Since she'd bought about an hour on the parking meter, we ventured into downtown San Antonio.  A lot of my bad habits have been on Jeannie's mind today.  I can't wait for April to roll around and for training classes to begin  -- she could really use some help!

Here's a video of me walking nicely along the Riverwalk.  Jeannie was trying this technique of stopping dead in her tracks every time I put tension on the leash and waiting until I gave slack before proceeding.  What do you guys think? Is it working?

My Naughty Habit: Pulling on the Leash

Since I haven't been able to get to a proper training class yet (c'mon, Jeannie -- you adopted me in July!), Jeannie has been relying on written resources - how-to blogs, how-to videos, etc.   You name an online resource and she's been there.  The whole reason she started a blog for me (What?  My cuteness isn't reason enough?!) was to develop a community of dog enthusiasts and then to pick that communal brain for tips.   I do not mean to say that she is substituting online resources for training classes -- she's actually worked very hard to get me into training classes.  But, invariably, I have come down with illnesses and injuries that prevented my participation.  First, there was Kennel Cough.  Then it was Dog Warts (take my word for it - you do not want to google image search this one!).  Then I played too hard and got a very big cut on my elbow that required a staple! Then, Jeannie in classic rookie form gave me the wrong type of Nylabone -- and I ate it. :(  There has been one thing after the next.  The prescriptions change, but the medical recommendation is always "Don't bring her around other dogs for about 2 to 3 weeks." Uh!  Jeannie has schedule and rescheduled training classes ad nauseam. 

Hopefully, all of this waiting will come to an end when we join (and I remain healthy enough to participate) the San Antonio Dog Training Club's Beginner/Clicker I training class, which starts up in April.  Just because we aren't in formal classes doesn't mean that Jeannie is shirking her pack leader duties.  This brings me to the topic of this post.  Jeannie would like to thank my new blog friends Summer, Hawk, Sage, and especially E. A. for the training support and ideas.  She immediately started asking me to do a "Down Stay" for dinner -- wait, should I be thanking you?  Or telling you off? ;)  - and has already noticed a big difference in my behavior.  She and Ben have also had a terrible time with my leach pulling.  It was a bit embarrassing for me when Ben's daddy patiently watched all the tricks I know (sit, wait, stand, back, bed, spin) and then said that I wasn't trained at all when he took me out for a walk.  I hope that my blog friends can point Jeannie in the right direction with respect to walking politely on a leash -- she wants to have as much control over me as possible and the sooner the better!  Jeannie and I look forward to hearing what has worked for all of you very soon! :)

A fun (and Yummy) Training Session with Jeannie

This is a video that Jeannie made back in October of 2010.  She spent a long time reading online and found one of her most treasured resources, Honey the Great Dane's blog!  She followed the video instructions and taught me how to perform the "bed command."  This is the third time we practiced "bed" - Jeannie wanted to practice giving the command from a seated position.  Of course, I'm an old pro at the command now and all Jeannie has to do is point at my couch or bed, but back then I was still trying to figure all these strange English words out!  I am awfully cute, aren't I?

Dinner Etiquette

You know, I've really got it all -- brawn and brains.  Jeannie likes to make excuses for my short attention span by reminding others (and herself) that I'm part Great Dane.  But, look at me tackle this sit command under grueling circumstances.  

You can't see this, but two very distracting things happened off camera while I remained seated.  First, Akuma, my BFF-against-his-wishes, showed up to see if Jeannie was planning to add fresh kibble to his food dish.  Then, Jeannie dropped the scoop for my kibble onto the ground.  And through all of this, I did not stand, nor did I give up and lay down (my signature move). Impressed?