Learning to Trust Sunny

Since Sunny was off for a week due to his muscle strain, I didn't put down any trails for him. I was ordered that he rest, with no exercise beyond a short walk on leash, and when he's in the harness, working a trail, he digs in, eager to do his job. If a week or more goes by without a trail, I figure it's a good idea to back up and do a simple trail. This is kind of like a reboot. That's what we did on Friday. Just a simple, straight trail with one turn. Only I didn't take into consideration that I had trampled all over the area earlier in the day when I mowed the lawn. 

I walked Sunny around the block and brought him to the beginning of the trail, which he picked up with no problem. He followed the trail nicely until we reached the area where I had mowed. Then he seemed confused, which is totally understandable. My scent was all over the place. He then found the fresh trail I had put down and got back on track. When he reached the turn, he didn't hesitate at all, finishing up the trail in beautiful fashion. 

Yesterday, not wanting to lay a trail that ended up confusing him, I laid another straight trail with one turn in a spot I had not walked in days. The tough part of this trail was going from grass to pavement. I've not put out trails that crossed roads, so this was a new one for Sunny. He started out great, finding the trail and following it right up until the pavement. At this point, he went a few steps to the left then came back. I waited for him to make a decision. He went behind me then came forward again and crossed the street, finding the next felt square. From there he moved forward, finding all the other felt squares and making the turn. Technically he was done, and I gave him lots of praise and treats to signal to him he did a great job. Sunny, though, turned away and continued on.

When I put a trail down, instead of backtracking and potentially putting down another trail that can cause a lot of confusion, I typically walk on, going around the block and returning home from a different direction. Yesterday, Sunny decided he was going to follow my entire trail, without the aid of the felt squares and little nuggets of treats that he gets when he finds each square. At first I was going to stop him, thinking he wasn't ready. I'm not ready. But he was on trail and I didn't have the heart to stop him. I needed to trust him. His nose was to the ground the entire way, which was longer than he's ever done, and he veered off exactly where I veered off to cut across the side yard to the gate. At the gate, Sunny sat and looked up at me. He nailed the trail. He never hesitated. Never stopped until we reached the gate.

This dog. He's absolutely amazing.

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