Pickle and I went in search of the wild turkeys so I could take a picture/prove to myself that it wasn't all a dream and they do exist. He has to wear a bootie because he got a really bad blister on one of his pads. So we hobbled around the back woods near my cousins house. Of course, the turkeys are all roosting or whatever turkeys do in the middle of the day and I didn't see jack. So I am going back tonight.

Hunda and I did some training at the parking lot near Borders. One thing that I discovered is that his comfort level goes down the farther we get from the car. So we sort of ping ponged around it, playing the give me a break game, hand touch, sit stays, etc. I used food at first and rewarded with a lot of sniffing. By the end we were playing toy and even when he won he would turn around and sit with eye contact to get me tugging again. AND THEN we had a big play session and I released him to sniff which he seemed to want to do but as soon as we got in sight of the bushes he turned around and downed with eye contact!! I have been using a sit but I didn't care! He chose me over the bushes! It was a miracle! So I gave him the toy and we played (it isn't so much tugging as it is jostling for the toy, but it is a game he loves) all the way back to car. And I put him up after a calming "sit in mom's lap" session. This is something that we do almost every time after training. This is one of the only dogs that I have ever know that has a list of most liked things starting with: 1 - being chased and 2 - being snuggled and petted in my lap. If I tried to use snuggling and petting with Pickle as a reward he would freak out and turn into a Shitszu. But hey - I will do anything to let Hunda know that we are doing this for him and if he wants to sit in my lap then he gets to sit in my lap...

After we got back to my cousins house and Pickle and I tired of searching for non-existant wild turkeys I got Hunda out again and he was doing an ok sit stay (5 - 10 seconds) and tugging. So everytime we go somewhere new I have to remember to use the car as home base and work for a little more distance/distration. And watch out for wild turkeys.