New Years Resolution: Battle of Achilles

Well today was interesting in terms of my back of the truck goal.

As we were about to leave the park I took Achilles out by himself, on leash, to try and coax him into the truck with a piece of chicken. I had set the treat pocket thing on the tailgate on the other side of me. He would get half way up and then back down again. When he was backing down, he swiped the treat pocket.
Achilles and the treat pocket

Treat pocket down the throatNormally I would just grab it back, but this is the 160lb Great Dane who swallows tennis balls whole. I really didn’t want him to swallow the entire (full) treat pocket.

Resourceful thinking kicked in and I grabbed a cookie a client had given me earlier in the day from my dashboard. I broke up the cookie and put it on the ground and luckily Achilles chose the cookie and coughed up the treat pocket. photo 4-3

After this small victory, Achilles was a little too excited to jump in the backseat and ended up catching his leg on something and falling back out which totally freaked him out. From there on it was like trying to tame a bucking bronco. Needless to say, today was not Achilles’ day for the back of the truck.

On the other hand, Cooper was a rockstar and rode to and from the park in the back of the truck! photo 3-3He was not totally convinced about this idea, but he was a really good sport. I gave him treats every time we stopped and he didn’t even charge when I opened the gate to let Miles in. Good boy, Coop!

About ballwalkpark

owner of ballwalkpark, a dog walking business in Seattle, WA
This entry was posted in Adventures of ballwalkpark, training and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to New Years Resolution: Battle of Achilles

  1. tobie h says:

    My dad’s Great Dane came to live with us and is a big boob about getting in the back of the truck. Used to drive me crazy because he’d flop around and fall out and get all traumatized, too. The only thing that worked with him was using a big plastic rubbermaid kind of bin (weighed down with stuff) as a step. Then he was as happy as a clam getting into the truck. Big boob. 🙂

Leave a comment