G-dog

Thanks to Kirk and his fabulous dog walking abilities, something amazing happened to Grady while I was gone. Grady has always been a bit frisky, or should I say borderline aggressive, with other dogs while on his leash. Very uncharacteristic for a lab. So I have always been paranoid when we see other dogs while on a walk. You can imagine how much my paranoia increased when we moved to Switzerland where 1) dogs generally walk off leash, and 2) I don't speak the language which makes it difficult to explain Grady's behavior to other dog-walkers. Apparently while I was gone this summer, Kirk took the "I don't care what happens" approach with Grady and it worked! I'm not saying that he's by any means normal while on leash, but we can easily pass by other dogs with no worries. Just this afternoon, for example, we walked through the big field near our house and passed 3 dogs playing together off leash. Grady looked intrigued, but since none of the dogs approached him we walked by without incident. I think Swiss dogs are just smarter and know when to stay back. Whatever the reason, it certainly is nice to feel comfortable walking wherever we want. Thanks Kirk!