Fully kitted out, Martha's ready for her walk

Martha and I headed out today fully kitted in a new collar and escape‑proof harness given her history of spinning and determination to get to other dogs. She accepted the handling well overall, only grabbing the lead a few times at the start when she became frustrated and wanted to move. She settled once she realised the walk was happening!

It was warming up a little by then, so we kept to the shade and took the quieter country lane. Despite that, Martha made her own decision: she did her best to drag me over to my car, insisting we get in! Clear preference behaviour — she finds the car both safe and rewarding, and she’s learning that it predicts good things.

She hopped in the moment I opened the door and I gave her a Kong Wubba. Of course, Martha declined to carry it (very Martha), and off we went. Lots of deep sniffing, pushing her head into hedges, gathering information, regulating herself through scent work. We paused for passing cars and she used those pauses to request fuss — affiliative behaviour, rather than concern.

On the way back she made her intentions very clear: back to the car please and she climbed in without hesitation. Sardines inhaled (thank you, Christine), bowl polished to laboratory standards, and then we headed to the paddock.

In the paddock she loved standing in the paddling pool and running around with her new treasure. But it also gave me a clear view of her frustration around other dogs. There is no aggression — her body language is all forward, eager, determined — but the intensity and speed she would bring into an interaction would overwhelm most other dogs. Now that we have an escape‑proof harness, we can begin structured distance work around dogs to help her learn to regulate that drive.