Giant Guitars, Stuffed Animals, and Pigeons -- Oh My!

Alphini and I greet you today from downtown Austin -- which, in case you didn't know, is the live music capitol of the world!

Hmm. Is the statue thingy good to chew?

In all honesty, on my own I would seldom get downtown. We just go there to train the dog. Even though we live in a pretty busy area with a lot of traffic, it's nothing like the crowds, traffic, smells, and (of course!) live music of downtown. Alfie needs to learn how to negotiate it all calmly. Here are a few of the things we did today...

finding seats

finding trashcans (look how eagerly he's waiting for his treat!)

practicing "heel" when he gets ahead of me -- he has to circle back to my side in a sort of big backward-s maneuver

negotiating stairs -- tricky for a puppy who's still in that awkward growing stage!

As usual, we also had to practice not doing things!

not chasing pigeons (they were closer & more tempting than they look here, I promise!)

not grabbing the cute little stuffed animals, even though they're on puppy level

We had some challenging moments, like when someone came racing toward us, trying to catch a bus...Alfie leaped toward him in happy excitement, sure that he must want to play! Then later, while walking down the sidewalk, we followed a man sweeping the street and Alfie could scarcely resist pouncing on the broom.

Overall, though, I think Alfie is doing really well for a just-turned-4-months puppy! In the video below you'll see us crossing the street...he gets distracted by something on the pavement and veers off a bit, but comes back to my side after that. He does a good job waiting for me on the "up" curb, although right after that he's distracted by the live music blaring out of a cafe. It's all part of the learning experience!

So how'd I do?