Walks can be pretty exhausting

The key to a calm, happy dog: discipline and exercise. Bella gets at least one good long walk a day. On weekends, we take her out more often. We like to take her to a nearby park where Dave and I stand far apart and take turns calling her to run to each of us. She races to get to us. This game wears her right out.

Her one bad habit is lunging and barking when she's on the leash if she sees another dog. She barks, but doesn't seem angry. I think she's frustrated because she wants to make friends and PLAY. She used to bark in alarm when we'd walk past joggers or any other people, or if someone stopped us to ask directions (or to ask, "what kind of dog is that?) but she seems to be over that tendency now. She's much calmer on the leash when we see other pedestrians. We start training classes in a few week and I'm hoping we can teach her to be calm and just keep quietly walking when we encounter other dogs on our walks. She's pretty powerful, so I really need her to do what I tell her to do when she's on her leash.

This photo shows her taking it easy after her walk today.