Nature calls

This afternoon Finn and I visited Richfield Nature Park for the first time. It's a brand new park in Washington County, very close to our house. I was pleasantly surprised and will definitely go back. It's a very nice park with a system of walking trails, a pond, a stream and a nice mix of woods and prairie. When I first arrived there were only two other cars in the parking lot but I ended up having the whole place to myself for most of the time I was there.

I am working on improving Finn's off-leash recall so I'm trying to remember to carry a bag of treats wherever we go. Today I remembered the treats and a tennis ball which proved valuable. Finn is pretty good at coming back when I whistle or call him but there are just certain things that are much more desirable than obedience. One of those things is wild animal poop! We came down a little slope and Finn got distracted by something off the trail. I could see he was eating something so I stopped, whistled, called him, and even rattled the treat bag. No response. I remembered the tennis ball in my pocket so I took it out and threw it at him. That got his attention! Now I just need to identify a treat that is more desirable than wild turds. Yuck!