Charlie in Charge

My parents are currently on vacation in Florida. I've been house-sitting and taking care of their dog, Charlie, while they have been away. It's been pretty boring. Their internet is slow, YouTube barely works. For entertainment, I've been watching Star Trek: The Motion Picture through Start Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country on bluray with the commentaries on. I've also been playing with Charlie as much as his attention span allows me.

Let me tell you, this dog can be a royal pain in the butt. He has been good about doing his business in the morning and evening so I decided to trust him and let him out on his own and watch him from the house. It was going so well until last night when he spotted a rabbit and off he went.  That meant I had to go after him. Unfortunately, I was only wearing boxers and a shirt at the time. Hopefully none of my neighbors were up and looking out their windows as I chased him around their yards.

Charlie isn't well traveled. Aside from the family farm in Benton Harbor where he was born and the vet's office, he's only been here at home. He gets excited easily and my Mom hasn't trained him to heel. She's afraid of him pulling away from her.  I decided that I would take Charlie out to the Riverfront Park. I figured that he might like to go up to the river and see the ducks and he did.  While I was there, I tried breaking him of the habit of trying to lead. I can only imagine what the other people at the park were thinking when they would see me constantly changing my walking direction every time Charlie tried to pull forward. Charlie has gotten better. He's not quite there yet but I still have a couple days with him.

If the weather holds tomorrow, I am thinking of taking him to Warren Dunes. It'll be a new experience for him to walk on a sandy beach. Maybe he'll be bold enough to test out the waters.