Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous so we took the dogs up to the park to walk around. I double checked the rules and it said 'dogs must be on leash OR under owners control. So we went back to the fields and trails behind the playground and ballfields. Once we were away from everyone we let the girls drag their leashes and hooked up a long leash to Co-Co (We need to get another one so that we can let Dusty have more room to roam, she had to stay leashed) and let the wander. We worked on recall and I was amazed that with all the great smells they did fairly well, I'd say 85% just b/c sometimes it took a bit to get their attention or they took their time about coming back. We came across a little creek and the dogs played in it a bit, which was surprising b/c last year they seemed afraid of water (when we were walking away from their I noticed that we had crosed an old wire fence that had fallen, so we actually were on private property, I'll need to remember that for next time).
When we got close to the ball fields we picked up the leashes again (B/c their recall still needs work I didn't want them off leash w/ a lot of other people and/or dogs around). Now Blaze and Pooch are reactive about other dogs and everyone else gets excited about other dogs and wants to go play with them, so we're working on having them ignore other dogs when we're walking. Coming down the hill next to ball field I saw an off leash golden. We moved to the edge of the park and kept walking. DH had Blaze and Pooch so I told him not to get tense b/c that would make it worse. Mystic and Co-Co tried to pull to the other dog but I told them 'let's go' (their cue for walk) and we kept going and they did fine. Blaze, Pooch, and Dusty saw the dog and started barking and carrying on. DH got everyone's attention and made them sit and gave them treats. I was very impressed (with the dogs *and* DH).
Later when we were walking down the street to go home there was a dog out in an eFence that barked when we went past. Of course I expected the worst, that our dogs would start acting crazy and that the other dog might leave the boundary. That dog stayed in it's yard (yay for the dog and it's owners) and Co-Co pulled 1 time and Blaze, Pooch and Dusty only barked a couple of times. This is HUGE compared to how they normally act! So overall I was impressed by everyone and pleased at how well the evening went.