I took Isis up to the high school after work on Monday, and worked with her off lead in the parking lot. She did the best she's ever done, although I did have to move her away from small children who thought nothing of kicking a soccer ball within two feet of my dog. That's a little more temptation than Isis should be expected to resist. She didn't snarl or lunge, but I sure wasn't going to take her leash off in that environment. 

Yesterday we walked in the pouring rain. So fun! (When I can get out of bed in time.)

This morning we tried some more off-lead stuff, but she wasn't interested. She didn't "bolt" per se, but nor did she walk right next to me. She did a couple of her little pouncey moves, where she makes like she's going to bolt, and then splays her front paws out in a play stance. With the light line clipped to her collar, it's easy to reel her back in by stepping on it.

At one point, she sort of growled, which I know was a play behavior (something my boyfriend encourages, no doubt), but I didn't like it, so I grabbed her mouth and said, "Don't ever growl at me," which I'm sure she understood perfectly.

The thing is, she never looks like she knows she's been scolded. I imagine that inside her head, she's thinking the doggie equivalent of, "Huh. OK. La la la." She didn't growl again, but did she grasp that I was telling her not to do it, or did I just distract her?

The fall climate seems to have erased all her ability to walk alongside me. She's pulling on her leash like mad. Not so much that it overpowers me, but just enough to bug me, and certainly enough to flunk our off-lead test.