Training Odin in his New Backyard

 

I know, it's a terrible picture, but it is reality.  Would I want someone taking a picture of me doing this? Let me think about answering that question. Training our dog Odin in a new backyard was not the easiest thing to do. He loved our backyard in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Below is a picture of the pond and the fountain in Myrtle Beach which he loved.  Each morning Odin would walk outside just to see if the fountain was still there.  He would sit on the porch and watch the water or lay in the grass in the sunshine. The second picture here is Odin thinking about whether he should come inside, which he usually did.

Our new house in Colorado had a backyard just like our neighbor behind us.  The dirt, weeds, and no fence prevented Odin from going out there for a couple weeks.  I didn't want to go out there either.  He would sit inside and look out the window, probably looking for the fountain and the water.

The above picture shows part of the patio we put in and the turf which makes me feel like I should get my golf club, if I had one.  We started taking Odin outside on a leash since there was no fence on two sides and one of them had a big hole with water in it.  He would have liked the water.

One day my wife wasn't home and I took him outside and he laid in the grass.  I figured I'd take the leash off and sit there and watch him.  He was fine for five minutes or so until it was time to go in.  He started running everywhere, the neighbor's yard, the house next door that wasn't built, and he was moving faster than I was.  I finally coaxed him inside and decided I would never do that again.  My wife will read about this, because I didn't want to tell her after it happened.  There is no video of me chasing him as far as I know.

The backyard is getting there.  We have to try to keep Odin out of the dirt, since we don't have rocks and flowers or plants yet. We have a fence put in, we have a couple chairs ordered, we just got a table, and we're working on getting something to cover the patio to save us from the sun.  Oh, and let's not forget a doggie door that we will have to train Odin to go in and out of again.

Below are the pictures and this is what Odin sees each morning.  We may even get a little water fountain, but it will be much smaller than the one in Myrtle Beach.