My first proper run with PupOutdoors (also known as Wispa the Wonder Whippet) went far better than I’d hoped for. Everyone has been asking me when I planned to take our new pup for a run but I wasn’t at all sure that she would run at the right pace. Whippets are known for their mad, high-speed running and although I’d like to imagine myself reaching speeds of between 30 and 40mph on foot this will only ever happen in my dreams!

But my first outing with PupOutdoors on a lead and me jogging along behind went much better than I expected. We were only out for 10 minutes (puppies shouldn’t go too far in one run/walk because it can lead to damaged joints) and for the entire run PupOutdoors contentedly trotted along ahead of me. She looked up and back at me with utter loyalty (or so I thought… read more of this post!) every so often and seemed happy to be trotting along at my speed.

Despite a few tangled moments with the lead and a sudden stop so that PupOutdoors could do her business the short run went really well and I returned home elated. I’d always hoped for a running companion with four legs!

But just a few days later the elation had turned to horror. Taking PupOutdoors for her morning walk around a local loch I have started to tentatively let her off the lead. The first time I did this all went really well. PupOutdoors was happy to run along and play with my friend YogaJo’s dog Buttons and when I called PupOutdoors back to me she came without too much hassle.

The next time I let PupOutdoors off the lead she refused to come back to me a couple of times but eventually returned when I produced a treat from my pocket.

Then yesterday I let her off the lead at the loch again. To start with she played and ran about close to me, but then another puppy came along to join her. The pup was a collie of some kind and was a lot more boisterous than PupOutdoors. It was clear the PO wasn’t enjoying the playing too much and so she decided that she would prefer to go home. But this didn’t mean she’d wait for me to go home, too. No, PO decided that she’d head home herself, around the loch, over the grass, along the pavement, across a road and for a very scary distance without me.

This time my run with PupOutdoors involved a full sprint (in walking boots, so I was a bit hampered!) chasing the naughty pup all the way home. Every so often she would stop, look round, check I was still following but then run on again. My calls to get her to come to me went on deaf ears. I was terrified that she would be hit by a car or continue to keep running until she flopped somewhere in the local area but lost to me.

Thankfully she seems like a fairly smart sort of dog and she made her way straight to our house. By the time I caught up with her I was breathing heavily and very annoyed.

So my second run with PupOutdoors was rather different from the first, and most definitely a low point in our short ownership of our dog.

We’ll be concentrating a lot harder on getting PupOutdoors to come back to us on our command. In the meantime she’s staying on the lead!

Doers anyone have any pup training tips?