Retail with Ringo

Today was Ringo’s 25th training ride since we began the Ringo on the Go weekly trips earlier this year. Rocky reached the same milestone last week. Ringo has been doing so well lately that I took it up a notch today by adding some retail visits to our trip.

After a perfect performance at Sterling State Park, we headed into town and hit a few dog-friendly locations. I’ve never taken Ringo into a retail establishment until today and was feeling a bit anxious about it. But it was finally go-time and Ringo didn’t disappoint.

I had three stops in mind, with increasing levels of difficulty, and we made our stops from easiest to hardest. Ringo aced the first two stops at Tractor Supply and Lowe’s, politely walking through the stores as if we did this everyday. I admit, I was stunned at his stellar performance in these stores, and apologized for underestimating him.

We found our limitations in the PetSmart parking lot, when Ringo lost his composure. He’s an excitement barker and gets overly excited when he encounters other dogs. While we didn’t make it inside PetSmart, today was a huge success.

We learned how important it is to keep challenging ourselves rather than resting on our wins. How rewarding it is to try something new, even if it makes us uncomfortable. And that failure is just a part of the process, and motivation to keep trying.

Not only did we hit a big PR with two successful retail stops, we also learned our limits and now have a very clear goal to work towards. I’m confident that one day I’ll be walking through PetSmart with a composed Ringo by my side. We just need to work up to it.

I noticed the Cinnabon food truck in the parking lot and figured Ringo had earned a celebration treat. I got a pack of four mini Cinnabons, one for Ringo to have on the spot, and then one each for Ringo, Rocky and Moose once we got home. ❤️