Its December now and lots has changed since the last post. I’m not as good as keeping up with posts as I had originally hoped.
We are camping with Shannon. Full time in the motorhome. She LOVES it. I would say that her favorite part is being able to be outside most of the day. Here at the campground she can be tied out to the picnic table, where at the condo she can’t be outside at all unless she is on the leash.
Each day begins with a walk that is at least an hour long. Sometimes we take our walk together, and then meet up with the “ladies walking group.” Their walk is about 45 minutes. By the time we get back to camp she is pretty tuckered out. She loves walking with the ladies. It’s her “pack walk.”
After her walk she hangs out, outside by the picnic table and watches the world go by. Lots of people walking, golf carts passing by too. There are birds to watch, in addition to a cattle field accross the street. She is in here element!
About noon, we take the mile walk to check for mail at the office. And then usually around 4 we go on another walk with her friend “Biscuit.” Biscuit is a 2 year old black lab. They LOVE each other. The first 10 minutes of the “walk” is usually the two of them biting one another on the ear and rolling over on top of each other. Its really a cute picture.
At night, she is content to sit below Russ’s chair as he is able to drape his arm over the side and give her a continuous belly rub.
Talk about a dogs life!!!
It doesn’t seem possible, but it’s only been 4 weeks since Shannon arrived. She is doing so well – and learning so fast. She’ll be 6 month on the 1st of September.
I looked back at her pictures – the first day she was home. She was so small! I don’t think that she has gotten much bigger then when she arrived – although it seems like she has.
I know that I still need to take advantage of her need to be near me. Teach her better how to “come” when she is called. I’m so proud – she is doing great with the leash walking. Learning a bit more every day.
Here is today picture:
Tags: dog pictures, dog stories, foster dogs
A dog is a dog is a dog!
A human on the other hand is a complicated creature. With emotions, feeling, thoughts, and whole bunch of other “crap” floating around that can influence behavior.
I just picked up this great book about walking on a leash and dogs that pull. Wow – when you get right down to it – it’s really very simple philosophy! We as human’s “think” that our dogs “think” when in reality they just respond. They respond to the actions of others. Simple as simple can be.
If you hit your dog everytime it pulls, it’s going to want to get away from you. And how does the dog get away from you – by pulling on the leash to get away. (By the way – I DO NOT hit my dog!!!)
You really have to feed honey to the beast to make it do what you want. Which is really just a learned response for the dog.
I’ve spent quite a few hours walking Shannon while she has been at the other end of the leash pulling. And the more frustrated I get – the more she pulls. However, when I just relax, and “DO” what I need to do to distract the dog from pulling – she is beautiful. Walking beside me, or just trotting along enjoying the smells. She might be a little ahead, she may be behind – but she it NOT pulling. Wow – who would have thought!
So it’s really ME that’s learning all this. Shannon is just responding. And while yes, I agree, she is learng too – I think that the more I learn the smarter she will become!!
Tags: dog training, dog tricks, foster dogs, walking on a leash
