Four-Legged Foster Kids: 08/01/2010

August 28, 2010

Hiking Hounds

Today I went to the shelter for Hiking Hounds. That's when volunteers get together and go hiking with some of the shelter dogs. I and 3 other volunteers randomly picked dogs out of their cages and took them on a hike across the scenic acres of the farm the shelter resides on. We picked 1 or 2 dogs, depending on what we could handle, and walked them for a mile. Then we put them away dog-tired (pun intended) and picked new ones, doing this a total of 4 times. We ended up walking 16 dogs before exhausting ourselves.

These dogs were so wonderful and grateful to get out of their cages! Once we got started on the hike most of them were great on the leash. Along the way we would stop in the shade and give them some love and much needed attention. Every single one of the dogs were so sweet. They got along with us and each other.

A 3-legged dog even got to go on a hike. He prefers to be called "handi-capable" and insisted on being the leader in the front.

Do you see your forever friend? If not, there's 500 more dogs to choose from!

August 22, 2010

Raven's been adopted!

Raven was just adopted by a family at PetSmart. Good luck, Raven. You deserve it.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.4

August 19, 2010

Leash Training

Raven is not that great walking on a leash. To be fair, the only time I ever had her on a leash was to go in and out of PetSmart on the weekends. There's lots of excitement for her in that. If the leash was attached to the collar then she could yank me around, crossing in front of me and making me trip. It was a mess. I switched her to a harness so that I could maintain more physical control but she was still pulling with all her might so that really wasn't a solution.

Recently I was watching some Dog Whisperer episodes and in one of them something Cesar said struck me. He was training an owner to walk 3 excitable and strong Huskies properly. He told her not to pull tensely on the leash.

Cesar, are you telling me that if I don't pull on the leash, the dog won't pull either? Shut up, it's not that simple. Is it?

To test his theory we went on a family bonding walk this morning. I reconfigured Raven's leash as a slip loop and placed it high around her neck by the head. Away we went.

At first I held the leash high by pulling up so it was perpendicular to her. She couldn't pull me that way. Once she realized she wasn't getting anywhere, I loosened my grip on the leash and let my arm hang loosely by my side, giving her about 2-3 ft of leash space. If she started to pull I gave a quick, gentle tug as a correction.

She actually responded! She would slow down a little after the corrections. The leash was always taut but my arm was never tense. A few times the loop slipped down her neck. Then she put her head down and went into pulling mode. We stopped so I could slide the loop back up her neck and we were back in business. When passing barking neighborhood dogs, her ears perked up and she got a bounce in her step. But otherwise she was good. If she tried crossing in front of me I gave her a nudge with my leg. That solved that.

It was such a pleasant walk and I'm so proud of my girl. I'm so proud of ME! Heck, I was the one walking her wrong obviously. Sorry about that, Raven. I'll do better from now on.

Here's an excerpt from the episode I watched. Full episode is below. It is one of the best episodes that I've seen and definitely worth a look.

episodes expire periodically so watch while you can!

August 14, 2010

PetSmart Hard Ball

Raven hasn't been adopted yet this weekend at PetSmart. A woman was very interested in Raven and left to "go get money". She never returned. Oh well, her loss. Tomorrow I think we need to change tactics. It's time to play hard ball. Raven needs to stick out from the crowd.

What do you think?

Princess Raven