Working on the Walk

We assume a lot of things with dogs and one of those things is that dogs are fine with collars and harnesses and leashes and all that equipment we humans like to use. For a dog like Salinas who likely just lived running loose as a "yard dog" stuff like this is perplexing and a bit uncomfortable. When she first arrived her collar/tags drove her nuts and she was constantly stopping and sitting down to scratch at them. That's faded now and she's used to this bling that we humans know is for her safety, but for her is just a weird annoyance.

The girls have been with me a week now and have really made progress and relaxed so I figured I'd try out a harness with a double contact leash and we'd start working on leash walking. Of course in hindsight, I realize that I pushed way too many new things on Salinas at once: harness, leash walking, front yard and suburban neighborhood streets and all of this without Chima or another dog beside her to help bolster her courage. Considering all that, she hung in there quite heroically, as you can see in the video below. 

"Are you SURE we have to do this?!"

Salinas' first time walking in a harness and on a two point contact lead

She never did really pull - there was so much to look at that she was definitely experiencing a bit of sensory overload - so she just kind of shuffled forward. Occasionally she would freeze but could be coaxed along with a treat. She still took the treat but the whole fact that I was having to coax her should have been my clue that she was overwhelmed and walking the front yard should have been enough. We only walked about 2 houses down the street but that was definitely more than enough for her first walk. I don't think I've ruined walks forever for her, but I definitely did not make them top on her list of activities. 

"That was exhausting!"

"Please say we are finished?!"

"Hey Janell, the backyard is this direction."

To attempt to end this all on a good note when we got to the side yard we sat on the low rock wall and had a little bit of a treat-fest there with lots of soft, happy praise for her. 

"What are we doing now?"

As you can see, once we were back in the house I was completely forgiven and she was all smiles.