my doG blog: Timmy Gets Out

Being that Timken had been on a long transport from Central CA and then he had to figure out a whole new home, people, and new dogs he was a bit keyed up. We are pretty sure he has not really ever been off the property from where he had come from being that he was rescued from a back yard breeder. Walking him around the neighborhood would not be something he would be comfortable with so off we went to our favorite dog walking spot. These trails seldom have even one other person on them so they are a great place for a shy boy like Timmy to get his walking legs. He had to maneuver a harness and leash and all sorts of weird feeling ground surfaces that he probably had never experienced.

We went really slow and let him figure it all out at his pace. It really helps that our dogs are there to show the way I think. Before too long Tim was motoring along and stopping to sniff bushes and things. Marking spots with our dogs and for maybe the first time in his life just being able to be free to be a dog that likes to explore and move around in nature.

In this first video you can see that Tim is really befuddled with the whole leash thing. He was getting tangled and going in circles at one point. I decided to let a few of our dogs off leash so he wouldn't get caught up in leashes which was making him more nervous.

In very short order Tim figured out there are all sorts of smells on the trail and he started to relax because his mind was on sniffing and being a dog. He even marked where Liza marked! Yay!

In this video Tim had really balked and stopped moving. No problem with us, we just stopped and let him work through it. What he needed was a little lovin' and encouragement from Dave to get his bearings and the courage to continue forward. Worked like a charm and off we went.

Tim and Jenny sniff together

Tim not looking too comfortable.

Tim checking out a log in the bushes, he was so curious about this log and then freaked himself out that it was alive and let out a little bark.

Getting some reassurance from foster dad.

Here Jenny teaches Tim where her favorite place to walk is, on the heels of one of her people. He is starting to get the hang of it and tail is more relaxed and ears are starting to turn back. Then at the end he gets nervous again, not bad though for the first time out!

This was really hard to film but I got most of it. Tim meeting a small running stream for the first time. He did amazingly well! This might seem like no big deal but for a dog who has most likely never seen running water and had to figure out how to maneuver it, I know his little brain was really working. So you won't hear us coaxing Tim, it isn't about us trying to get him to do something or even us trying to coach him or help him. We just let him firgure it out at his pace, he finally decided to go for it when I stepped into the stream too. If we would have pulled the leash or called him to us or anything like that he would not have trusted us as quickly as us just allowing him to have all the time he needed to do it on his own. That is the "force free" way of working with a dog. In the end he even jumps on the log and stays there a second to check out the scenery from a different vantage point. Such a great first walk!