Timken Hits The Town....Part 2 Walking The Town Of Snohomish, WA

We decided Tim did so well at All The Best Pet Care that it was time for all of us to see how he could handle walking a small town like Snohomish, WA. So as not to completely blow Tim's mind we took him during the week. Snohomish with it's cute shops and places to eat can get really crazy crowded on the weekends. We can work up to that but first we wanted to take it slower, there was plenty of action anyhow, cars passing close by, streets to cross, the sounds of air wooshing from a nearby lumber mill. We brought Skip with us as he is a pro at walking anywhere. Skip does not care where he is walking and he is not reactive at all on leash. He is not what I call a friendly dog, he could care less to meet other people or dogs, in fact he would rather not meet them. We are fine with this and because Skip is so calm when out and about he is the perfect balance to Tim who can get anxious and nervous.

Why do I take a picture of Tim peeing on a tree? Well in Tim's case it is to show you two things. One is that he was comfortable to pee in the first place where it was new environment. I have had foster dogs who would not go potty at all when on a leash or out in public until they developed more confidence. Conversely Tim also pees when he is stressed so continues the dichotomy of  being Timken a bit of a conflicted boy.

Another thing Tim does a lot when he is nervous or worried is this paw up appeasement signal. This let's us know he is not feeling 100% comfortable as we do know his habit of stopping to lift a paw when he is getting his bearings. We did watch him closely on this walk and he was not going over threshold, he did intermix his anxiousness with curiosity and that was REALLY good progress for him.

Skip waiting with mom while she snaps the photo of Tim walking down a city street.

These were some pretty flowers to sniff. I think Skip looks super cute here.

Tim was a bit unsure of this elevated pathway but he did walk the length of the path. This is where there is a loud wooshing sound of air pressure across the Snohomish River to the left. Then just in front of us was a fairly busy road with a steady stream of traffic We walked along that road just a very short way and Tim hung in there, he didn't balk and really did well for his first time in this environment.

We were almost back to the car at this point. He was starting to be done and going to Dave for reassurance. No worries buddy, back to the car for all of us. He really did pretty well and once he rested in the car a bit he was ready for his next assignment.

As you can see it wasn't very busy this day, normally there would be cars as far as you can see and lots of people milling about. This was the perfect day to introduce Timken to a small town.

Stay tuned as Tim goes to a public park with people, kids, baby strollers, dogs on leash, joggers, and walkers!