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| Oh, that pink tongue and the ice-covered whiskers! |
I am forever grateful to the women from Friendly Giants Dog Rescue and Cher at Streetwise Canine for giving me the tools to turn this boy into a happy dog who walks politely beside me. When I reflect back on those early days, I'm kind of amazed at how persistent I was, how determined I was.
I wrote to Cher, after she expressed concern that the adoption might fail:
Cher, this adoption is not going to fail. He is a wonderful, loving, and gentle dog. Seriously, I am in love with this puppy. I have every confidence that we can work out his on-leash challenges and am committed to helping him do so.I am so glad the persistence -- along with the right tools -- paid off.
Further proof that I love my dog: I happily bundle up and take him for a walk when it is -23 Celsius (-9 F) out.
The reward is that I get to see things like this.
I felt like it had been ages since I took my camera with me on a walk with Kane, so I figured it was about time. The recent ice storm made for some pretty photo opportunities.
I tried to get a decent picture of Kane off-leash, enjoying the snow, and this was as close as I could get.
That dog! He just loves to run, loves to shove his nose right into the snow. I imagine he's snoofling out mice or squirrels or something, but it's pretty funny.
I keep thinking about buying him a cute red coat, but clearly, the cold weather does not bother him at all. Cold, schmold, says he.
As for me, I had three layers on my bottom, five layers on top, plus ear muffs, scarf, and a hood, and by the end of the walk, I was sweating.
And it was all worth it, especially as he walked beside me with his leash slack beside us, looking up at me periodically, matching his pace to mine, and stepping behind me when I climbed or descended a steep slope.
Good dog.
A well trained dog is definitely more enjoyable then one that is not. I think people forget that they have to put work into a pet -- much the same way we must teach our children to behave and the rules of the world. I am astounded by the number of people who have animals they cannot control and are frustrated by it, but when asked about training, stare blankly at you.
ReplyDeletebeautiful day indeed! I haven't taken my camera out much in these freezing temperatures. perhaps when this cold is done, a good crisp bit of fresh air will be just the ticket. but I am keeping my nose inside my scarf! ha
I find people with small dogs are very lax about training. But I should add that the first training we went to was pretty much useless. We stopped going after a couple of weeks. Her solution to our difficult dog was to put us out in the hallway. What?
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