Stella has been with us for a while now. We take her on solo dog walks after the midday group. She's really happy to see us and walk around her neighborhood. That wasn't always the case though. She didn't like trucks, buses or any vehicles that made lots of noise. Now though, that's a thing of the past. Regular dog walks in the city gave her plenty of opportunities to work through her issues. Now Stella is a much more relaxed lady as a result!Friday, January 13, 2012
Stella has been with us for a while now. We take her on solo dog walks after the midday group. She's really happy to see us and walk around her neighborhood. That wasn't always the case though. She didn't like trucks, buses or any vehicles that made lots of noise. Now though, that's a thing of the past. Regular dog walks in the city gave her plenty of opportunities to work through her issues. Now Stella is a much more relaxed lady as a result!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Russ often will walk the Mastiffs. Zumi and Frank love him though so it's an easy walk. Well, as easy as it is to walk a combined weight of 325lbs. These two are roommates and really laid back. When we first met them they weren't quite as easy to walk as they are now. Even Frank has begun sitting on our first request and that didn't used to happen for us. Walking a 200lbs dog when he isn't cooperating is a heck of a work out. Fun if you have the right head set for it, insanity otherwise. They started off doing short walks but have since become much more fit and now are up to one hour daily. Their energy levels are up to. I think all these dog walks are giving them some extra energy! I can also see that they are physically much fitter as well. They've lost some weight but I am not sure how much. It's not like I can hold these guys in my arms and weigh them on a scale!
This is a light day, I only have five dogs on leash. I walk up to eight at a time. That didn't happen overnight. Lots of training for the dogs and even more for myself. This is about 600lbs of dog. I have a 200lbs English Mastiff, 100+lbs Bull Masitff, Boxer, Rhodesian Mix and Pit all being prefect pups for me. I love the looks I get when I have all these giant dogs going on our group dog walk. I had a guy ask me the other day, "What if they all turn on you?!" (Obviously not a dog person). I said, "What these guys? They are giant Teddy Bears!" And they are, truly big goof balls the whole bunch. They'd just as soon roll over for a belly rub as they would growl. But still a big guy like me walking that many large dogs can and does throw people when they first see me.
Oh just look at these two guys, best buddies. Bacchus (on top) is one of Dash's oldest friends and one of our earliest clients. They are like brother, with other mothers. But they have gotten along since day one and haven't had so much as a single bad time together. This is them after a hike we took, totally wiped out from the walk. Bacchus is one of the few dogs that actually has made as close a bond as he has with Dash. Dash is really picky when it comes to who is in his inner circle so it speak volumes when he lets another dog be his friend. Dash is my gauge on other dogs temperament. He can tell right away what type of dog we will be dealing with. He's working with me when we go on walks after all!
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Here's a picture of three of us with our dogs before we do our group dog walk. These dogs have all had their issues but we worked through them and now they have a tightly knit pack they get to socialize with and they truly love it. Some of these dogs walk anywhere from one to five days a week. We work on socialization (fairly obvious) and basic leash skills like, sit, stay, off, heel, release commands and manners. We walk the midday group for an hour, lately down at the Emeryville Marina. It's quite, clean, has plenty of grassy areas and path the dogs enjoy.
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