You gotta stretch!

Iggy and I

No, I'm not teaching yoga classes :-) To grow and improve you have to stretch beyond your comfort zone.

I've been thinking of Iggy and wondering what would be the best and safest way to get him to stretch a little bit without setting him back. One idea kept popping up over and over. Iggy loves dogs and has many friends in his foster home. What if I worked with his friends and he observed? I'd think of it as successful if we could do this without him running around in circles and hiding. But if he did I needed to be ready to step back and try something else.

The other thing I rethought was my equipment. Usually I bring a suitcase on wheels with everything I might need. Last time I left it in the kitchen and went to the yard to meet Iggy with only my treat bag. This time I'd stretch it just a bit. I packed a few things in my net bag. A camera, a couple wraps, a harness & lead.

One of the first dogs to greet me was Dobby. She is a "Compassion Dog". This is a new term to me and I learned it is a dog that was slated to die at the shelter. Maybe it is a behavior issue or maybe medical...or both. In Dobby's case it is age and a neurological issue that keeps her from walking correctly and she falls down when she gets excited. A Compassion Dog is pulled from the shelter and they live in a loving foster home until it is time. It may be days, weeks or longer. But they know a home life and have a good time before they go.

The other dog was Darla. A very loving girl that enjoys lots of kisses.

Together we all went into the back yard to greet Iggy. To my delight Iggy came right up to me to see what Darla was getting out of my treat bag. He looked at me, took a treat and halfheartedly ran away. I smiled.

The first new thing for Iggy was my net bag and he wasn't concerned with it. Next I put scrunchies on Dobby's back feet to see if it would help her walking any. That meant I had to pick up the bag, dig through it and pull out something else that was new and put those on his friend's feet. He watched all this.

After putting scrunchies on her feet we put a body wrap on Darla. Iggy watched all we were doing.

To get him used to my small camera I held it out to him with treats on it! He came right up and ate the goodies right off the camera. After that I was free to take his picture.

Nicole recently took in 4 puppies that had been dumped at the shelter. They are skinny with big wormy bellies. One of the pups is full of attitude and has a very intense personality so into a tiny 1" wrap he went.

But first, I had to bring the dreaded suitcase out of the car an into his yard. Who knew I'd need a 1" wrap? Know what? Iggy was okay with me bringing in the case.

Off and on Iggy would come for pets, cuddles and treats and then off again.

Nicole and I start talking about the harness and lead configurations we use in TTouch and I asked her to bring out her best shot. She brings me Big Ben :-) He is a bouncy bundle of energy.

First I walked him in a Balance Leash Plus and he did fantastic (after I got him to stop spinning).

He is a very smart boy and got my signals very quickly. Next I put him in a Super Balance Leash and off we went.

He would stop and start right on cue looking at me for direction.

Guess who else was looking? Iggy! He was very curious what we were doing. Many times Iggy was walking right along with us. Starting when we did and stopping when we did.

Here is where I'd have done things differently. Iggy was so intrigued by the lead that I asked if Nicole would like to put a leash on his collar and she agreed. He froze. The leash came off immediately and he ran and hid for about 15 seconds. We quickly recovered with an offer of treats and an invitation to join Ben and I under the tree.

I wanted him to make friends with the lead like he had the camera so I coiled it on my leg and hid treats in it. Iggy was happy to hunt for tuna fudge! The leash didn't scare him.



With that we called it a day for Iggy and put everyone in their crates to process what just happened.

Now it was Gigi's turn. She is a rescued fighting dog that loves people! She is so tender and sweet and loves to give kisses. Nicole applied what she had learned and took Gigi through some poles I added to the yard after Iggy left. Both Nicole and Gigi were quick studies!

I'm blessed to have such a fantastic group of dogs to work with all in one session!