Jubilee update and pictures
We have a recent update from Jubilee‘s owners:
Jubilee - Autumn 2011
Everyone here is great. D is 20 months already and just loves animals. She loves the dogs and is always calling out their names followed by “Where are you?” Its really funny. D and Jubilee have really started to bond…….the table food might have something to do with it. Jubilee brings her toys now so she can throw them for her. Jubilee has done an amazing job knowing the difference between her toys & D’s. Even when they are offered to her from D she will not take them. We need to start working with D on stranger dogs. She is too comfortable with dogs at this point and loves to give hugs and kisses. It’s cute and sweet with our dogs because we know how good they are but unfortunately that’s not the case with all dogs.
Jubilee has been great and healthy, she loves her walks and if for some reason we can’t go on one you can always tell she is bummed. Shena “The old Lab” is hagging in there. She will be 16 in a few weeks (Crazy!) but she still seems extremely happy by wagging her tail all the time and still loves to eat. She too loves D but once again I know it’s food driven.
An insight on hiking with your dogs
While we were camping recently I had an insight – the “rules” for walking correctly don’t always apply. For instance, we were hiking and two of my dogs wear backpacks. They carry all the water for the group (for us and for them) and carry our lunch. They have a heavy load on their backs and need a bit of room to sway from side to side. It is frustrating and difficult to keep them close, like I usually do, because the packs keep banging into my legs, knocking both of us off balance. I tried for a spell, to keep them behind me but that was also unpleasant as they tended to drip their saliva down the backs of my legs (which is as gross as it sounds.) The solution? I hooked the leash onto the clip on the back pack (we use wonderful packs from RuffWear) and let them walk in front of me. In my opinion this is the perfect solution. They get to have all the room then need to do their “work” and I am free to walk unencumbered.
As you see, they are both working so hard they are staying pretty close by. It was a great solution to this problem. In addition, you’ll see my dog, Bella, on one of those extension leashes. Ordinarily I HATE those leashes as they are used in city walking and the dogs are usually out in front, extending the leashes to their maximum length. This is just a recipe for a whole host of problems, in my opinion. But on a hike, these leashes provide the dog with more room to explore while still being under your control. After a good long hike, you can see, they don’t really want to go that far in front anyway and if they are primarily walked close at hand, that’s where they’ll end up. So, with all things dog training, remember that rules usually need to be broken from time to time.
The important thing is to always ask yourself this question: Who is the leader here, and who is the follower?
