Morning walks!
Morning walks with Max. What a gorgeous day! As you can see he’s happily looking around and sniffing. He’ll tell me when he wants to get out for a bit of a plod and likewise when he needs a rest. He’s not attached so he’s clearly happy with his ride :)
Day 8 - all 4 paws in (or atleast the 4th paw just left the ground slightly…..!) most importantly that tail is wagging…. For a girl who didn’t know how to wag her tail, and was terrified of human touch…. She’s doing so well. Slowly slowly Ash Bash 💜💜💜
Day 5
Day 5 - She’s getting more comfortable around the wagon…. She started off by being rewarded for looking at it, then being rewarded for stepping in….
It’s very easy to put a treat or something nice in to persuade her to go in…. But this is little more than bribing her… which would see quicker results, but they wouldn’t be as good results! As a rescue girl, she is super suspicious….. she knows when we’re trying to bribe or trick her…. So we have to go very slowly!
As I’m writing this, she’s just took herself into it!!! So let’s hope the slow approach is working!
Day 3 - no pressure just choosing to explore herself 💜
Day 2 - this is a better video!
Every time she comes close or looks at the wagon she gets a reward…. It’s a slow process but this builds a positive association…. It isn’t quick…. But it will be worth it!
Day 2 Wagon Practice
This is where timing becomes key - what I don’t want to do is to bribe her to go in - this adds pressure and it’s isn’t really her “choice”… she goes in because she wants the food. Bribing a traumatized rescue is not a good idea… what I really want is her to choose to go in and then reward her for it. It’s a subtle difference but is really important…. It will take longer, but the outcome should be better! (At this stage it’s a bit of both!)
Evening wagon explorations…..
Day 1 Wagon Practice with Asha
Day 1
So I often say you can get any dog used to a wagon if you go slow enough….. well, I thought it was time to put my money where my mouth is with the hardest challenge…. For those who have followed our story, Asha is a terrified ex puppy farm breeding dog… she’s been part of our family for 16 months…. But is still too scared to leave the house…. Let’s see if she might feel safer in a wagon….it might be a slow story, but we’ll post regular updates…. Day 1 is just about introducing it to the house…. Not making a big deal about it…. Just giving her time to look at it….
A little Max update. Firstly thank you to our wonderful customers (aka friends) who have sent so many lovely messages. And put up with me being slow to respond. Max is now 8 days post op and today was the first day I felt some “hope” that he would ever walk well again. He’s been struggling so much since surgery and has been very unsettled and distressed at times. This is the 4th operation on this elbow so he’s really been through it. A massive thank you - as always - to the amazing Sarah (and brilliant intern Anna who we met this time) at Fitzpatrick Referrals. We are again in their debt for their expertise and skill. Finally we’re making some progress.
A little update about our girlie….
An Asha progress update! Amazing girl!
It’s taken some time to get her comfortable having her harness popped on…. Next was the lead which was terrifying….
Every day the long line has been made longer…. Starting from 30cm long…. 2 weeks ago that was terrifying…. This was today…. Next step is to get her used to letting me hold one end….!
She chooses to sleep upstairs with us now… she’ll enjoy cuddles and belly rubs with me and her confidence with Jon is growing massively now too.
Leaving the house is the next massive milestone….
What a wonderful girl she is…. 💜💜 it’s incredibly slow…. But it’s her pace…. We won’t rush her ###