A little bit of work with the little bitty dog…
I try to get my dogs to be relaxed around cattle. It’s easy to get them hyped up usually, so calm is the first thing I work on. Let’s do that with four critters Brandon is feeding.
Distance gives us less pressure, so we’re as far away as we can get. Indy keeps watching but Bravo flops down in the hay. While I hope Indy can relax enough to lay down, I’m also going to be working with Bravo to REALLY relax. I could do that with Lucas since he had so many vet visits, just tell him him to RELAX and he’d be on his side stretched out, enjoying the attention. I haven’t taught Bravo that, so he’ll be learning with Indy.
She’s very food motivated, so I have high value treats in hand… While she explores and keeps checking out the cows, I get my sleepy eyes going for Bravo. I’m leaning back, feet kicked forward and pretend I’m about to fall asleep. Bravo always looks right at my eyes, so soon, his eyes too are relaxing and his head drops down. Treat!
I never caught a pic with his head down, every time I move my coat rustles and he’d pop back up, looking to see what was going on.
Letting Indy sniff let’s her get used to the place… then, slowly, when life was just going to be boring…
Yup. That’s what I’m looking for. While not as relaxed as she could be, this is a start.
Find me here!
Well of course. Bravo got a treat for laying down so…..
I’m with Betty. Dogs are fun. Mine loves to walk and now will walk in the rain. This is the dog that didn’t like to get her feet wet last winter. Tried to keep all of them in the air — funny.
Well done Indy.
Such a nice little story. Working with both dogs seems to me to be a good way to teach them this skill of relaxation, as well as reinforcing their instinct to be quiet observers.
You have a lot patience, which I do not. My dog is 12 years old and she has slowed down quite a bit. But she is always alert for anything. Dogs are so much fun.